Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

This article is about the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Catholic tradition. For spiritual or charismatic gifts in the general Christian tradition, see Spiritual gift.

The Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are gifts which Catholics and Anglicans believe the Holy Spirit gives to further their sanctification. These gifts, enumerated (approximately) in Isa 11:2-3,[1] are:

Isaiah 11:2-3 (New International Version)
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD –
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

Theologians consider them to be supernatural and permanent qualities, which make a person to be attentive to the voice of God, which render one susceptible to the workings of actual grace, which make one love the things of God, and, consequently, render one more obedient and docile to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.[1] The seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Courage, Knowledge, Reverence, and Fear of the Lord.

In some respects they are similar to the virtues but a key distinction is that the virtues operate under the impetus of human reason (prompted by grace), whereas the gifts operate under the impetus of the Holy Spirit; the former can be used when one wishes, but the latter operate only when the Holy Spirit wishes.[2] The former are like the oars of a boat; the latter, the sails.[citation needed]

Another related but distinct notion are the spiritual gifts that St. Paul describes in, for example, 1 Cor 12-14, which are, by contrast, given for the upbuilding of others. These are also part of the Catholic tradition but more commonly known as charisms or charismata.[1]

In Summa Theologica II.2, Thomas Aquinas asserts the following correspondences between the seven Capital Virtues and the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit:[2]

Virtue >> Gift

Faith >> Understanding

Hope >> Fear of God

Love >> Wisdom

Prudence >> Counsel

Justice >> Piety

Temperance >> Knowledge

Fortitude >> Fortitude

== Fruits of the Holy Spirit ==

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit:

“The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: ‘charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.'”

These fruits are the result of growth in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These fruits are tendencies rather than mere willingness, because “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” In the person who possesses a Fruit of the Spirit, this willingness bears fruit in the life and behavior of the person.

Charity
Charity is love, both of God and of neighbor. It is our love for God above all things for his own sake and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

In addition, Paul explained in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians that Charity IS the greatest…far above any of the other Fruits. Charity is about giving of oneself. When Jesus died on the cross, it wasn’t about anything other than Charity.

1 Cor 13:4-7 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (KJV)’

Joy
Joy is the happiness found in union with the Lord. As C.S. Lewis described it, it is a glimpse of the perfect happiness of heaven that leads us to desire heaven. Peace Peace refers to dealing justly with the world, as well as remaining in good conscience before God. do you believe in god or not answer yes/no

Patience
Patience, also known as long-suffering, refers to the tendency to endure both temptation and suffering without it leading to sin.

Kindness
Kindness, also known as Benignity, is the tendency toward acting kindly and doing good.

Goodness
Goodness is the tendency to avoid sin and do good.

Generosity
Generosity is an openness to sharing one’s own gifts and goods with others. It is the opposite of both gluttony and envy.

Gentleness
Gentleness, also known as mildness, is the tendency to allow provocations to go unanswered.

Faithfulness
Faithfulness is the standing strong in faith, and strength against diversion away from faith and virtue.

Contrasted with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
There is also a catalogue of the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit based on Isaiah 11:2. They are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God. The principal distinction between these two lists would seem to be that the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are what Christians are to pray for, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit are the manifestation of those gifts.

See also

Holy Spirit

Spiritual gift

References
Note: Based on Galatians 5:22-23, there is one fruit of the Spirit in nine parts: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”