The wind bloweth where it listeth (chooses to blow), and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh (where it comes from), and whither (where) it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. – John 3:8
Compared to the blowing of the wind, the operation of the Holy Spirit is known by its effects, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Gal. 5:22-23). These effects, or spiritual graces, are imparted to the soul of the Christian by the Holy Spirit and can increase more and more as long as the Christian does not hinder the work of the Spirit in his or her soul.
The following remarks were taken from Clarke’s Commentary of the Bible.
Love: An intense desire to please God and to do good to all people. Love is the very soul and spirit of true Christianity. Love is the fulfilling of the law and it is what gives energy to faith itself.
Joy: The happiness that arises within us from a sense of God’s pardoning mercy and the hope of eternal glory, of which the pardon of our sins is but a foretaste.
Peace: The calm, quiet and order which take place in a justified soul, instead of the doubts, fears, alarms, and dreadful forebodings which every true penitent feels more or less, and which must be felt until the assurance of pardon brings peace and satisfaction to the mind. Peace is the first sensible fruit in regard to the pardon of sin.
Long-suffering: The bearing with the frailties and provocations of others from the consideration that God has borne long with us, and that, if He had not, we should have been speedily consumed by His wrath. Long-suffering is the bearing up through all the troubles and difficulties of life without murmuring or repining, and submitting cheerfully to every dispensation of God’s providence — thus deriving benefit from every circumstance of life.
Gentleness: Graciousness, kindness — a very rare grace, often lacking in many who have a considerable share of Christian excellence. A good education and polished manners, when brought under the influence of the grace of God, will bring out this grace with great effect.
Goodness: The perpetual desire and sincere study to abstain from every appearance of evil and to do whatever is good to the bodies and souls of all people to the utmost of our ability; but all this must spring from a good heart — a heart that is purified by the Spirit of God.
Faith, used here for faithfulness. Punctuality in performing our promises and conscientious carefulness in preserving what is committed to our trust, such as the transacting of any business that was assigned to us or the restoring of something to its proper owner; and neither betraying the secret of our friend, nor disappointing the confidence of our employer.
Meekness: A mild spirit toward the weak and the erring, and the patient suffering of injuries without feeling a spirit of revenge. Meekness produces an even balance of all our tempers and passions. Meekness is the entire opposite of anger.
Temperance: Having self-control, or moderation, especially in regard to sensual or animal appetites such as eating, drinking, sleeping, etc.
Those Christians whose lives are adorned by these godly virtues cannot be condemned by any law, for the whole purpose and design of the moral law of God is fulfilled in those who have the Spirit of God producing in their hearts and lives these fruits of the Spirit.