Author: Colin Attridge, paper back, 265 pages. First printed in 1998 by The "Dawn" Book Supply, this is the 2nd edition printed in 2016.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law." These are the aspects of the fruit described in Galatians 5: 22-23 which are the subject of this book.
This edition contains a subject index and also a scripture index.
Book Review
The Fruit of the Spirit is one of the most enjoyable, practical and helpful spiritual books I have read. At times I’ve wondered just exactly what our judgement will be based on, and for me this book clearly outlines what our Lord will be looking for in each of us. Bro Colin works through each of the character traits that combine to make up the fruit of the spirit, and explains how we can test to see if we have the true fruit, and how we can work to develop these characteristics further in our life.
One of his key points is that God is more interested in who we are rather than what we do. If we don’t have love for God and our fellow man at our core, then our “acts of service” are no more pleasing to God than the “good deeds” of many non-believers (1 Cor 13). As he asks, “Are we a human being, or just a human doing”?! The solution he unfolds throughout the book is that we need to focus on “being” (who we are) by developing the fruit of the spirit through delight and meditation on the Word, and then the “doing” of spiritual activities will naturally develop.
Brother Colin is a very engaging author and his thoughtful (and at times entertaining) observations of human nature, make the book an easy read which will appeal to readers of all ages. I particularly recommend it to young people who may find picking up a spiritual book a little daunting – I guarantee you won’t get lost in archaic language. He doesn’t beat around the bush, and deals openly and helpfully with some struggles and issues we face in life, which we can find difficult to talk to others about. Because his book is so practical in nature, I found each time I read I gained principles I could immediately set about trying to implement in my life.
Sister Abby Archer