Galatians 5:22-23 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. They are not some selectable traits but a single whole-person character that reflects Jesus in thoughts, attitudes, feelings, words, and behaviours.
Paul certainly had the Lord Jesus in mind when he described these qualities. He distinguished them from the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21. The works of the flesh in Galatians 5 are characterised by the self-serving agendas of sin. Whereas a life freed by the Spirit will serve others through its transformed temperament and personality in Christlike ways to glorify God.
While these qualities do not negate or bypass our personalities and temperaments, they are also not produced by mere human efforts to keep God’s law as Galatians 3:1-3 suggests. They come from beholding Christ crucified. They are qualities of His earthly life, supremely demonstrated on the cross.
What do they look like? Consider His love. See how “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). It’s a love that will never fail. It’s a love beyond the attainment of our humanly fleeting and fickle feelings and affections. Jesus laid down His life so that we can receive and give it, to love, forgive, and serve sacrificially as He did.
His was also a joyous peace unshaken by the blows and insults thrown at Him. He lavished His kind words and patience on the repentant thief crucified beside Him, to assure him of salvation. He also prayed for those who crucified Him. He cared for them even when they tortured Him.
To His grieving mother, He spoke gently and provided for her needs after His departure by entrusting her to His disciple. He is faithful to God and others. The cross was the greatest good that He accomplished for us. There He took our sins upon Himself and fulfilled God’s every promise. Through it all, even in His deepest pain and grief, He was fully in control of Himself, till He yielded His last breath to God.
How then may we be like Him? Galatians 5:24 concludes that those bearing these qualities are believers who have crucified their sinful inclinations because they belong to Jesus. They will take on the likeness of their Saviour. They are in Him and with Him. Therefore, to become like Him, let us dwell deeply in Jesus to love Him.