Most Bible readers know or have heard about Paul’s list of the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. But we all know that Paul studied under a Jewish teacher name Gamaliel in Jerusalem before he was converted. In those studies, required by Jewish custom, he was to become familiar with the teachings of the great Jewish fathers. In one chapter we are told: “There are four things which bear good fruit in this world, and yield greater benefits for the world to come, if man observes them. They are honoring of parents, loving-kindness, peace-making, and, above all, the study of the Word. There are four things for which one who is guilty of them is punished both in this and in the world to come; namely, idolatry, incest, murder, and, above all, slander.” But to a greater degree, these teachings of the fathers also list additional graces that are developed by knowing the Word: “Reverence, respect, meekness, cheerfulness, purity, temperance, long-suffering, a good heart, acceptance of chastisement; loves God, loves righteousness, loves uprightness, loves reproof.”¹ So, for the apostle Paul, if these things were considered important and desirable by the unbelieving Jew, how much more should they be cherished and implemented by believing Christians. – Dr. Robert R Seyda