Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control

As God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, enabling us to mortify sin and cultivate personal holiness, He causes us to bear several fruits that reflect His own character. In Galatians 5:22–23, Paul gives us one list of these fruits, and today we are looking at the last three that he mentions: faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Of course, we know that the Holy Spirit works saving faith in us so that we can trust in Christ alone and be saved (Eph. 2:8–10). This is not what Paul is talking about, however, when he refers to faithfulness as a fruit of the Spirit in today’s passage. Matthew Henry gets at the essential meaning of the fruit of faithfulness when he comments that it means “fidelity, justice, and honesty, in what we profess and promise to others.” We see that faithfulness has to do primarily with what we say. Christians are to be people of their word, men and women who tell the truth and do not bear false witness against others (see Ex. 20:16). Those who bear the fruit of faithfulness keep their lawful promises and do not pledge to do more than they are able.

Gentleness does not mean weakness or timidity, nor is it the opposite of strength and power. Rather, Dr. R.C. Sproul notes that gentleness presupposes strength, manifesting strength that is under control. It is “strength wrapped in love,” in which our interactions with others are characterized by humble mercy rather than fleshly harshness. Jesus is our supreme example of gentleness, for although He is God Almighty, He dealt gently with repentant sinners, not breaking bruised reeds or quenching smoldering wicks (Matt. 12:20). Gentleness should be on display in Christians even when they must deal with others who are against them, for they are called to correct “opponents with gentleness” (2 Tim. 2:25). If we are to be gentle with our opponents, how much more with our friends?

The last fruit of the Spirit is self-control (Gal. 5:23), or “temperance, in meat and drink, and other enjoyments of life, so as not to be excessive and immoderate in the use of them” (Matthew Henry). Christians enjoy the good gifts of God, but they are not controlled by them. They make use of their Christian liberty, but they do not use it as an excuse for licentiousness (v. 13). Paul concludes his list of the fruit of the Spirit by stating, “Against such things there is no law” (v. 23). Laws put many restrictions on us, but there is nothing to restrict our practice of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control.