'Fruit' (Not 'Fruits') of the Spirit

It catches my attention every time I read Galatians 5:22-23 and they list the fruit of the Spirit. If it's a list of multiple fruits that come from the Holy Spirit, why isn't it plural? After all, from surface level, they're all different virtues anyway, right? Obviously Paul was aware of their inherent connectedness from the beginning, but it wasn't until I wrote these past 9 blog posts that I was able to see the overlap clearly as well.

When I decided I wanted to begin my written blog with the fruit of the Spirit, I knew I didn't want each post to be blatant about which fruit I was discussing. I didn't want it to be black and white; "textbook" descriptions of each virtue. It was by doing this that I realized how much each of these traits blend together.

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"I didn't want it to be black and white; 'textbook' descriptions of each virtue."

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The first fruit listed by Paul is 'love' which is suitable since love does tie all of these virtues together into one. 1 John 4:8 even states, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." Love influences each of these virtues, whether it be the motivating factor or the intrinsic nature of the particular virtue. We see the beginnings of this foundation when Christ instituted the new commandments of 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'

Though joy, we find peace. By practicing kindness, we are gentle. By being faithful, patience becomes a byproduct, and vice versa. These different fruits become a singular fruit because if we are without one of them, the others crumble. Without one, it would indicate that we have separated ourselves from the Holy Spirit. How can that happen? Sin.

When we choose to sin, we make a willful choice to separate ourselves from God's Goodness. Paragraphs 1855 & 1861 of the Catechism even tell us, "Mortal Sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law... If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell..." Since the Father, Son and Holy Spirit combined are the single Godhead, when we are separated from God as the Catechism states, we are separated from the Holy Spirit. (And, as I talked about in 'Go do Good for God,' without the Holy Spirit, we cannot do anything Good.)

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"Love influences each of these virtues, whether it be the motivating factor or the intrinsic nature of the particular virtue."

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By accepting the Holy Spirit into our lives, we are given the strength and grace to overcome temptations. So if we sin, how do we get that back? How do we re-gain the ability to experience and exemplify the fruit of the Spirit? Reconciliation. By choosing to confess our sins and humble ourselves before the Lord, we are able to continue in our journey to Sainthood; perfect exemplification of these virtues. It's a lifelong excursion that is not easily attained, but by choosing this fruit, one day at a time, we can get there eventually by the grace of God.