Limitless Word
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:22 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
  • BSB But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
  • NKJV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
  • NASB But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
  • NLT But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. These graces are the Spirit's work in the believer, not human achievement.

Overview

In contrast to the works of the flesh, Paul lists the single 'fruit' the Spirit produces, beginning with love and flowing into joy, peace, and other Christlike qualities. The singular 'fruit' suggests a unified character growing organically from the Spirit's presence. These virtues mirror the character of Christ Himself and mark a life truly led by the Spirit.

Cross-references & the web

Theme

  • Joy"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…"

Cross-references · 38

  • Col 3:12–17Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
  • 1 Cor 13:4–7Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
  • John 15:5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
  • Jas 3:17–18But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
  • John 15:2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
  • Eph 5:9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
  • Ps 1:3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
  • John 15:16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
  • Phil 4:4–9Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
  • Rom 7:4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
  • 2 Pet 1:5–8And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
  • 1 Pet 1:22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
  • Phil 1:11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
  • 1 Cor 13:13And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
  • 1 Jn 4:7–16Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
  • Matt 12:33Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
  • Rom 12:9–18Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
  • Gal 5:16–18This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
  • Col 1:10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  • Luke 8:14–15And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
  • Gal 5:13For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
  • Matt 7:16–20Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
  • Ps 92:14They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
  • Eph 4:23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
  • Rom 6:22But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
  • Rom 5:1–5Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
  • 1 Pet 1:8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
  • 1 Th 5:10–22Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
  • 1 Th 1:3–10Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
  • Titus 2:2–12That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
  • Luke 13:9And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
  • 1 Tim 4:12Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
  • Rom 15:3For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
  • Rom 15:14And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
  • 1 Pet 5:12By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
  • Hos 14:8Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
  • 1 Tim 3:11Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
  • 2 Th 3:2And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (13)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Galatians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Galatians 5:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GalatiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.

How Galatians 5:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.