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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:22 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, 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 God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
  • 1 Cor 13:4–7Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
  • John 15:5I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
  • Jas 3:17–18But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
  • John 15:2Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
  • Eph 5:9for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
  • Ps 1:3He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
  • John 15:16You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
  • Phil 4:4–9Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”
  • Rom 7:4Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God.
  • 2 Pet 1:5–8Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;
  • 1 Pet 1:22Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:
  • Phil 1:11being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
  • 1 Cor 13:13But now faith, hope, and love remain — these three. The greatest of these is love.
  • 1 Jn 4:7–16Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.
  • Matt 12:33“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit.
  • Rom 12:9–18Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
  • Gal 5:16–18But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
  • Col 1:10that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  • Luke 8:14–15That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
  • Gal 5:13For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
  • Matt 7:16–20By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
  • Ps 92:14They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
  • Eph 4:23and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
  • Rom 6:22But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life.
  • Rom 5:1–5Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
  • 1 Pet 1:8whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly 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 labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
  • Titus 2:2–12that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance:
  • Luke 13:9If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”
  • 1 Tim 4:12Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.
  • Rom 15:3For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
  • Rom 15:14I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.
  • 1 Pet 5:12Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
  • Hos 14:8Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.”
  • 1 Tim 3:11Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
  • 2 Th 3:2and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men; for not all have 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.