fruit

The Tree and Its Fruit

15 "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.18 A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit.19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

matthew 7

this is not to say that we should be walking around judging everyone on their actions, rather, we have to be wise in discerning who to trust. we can't just be naive and believe anyone who says that they're a Christ follower! one of the best ways to figure this out is by simply looking at their actions, or their "fruit." if we can see them selflessly give themselves away without drawing attention to themselves and we see the Gospel being lived out in their life, we can have a pretty good feeling that their heart is in the right place. on the other hand, if we see someone calling themselves a Christ follower yet living a totally different lifestyle from what Jesus asks, we can be pretty sure that this person's heart is not in the right place us just yet. let's say someone calls themselves a Christ follower and you see them going out to drink all the time with their friends. is this bad? it depends. we can see the "fruit" that this person bears. if this person says that he or she is using this time to fellowship and develop others, we can simply look at the people who he or she is ministering to, is there any change? is there a desire for Jesus growing with that group of friends? or is that first person just hanging out for the sake of hanging out? i don't think i could trust someone who called themselves a Christ follower and didn't bear good fruit. see, a lot of people can say things, or promise things, but it's what they do about it that really matters sometimes, right? not that i'm saying that the most important thing is works, but like i've said before, we want to have hearts that are so on fire for God that we're COMPELLED to do good works. we want to do things for God because we love Him so much. we don't want to do things because we're told to, or we have to, or it's routine.

i like this thing that francis chan said in a sermon, more or less, "you can tell me that you're a christian, that's great. but i'll see if you really are by the way you live your life." honestly, that convicted me. it really gets me to think about the actions i take in my life. the decisions i make. the people i choose to be around. our actions are a reflection of where our heart is. be careful about choosing who to trust and believe! look to their lives and see if their HEART is where it should be. if not, pray with them, don't just abandon them, but build them up! get a group of brothers and sisters to pray over this person. one of the biggest things is to reexamine our hearts. do my actions reflect a heart that is for Jesus or myself?