Series Introduction: One Fruit, Nine Attributes of His Character

Over the next nine months, we are going to slow down and sit with one verse. We will spend one full month on each part of the fruit of the Spirit, with a lesson every week. Years ago I taught this series, and I watched it change people from the inside out. Not because they learned more facts, but because they began to look more like Jesus.

Read It in Its Setting

Paul did not drop this verse out of nowhere. Just before it, he tells us, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). Then he lists “the works of the flesh” (5:19–21). Right after the fruit, he says, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (5:24–25).

So here is the picture. The flesh works. The Spirit grows fruit. One is something you strain to produce. The other is something that comes out of a life connected to Jesus. As Jesus said, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Notice the Word “Fruit”

Paul says “fruit,” not “fruits.” That is not a typo. It is one fruit with nine qualities, because it is one character: the character of Christ. Think of an orange. When you peel it, you find many sections, but it is still one orange. You do not get to pick the sections you like and leave the rest. When the Holy Spirit is truly at work in a life, all nine will show up and grow together.

Words to Know

The Nine-Month Journey

How We Will Study: Line Upon Line, Precept Upon Precept

Each week, we will follow the pattern God gave in Isaiah 28:10: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” No Scripture stands alone. We will take one verse, then let other verses explain it, build on it, and show it lived out. Every lesson includes a key Scripture, words to know, a line-upon-line Scripture chain, a Bible example, questions to talk about, a practice for the week, and a memory verse.

How This Connects to Walking in the Character of Christ

If you are walking with us through our discipleship study, Walking in the Character of Christ, this series is the next step. In Session 1 we learned that Christ Himself is the blueprint for our lives. In Session 2 we learned that a child of God should carry both the Fruit of the Spirit, which is Christ’s character, and the Gifts of the Spirit, which are His power. We also learned that His character is the foundation that releases His power and anointing.

The discipleship study shows us what Christ’s character looks like. This series takes that character apart, one quality at a time, so we can see it clearly, study it closely, and let the Holy Spirit grow it in us. And we start where Paul started, with love, because every other part of the fruit grows out of it.

A Bible Example: The Father Who Ran (Luke 15:11–24)

Jesus told a story about a young man who asked his father for his inheritance early. That was like saying, “I wish you were already dead.” Then the son left home and wasted every penny on wild living. When the money ran out, he ended up feeding pigs and wishing he could eat what they ate.

Finally, “he came to himself” (15:17) and decided to go home. He even practiced a speech, planning to ask to be treated like a hired servant. But look at what the father did: “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (15:20).

The father did not wait at the door with his arms folded. He did not demand an explanation first. He was watching the road, and when he saw his son, he ran. In that culture, grown men of honor did not run. But love does not worry about looking dignified. Before the son could finish his speech, the father was calling for a robe, a ring, shoes, and a feast.

That is agapē. It saw the son while he was “yet a great way off,” just as Christ died for us “while we were yet sinners.” This is the love of the Father, and it is the love the Holy Spirit wants to grow in you.

Connecting to Walking in the Character of Christ

In Session 1 of our discipleship study, we read Ephesians 5:1–2: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us.” We learned that children naturally copy their father. This week shows us exactly what we are copying. We are not copying a rule. We are copying a Father who runs toward the lost.

In Session 2, we learned that Christ’s character is the foundation God builds on, and that gifts without character can be rejected (Matthew 7:22–23). Paul says it even more plainly in 1 Corinthians 13:2: “though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” Love is not one more item on the list of good qualities. It is the root the rest of the fruit grows from.

Questions to Talk About

1. Before today, how would you have defined love? How is agapē different from that definition?
2. Read Romans 5:8 again. Why does it matter that God loved us before we changed?
3. Which person in the story of the prodigal son do you relate to most right now: the son who left, the father who waited, or the older brother who stayed home angry (Luke 15:25–32)? Why?
4. Is there anyone you are waiting to “clean up” before you will show them love?

Practice for the Week: Receive Before You Give

You cannot pour out what you have not received. Each morning this week, read one line from the Line Upon Line chart above, in order, one per day. Read the whole chapter it comes from, not just the verse. Then write one sentence that begins, “Today God’s love tells me…” On the last day, write the name of one person you will show God’s love to next week, and why.