Galatians 5:22-23 :

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

One of the amazing things about the Law of Moses is that it doesn’t disallow anything in this list. I have found many human systems that interfere with this list but God was able to make a perfect law that defines behavior that promotes these things. In a society that is aware of spiritual things, letter-of-the-law can give way to spirit-of-the-law when it is obvious that the heart was acting out of love, kindness or goodness. What the law should be wanting are the things in this list and if that isn’t what is wanted, then there is corruption among those who are promoting the law.

As believers, we really want to do these things. Isn’t it interesting that Paul doesn’t give detailed instructions about how to do each one of them? I believe that this is because it isn’t our job to produce these things. These things are the produce of the Holy Spirit even though they grow in us.

These things, unlike the works of the flesh, are very uncommon among people in the world, even though they are often talked, written, and sung about. Everyone knows that “all you need is love” but no one is able to do it. The ability to do these things stands out and that is what God makes possible in those who believe in Him. What a great thing to be a part of a community of those who produce the fruit of the Spirit. That is one of the greatest things about belonging to the Church.

If we trust in God’s word and allow God’s Holy Spirit to work in us we can expect to produce these qualities.

Notice that “self-control” is in the list. The Holy Spirit really doesn’t “take the wheel.” He gives you the ability to steer in the right direction. Believing this fact will help you stay away from many misunderstandings about the walking in the Spirit. Even though we drive by His power, we can forget and when we do, we start to steer in the wrong directions. God must be the one who produces this fruit because we don’t have the ability to do it ourselves.