On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
nine ladies dancing…

The nine ladies dancing have often been associated with the Fruit of the Spirit—not fruits, but fruit: a single, integrated gift made visible in nine elements—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…”
— Galatians 5:22–23

Fruit grows as a whole. You cannot cultivate sweetness without structure, or colour without nourishment. In the same way, the life shaped by God’s Spirit is not a collection of spiritual traits we choose according to personality or preference.

We do not get to claim love while refusing patience.
We cannot celebrate joy while dismissing self-control.
Peace does not exist without gentleness.

Broken Theology resists the temptation to perform spirituality by highlighting the parts that suit us while excusing the parts that challenge us. The fruit of the Spirit is not a badge of moral achievement, but the slow evidence of a life rooted somewhere deeper than fear or ego.

In a world marked by outrage cycles, performative kindness, and selective compassion, the image of dancing ladies offers a different vision. Dance requires coordination, attention, and responsiveness to one another. No single dancer carries the whole meaning. The beauty emerges in relationship.

The fruit of the Spirit grows over time, often unnoticed by the one bearing it. It cannot be rushed. It cannot be curated for public display. It ripens through ordinary faithfulness, through conflict and repair, through choosing to remain human when it would be easier to harden.

This is not about becoming perfect.
It is about becoming whole.

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May God grow in you
one whole fruit of love and truth—
ripened in due time.