Matthew 12:33
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.”
I used to get really angry about the culture in America. I was a good “culture warrior”, to say the least, but it was a very frustrating way to spend my time. It seemed that no matter how hard we tried at Called2Action, there was always another fire starting that needed putting out. Most of the time I ended up frustrated and mad.
Essentially, I was getting mad at a lemon tree for bearing lemons. What a fool.
It’s easy to point the white-hot spotlight of judgment at the culture, but do we have the guts to point it at ourselves? The Bible says that judgment must begin in OUR house (1 Peter 4:17). There’s also that little thing about dealing with the plank in our own eye, first (Mth. 7:5).
So…let’s turn the spotlight around and see what kind of fruit WE are bearing!
Are you slow to anger, slow to speak and quick to listen? Do you serve other’s interests more than your own? What are the words like that come out of your mouth? Do they build up more than they tear down? How about your patience? Do you “lose it”, easily? Are you a worrier? What do you do with your money? Are you using your spiritual gifts? Do you even know what they are?
A healthy fruit tree is OBVIOUS!
A healthy Christian should be, too.
