Philippians 4:4-9

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.

6 Do not [e]be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

9 As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Qualities of Christ in Believers

No one works up the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the character qualities of the Holy Spirit that God does in us when we become born again. The "fruit" is singular because it is a package deal when we receive the Holy Spirit, the fruit is in Him.

If someone does not have the fruit they do not have the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 7:18-20 "…18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.…"

The fruit of the Spirit are not works. Even ungodly people can have good works but they will not have the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit are character qualities only the Holy Spirit has, they are as follows;

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law."

This fruit can only be discerned with Spiritual eyes because non-believers can appear to have it but it is not genuine. Non-believers attempt to be seen as good people often faking qualities, but the qualities are superficial and do not last through difficulties.

When the fruit in someone is genuine it will be present all the time in every situation. The fruit is not subject to circumstances and is steady and deeply rooted all the time.

When a believer momentarily and temporarily slips out of the character of Christ they hate it, confess it, and begin again to obey the Holy Spirit.

1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

Hardened Hearts

Unconfessed sin destroys a person, not because of the guilt but because the refusal to repent causes hardness of heart which in turn brings trials in life because of the hardness.

Refusal to pay attention to one's conscience when guilty over sin will bring a hard heart that at some point can never be softened again.

 
Romans 2:5
"But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed."

Psalm 34:18
"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

Pride prevents an offender from admitting their sin against another person and God. The stronger the pride, the more resistance to confess the harder the heart becomes.
God will either break a person with a hard heart through many very difficult experiences or He will turn them over to their hard heart never to be able to be cleansed from it.

 
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
It is only through confession of sin to God and to the one offended that the offender can be softened to begin growing again. Those who will not confess do not grow but worse yet they regress, becoming harder than before.

 
Ephesians 4:18
"They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart."

Daniel 5:20
"But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him."

The prideful unrepentant heart always loses in the long run.

One God One Way