From “Discipleship and Discipline”, by Willliam H. Hicks, copyright, March, 2005:

“A disciple’s task is to glorify God the Father.  This is accomplished by bearing much fruit.  Earlier in John 15, the Lord identified Himself as the “true Vine”, illustrating the mechanics of how we bear fruit.  But to what fruit is He referring?  In Galatians 5: 22 – 23, the Apostle Paul says:  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  These elements of the fruit of the Spirit are all relational terms.  They describe how we move from the Word of God to the world and in the world.  These attributes cannot be made manifest unless they are manifest in our relationship to others.  Paul explores the application of these principles and attributes also in Romans 12: 9 – 21.  Remember that our Lord Jesus came “not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill”.  Thus, it is established that our task is to bear much fruit and that fruit-bearing is lawful, congruent with Hebraic legacy.  Notice that the Apostle says the fruit of the Spirit is (singular), not fruits of the Spirit are (plural); yet, he goes on to list nine elements of the fruit of the Spirit.  A useful means for visualizing this truth is to consider an orange.  The single fruit, encased in its distinctive skin, is called an orange- whole, undivided.  However, once you peel it to get at the sweet, juicy edible fruit inside, you may find as many as nine sections that comprise the one orange.  Each section bears the distinctive taste of an orange.  Thus, when the apostle Paul refers to the fruit of the Spirit in the singular, it is helpful to think of an orange.”