Making Room For The Fruit That Shapes Our Response to Life

At Coastal Church, we’ve been going through the book of Galatians, and it’s been a season of learning and growth as we have dived deeper into where our salvation comes from and who we are to rely on for it. The apostle Paul reminds us that salvation comes only through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross, not through our works. He also reminds us that sanctification and bearing the fruit of the Spirit come through the work of the Holy Spirit as we continue to prioritize abiding in Him.

Paul writes, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Gal 5:22-23, NLT).

The Apostle Paul says the Spirit of God is the one who produces the fruit in our lives, and these divine characteristics are not developed by trying harder because we cannot produce what we are not designed to produce. We can bear this fruit by recognizing that, as we stay connected to Jesus, we prioritize praying and reading God’s Word every day and get involved in what your local church offers. At Coastal Church, we offer Life Group (Bible study), Alpha, Freedom Session, Connect course, City Serve, INSTE, CSOM, and the Sunday serve team. If you want more information on any of these, what we like to call doors for you to get connected, you can visit our website coastalchurch.org. If you don’t live in Vancouver or are already part of a local church, check what they offer and get plugged in. As you stay connected to Christ and get involved, you make room for the Spirit to produce fruit in your life.

Now that we have briefly discussed how the Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives, I want to talk about the fruit of faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which shape our response to life. So, let’s dive right into it.

Faithfulness

In the New Testament, the Greek word (pistis) often refers to trust or faith, and it can also mean faithfulness (Romans 3:3). For biblical authors, faith and faithfulness are two sides of the same coin, capturing ideas like fidelity, reliability, trustworthiness, and allegiance.

Having faith does not mean simply believing in or agreeing with statements about God. Faith is active, and it requires dependence on God, a sense of deep trust that builds confidence to walk in God’s ways. The fruit of the Spirit describes God’s own character, and biblical authors consistently portray God as faithful, dependable, and trustworthy. The Bible never depicts God as random, chaotic, or driven by shifting passions. This means, when we receive God’s Spirit and learn to depend on his way of life above our own desires and passions, we also become more trustworthy and faithful.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays to God, and like any other human, knowing what was about to happen, asks God to take the cup (suffering and death) away from him. This is His way of asking to be relieved of the painful responsibility He was about to face. His faithfulness to God and the work He had been sent to complete was greater than His desire to survive, so he concludes the prayer by stating, “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Jesus chose to do God’s will, regardless of the cost, because He had one thing in mind: finishing the work He was sent to do. This is a great example of faithfulness, and when we choose to walk as Jesus did and submit our will to God by the power of the Holy Spirit, we make room for the fruit of the Spirit to produce in our lives. As God has been faithful to us, we respond with faithful commitment to God and to others.

Gentleness 

The Greek word (prautes) is translated as “gentleness,” which involves acting tenderly or softly and maintaining an attitude of humility. The biblical authors often portray God with images of superior strength and sovereign power. But they also tell stories like Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, a picture of a God who, with all His power and might, humbled Himself by stooping down and washing the disciples’ feet, leading by example what true service to others looks like.  

There was a man named Sir Nicholas Winton, a British humanitarian who helped rescue 669 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938–39. He organized their safe passage to Britain through the Kindertransport. Remarkably, he kept his work largely secret for decades. In 1988, his wife, Grete, discovered a scrapbook containing the children’s names and photographs, revealing the extraordinary story of his courage, compassion, humility, and dedication to protecting vulnerable children. His story reminds us that gentleness is not weakness—it is strength expressed through compassion, courage, and a willingness to protect those who are vulnerable. His gentleness at heart led him to save these children, and he didn’t do it for recognition or reward; he simply felt the help these children needed and stepped out. His story gives us a picture of gentleness expressed through selfless action—caring for others without seeking recognition or reward.

Jesus has a gentle heart for those who are suffering, burdened, and weary. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt 11:28-29, NIV).

Jesus reminds us that true power is revealed not by dominating others with violent might but by caring for others and setting them free—giving peaceful, healing rest by treating people with gentleness. When we choose paths of gentleness, we benefit from—and offer others—true spiritual fruit that God produces within us.

Self-Control

The Greek word for self-control is (enkrateia). It means self-mastery, self-restraint, or the ability to control one’s desires, impulses, and passions. It is not simply “trying harder to control yourself.” It means bringing your desires and actions under proper control rather than letting them rule you.

Successful athletes model self-control by avoiding desirable things that would harm their bodies. While they may crave the satisfaction associated with cookies or cake, they discipline themselves to eat what is healthy instead. They may desire relaxation, but they push themselves to train hard. By exercising control over their bodies, rather than allowing their desires to control them, they prepare themselves to compete well.

The apostle Paul writes to the church of Corinth, “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Cor 9:25-27).

Paul encourages the Corinthian church to apply that same kind of discipline and self-regulation when pursuing God’s ways. To walk this Christian life and live it as holy and righteous, we need to keep our flesh in check by making it a slave to the Spirit. The flesh does what is contrary to the Spirit (Gal. 5:17), so if we want our lives to come into alignment with God’s ways, we must learn to submit our desires to the Spirit rather than allowing them to govern us. This requires discipline, but discipline itself does not manufacture the fruit of self-control. Instead, as we surrender our desires to the Holy Spirit and cooperate with His work in us, He produces the fruit of self-control in our lives.

Pursuing satisfaction for our own desires often looks like the best path to freedom. But without self-control, we end up getting controlled by those ever-changing desires. The Bible teaches us that the good life is found in living with love for God and neighbour in every situation. Although it may seem counterintuitive, exercising self-control gives us true freedom.

In conclusion, as you intentionally remain connected to Christ, seek righteousness, and cooperate with the Holy Spirit, you make room for Him to produce fruit that enables you to respond to life according to the Spirit rather than the flesh. 

My prayer is that you would stop trying harder to produce the fruit and instead put every effort into staying connected by abiding deeply in Christ.