The Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22 Wall Art

What grows on this tree

A single tree with a twisted, gnarled trunk stands on a patch of grass beside a pale stone. Its branches carry narrow gray-green leaves and a surprising harvest: a red apple, an orange, a golden pear, a purple fig, a heavy bunch of dark grapes, a yellow lemon, a blushing peach, a crowned pomegranate and a pair of green olives. Count them and there are nine, the same number as the qualities Paul names across verses 22 and 23.

Above the tree, in hand-drawn brown lettering: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.” Several of the fruits (fig, grape, pomegranate, olive) are the ones that grew in the land of the Bible itself.

Why “fruit” and not “fruits”?

Paul wrote to a group of young churches in Galatia, in the center of what is now Turkey, who were arguing over whether keeping the religious law was what made someone right with God. His answer, in chapter 5, is to set two lists side by side. First come the “works of the flesh”, a long and messy catalog of what people produce on their own. Then comes this verse.

The contrast is in the grammar. Works are many and are made; fruit is singular and grows. Paul describes one harvest with several flavors, not a checklist of separate virtues to be earned one at a time. The list continues in verse 23 with meekness and temperance, then closes by saying that against such things there is no law.

“Longsuffering” is a word the King James translators helped make familiar: patience that holds out for a long time, especially with difficult people. It sits in the middle of the list for good reason.

For a confirmation or a baptism

Many churches read Galatians 5 when young people are confirmed, since the verse describes the life the Spirit is meant to grow in them. The print makes a warm present for a confirmand, a newly baptized adult or a godchild, and its fruit colors sit naturally in a kitchen, breakfast nook or dining room.