The 9 fruits of the Spirit are:
- Love: self-giving care for God and for others, the love God first showed us
- Joy: gladness in God that circumstances cannot take away
- Peace: rest with God, a quiet heart, and goodwill with others
- Patience: a long fuse with people and hard seasons (KJV: longsuffering)
- Kindness: goodwill shown in gentle words and help (KJV: gentleness)
- Goodness: integrity that does good and does right
- Faithfulness: being reliable and loyal, keeping your word (KJV: faith)
- Gentleness: strength under control, humble and calm (KJV: meekness)
- Self-control: mastery over desires and appetites (KJV: temperance)
Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit in the King James Version
Here are the fruits of the Spirit KJV readers know, from Galatians 5:22-23:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Several of these are not the words modern Bibles use. This is how each King James word maps to the word most modern Bibles use:
- Love stays love here, though elsewhere the KJV translates the same Greek word as charity: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4, KJV).
- Longsuffering is patience (the NIV says forbearance).
- Gentleness is kindness: the Greek word here, chrestotes, means goodwill toward others.
- Goodness is still goodness.
- Faith is faithfulness: the Greek pistis covers both trusting and being trustworthy.
- Meekness is gentleness.
- Temperance is self-control, mastery of every appetite, not only drink.
So the KJV's “gentleness” and the modern “gentleness” are two different fruits, the fifth and the eighth. If a list you learned as a child does not match a modern Bible, this is usually why.
The 9 fruits at a glance
The 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit and their meanings, with the Greek word Paul used, the King James word, the opposite he warns against, and a verse to remember.
| Fruit | Greek word | KJV word | Meaning | Its opposite | Key verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love | agape | love (charity in 1 Corinthians 13) | Seeking another person's good, even at a cost | hatred (5:20) | 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 |
| Joy | chara | joy | Gladness in God that circumstances cannot take away | revellings (5:21): joy chased through excess | Philippians 4:4 |
| Peace | eirene | peace | Rest with God and goodwill with others | variance and strife (5:20) | Philippians 4:6-7 |
| Patience | makrothumia | longsuffering | A long fuse with people and hard seasons | wrath (5:20) | Colossians 3:12 |
| Kindness | chrestotes | gentleness | Goodwill shown in gentle words and help | envyings (5:21): resenting another's good | Ephesians 4:32 |
| Goodness | agathosune | goodness | Integrity that does good and does right | malice (plain opposite) | Romans 15:14 |
| Faithfulness | pistis | faith | Being reliable and loyal, keeping your word | idolatry (5:20): broken faith with God | Lamentations 3:22-23 |
| Gentleness | prautes | meekness | Strength under control; meek, not weak | harshness and pride (plain opposite) | Matthew 11:29 |
| Self-control | egkrateia | temperance | Mastery over desires and appetites | drunkenness and lasciviousness (5:19, 5:21) | 1 Corinthians 9:25 |
Greek words follow the spelling of Strong's concordance (you will also see makrothymia, agathosyne and enkrateia). Opposites marked with a verse are works of the flesh from Galatians 5:19-21, in KJV words; the two marked plain opposite have no close match in Paul's list.
Love (agape)
Love comes first, and the other eight grow out of it. In the Bible, love is less a feeling than a settled choice to seek another person's good, the way God loved us in Christ before we ever loved Him. It does not wait for the other person to be lovable. It is the love that forgives, stays and serves when leaving would be easier. Read more in these Bible verses about love.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud...”
Joy (chara)
Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness rises and falls with what happens to us; joy rests on God, who does not change. Paul wrote Philippians, his most joyful letter, while he was in chains (Philippians 1:13). Christian joy is a deep gladness that sickness, loss and even death cannot finally take away, because Christ has already won. See also these Bible verses about joy.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
Peace (eirene)
In the New Testament, peace runs in three directions: peace with God through Christ (Romans 5:1), the peace of God that keeps an anxious heart (Philippians 4:7), and peace with the people around us. Christian peace is not the absence of conflict. It is God's presence in the middle of it, and it makes us people who calm a room instead of stirring it. More in these Bible verses about peace.
“...the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds...”
Patience (makrothumia)
The Greek word joins “long” and “temper”: a long fuse. It is the patience that bears with difficult people and slow seasons without exploding, withdrawing or quitting. God describes Himself this way to Moses: “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering” (Exodus 34:6, KJV). The Spirit grows that same long-suffering in us. Read these Bible verses about patience when yours runs thin.
“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with...patience.”
Kindness (chrestotes)
Kindness is goodwill you can see: in how we treat the cashier, the neighbor, the colleague who is hard to like. It speaks gently when sharp words would be easier. Paul uses the same Greek word for God's own kindness in Romans 2:4, where the KJV calls it His goodness, the kindness that leads us to repentance. God's kindness changes people, and ours often opens the door for His.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Goodness (agathosune)
Goodness is integrity that acts. It means being in private the person you seem to be in public, and then putting that goodness to work: “let us do good unto all men” (Galatians 6:10, KJV). Where kindness is gentle, goodness can also be firm: it will do what is right even when that is not welcome.
“I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness...”
Faithfulness (pistis)
The Greek word pistis usually means faith, and the KJV translates it “faith” here. Modern translations such as the NIV read faithfulness, and the setting supports it: being reliable, keeping your word, staying loyal when it costs you. God is like this even when we are not: “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13, KJV). See also these Bible verses about faith.
“Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Gentleness (prautes)
The KJV calls this fruit meekness, and meekness is not weakness. It is strength under control: the person who does not need to dominate a room or win every argument. Jesus called Himself meek (Matthew 11:29) and blessed the meek in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:5). Paul's very next instruction shows it at work: when someone falls, “restore such an one in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1, KJV).
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart...”
Self-control (egkrateia)
Self-control guards the other eight. Without it, love sours into anger, joy into sulking and peace into panic. The Greek word means self-mastery, and the KJV's “temperance” meant the same: Paul says an athlete “is temperate in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25, KJV), not only about drink. It is not grim willpower but freedom, the Spirit helping you choose what is good when desire pulls the other way. For practical help, read how to overcome temptation.
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last...”
Patience, longsuffering or forbearance?
The fourth fruit has three common English names, and all three translate one Greek word, makrothumia. It is built from makros, “long,” and thumos, “passion” or “anger”: being long-tempered, slow to boil over. The KJV says longsuffering, and the NKJV keeps it. The ESV, NLT and CSB say patience. The NIV (2011) says forbearance.
Forbearance meaning, in plain words: to forbear is to hold back. Forbearance is patience with people more than with circumstances: putting up with someone's faults and offenses without paying them back, and doing it again tomorrow. The KJV uses the word exactly this way: “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another” (Colossians 3:13, KJV). In Romans 2:4 it even sets the words side by side for God, “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” (Romans 2:4, KJV), where forbearance translates a different Greek word, anoche, a holding back of judgment.
So whichever word your Bible uses, the fruit is the same: a long fuse with people, learned from a God who has a long fuse with us.
Are there 9 or 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit?
Both numbers have a real source. The Greek text of Galatians, which the KJV and modern translations follow, names nine. The Latin Vulgate names twelve, and so does the Douay-Rheims, the historic Catholic English Bible translated from it:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, Mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church keeps the Latin count. It says the tradition of the Church “lists twelve of them” (Catechism 1832), names them in modern words as charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity, and cites Galatians 5:22-23 in the Vulgate.
Why the difference? Set side by side, the Latin list has two words for the patience idea (patience and longanimity) and adds modesty and chastity. The old Catholic Encyclopedia notes that three of the twelve are missing from several Greek and Latin manuscripts, and that the list is not to be taken in a strictly limited sense. Readers of the Greek text and of most English Bibles count nine; Catholic teaching, following the Vulgate, counts twelve. Neither count adds a virtue the Bible does not teach: modesty and chastity are commended elsewhere (1 Timothy 2:9; Titus 2:5), and all twelve describe the character of Christ.
Read Galatians 5 in the KJV or the Douay-Rheims, or have it read aloud, in Faithero.
Fruit of the Spirit vs gifts of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit is character; the gifts of the Spirit are abilities. Every Christian is meant to grow all nine fruits, but the Spirit gives gifts differently, “dividing to every man severally as he will” (1 Corinthians 12:11, KJV). A gifted preacher can still be impatient, and a quiet believer with no public gift can be full of love. Paul is blunt about which matters more: “though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2, KJV).
Two lists are usually meant by the gifts of the Spirit:
- The 9 gifts of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues and the interpretation of tongues.
- The 7 gifts of Isaiah 11:2-3, as Catholic teaching counts them: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
If you searched for the 7 fruits of the Spirit, you were probably thinking of these seven gifts; the Bible's list of fruit has nine (twelve in the Latin). Our lesson on the gifts of the Holy Spirit walks through both lists.
Common misconceptions
A few things people often get wrong on this topic.
MythIf I just try harder, I will produce more fruit.
TruthFruit grows from staying connected to the Vine. Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, NIV). Effort still matters, but it is the effort of staying close to Him, not of squeezing fruit out of yourself.
MythThese qualities are just personality traits some people are born with.
TruthSome people are naturally calm or cheerful, but the Spirit's fruit reaches further: it loves the unlovable and stays patient after natural patience has run out. Natural niceness depends on easy circumstances; the fruit of the Spirit grows in hard ones.
MythI should master one fruit before moving on to the next.
TruthPaul speaks of one fruit, and the nine grow together. Love without patience turns demanding, and joy without peace turns anxious. Stay close to Christ and the whole cluster grows.
MythIf I do not see this fruit in myself, my faith is not real.
TruthFruit is often small or slow, and other people usually see it in us before we do. Some seasons strip away what shows while the roots go deeper. Talk with a mature Christian before you draw conclusions.
Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit
Stay close to the Vine
Daily Bible reading and prayer are how we abide in Christ (John 15:4-5). Without that connection, fruit does not grow.
Pray for one fruit by name
Pick the fruit you most lack and pray simply: “Lord, grow patience in me, and show me where I lack it.” The Spirit answers prayers like this, often through the very situations that test that fruit.
Keep short accounts
When you notice anger, harsh words or impatience, confess it quickly and make it right with the person you hurt. Unconfessed sin chokes growth.
Grow in a church family
Fruit grows in community. The difficult relationships in a church are often where patience and kindness grow most.
Be patient with yourself
Real fruit takes years. Look back over a year, not a day, and you will see growth you missed in the moment.
Frequently asked
How many fruits of the Spirit are there?
Nine, in Galatians 5:22-23 as Paul wrote it in Greek and as the KJV and modern translations give it: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims list twelve, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church follows them, adding generosity, modesty and chastity. Both counts describe the same Christlike character.
What are the 9 fruits of the Spirit in order?
In the order Paul gives them in Galatians 5:22-23: (1) love, (2) joy, (3) peace, (4) patience, (5) kindness, (6) goodness, (7) faithfulness, (8) gentleness and (9) self-control. In the King James Version the same list reads love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.
Is it "fruit" or "fruits" of the Spirit?
Paul wrote the singular: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace” (Galatians 5:22, KJV). Many teachers take that as one fruit with nine sides that grow together, the way one orange has many segments. Saying “fruits of the Spirit” is common and not wrong when you mean the nine qualities; the Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of the fruits of the Spirit too.
Where is the fruit of the Spirit in the Bible?
In Galatians 5:22-23, near the end of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The passage begins at verse 16, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16, KJV), lists the works of the flesh in verses 19-21, then the fruit in verses 22-23. The best companion passage is Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branches in John 15.
What does forbearance mean?
Forbearance means holding back: patiently putting up with someone’s faults or offenses instead of striking back. The NIV uses it for the fourth fruit of the Spirit, where the KJV says longsuffering and many other Bibles say patience. All three translate the Greek makrothumia, literally being long-tempered. The KJV uses the word itself here: “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another” (Colossians 3:13, KJV).
How can I explain the fruit of the Spirit to kids?
Use a fruit tree. An apple tree does not grunt and strain to make apples; it grows them when it is planted, watered and in the sun. In the same way, when we stay close to Jesus, His Spirit grows love, joy, peace and the rest in us. Learn the nine with hand motions or a song, then look for them each day: “Where did you see kindness today? When was patience hard?” Praise the fruit you see in your child, and let them hear you ask God for it too.
Fruit and roots
Notice what Paul does not say. He does not give nine commandments or tell us to try harder. He calls these qualities fruit, grown by the Spirit, not produced by our effort. The Christian life is not white-knuckle moralism; it is staying close to Jesus and letting grace do the deep work.
So the question is not, “How do I produce more love?” It is, “Am I close enough to Jesus for love to grow?” Daily Scripture, prayer, worship, confession and service are the soil. The Spirit grows the fruit. We do not have to make it happen; we have to make room.
And fruit takes time. A tree planted in spring does not bear by summer. Be patient with yourself. Look back in three years and you will see fruit you never noticed growing.
Paul wrote these words to the churches of Galatia, Christians who were being told that keeping the law of Moses would make them right with God. His answer is that life in Christ comes by the Spirit, and then he shows what that life looks like: not a rulebook but a harvest. The list comes right after the “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19, KJV), so the nine fruits of the Spirit are the Spirit's answer to hatred, strife and envy. It ends with a quiet line: “against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:23, KJV). No court has ever needed to restrain too much kindness.
Below you will find the fruits of the Spirit list in the King James Version, a table of all nine with the Greek word behind each, a short section on every fruit, and answers to the questions people ask most: what forbearance means, whether there are 9 or 12 fruits, and how the fruit differs from the gifts of the Spirit.