By their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7:16 (NIV)
Basic Holiness – The Fruit Series – Part 3
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6
“By their fruit you will recognize them.” Jesus said to his friends while warning them about false teachers and prophets.
The Apostle Paul expanded Jesus statement:
“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” (Gal 5:19-23 MSG.)
Straight forward. Easy. Got it.
Yeah?
The thing is… This is an easy list to use from your couch while you’re watching TV and surfing the internet. It’s easy to look at someone from a distance and make a quick judgment about where they land.
AND, we almost always think of this (above passage) regarding others but rarely do we take it inward and check out what's going on in our own lives.
The only way to tell (fruit) is to spend time, get up close and personal, do a little digging, do a little living, and see what comes out in the wash (or what falls from the tree). There have been people I’ve written off as “Magic Show Religious” so and so’s, but who have actually turned out to have a huge “heart of compassion.” AND then, there are those who I thought had a “genuine affection for humanity,” but who just turned out to have a “vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival” behind closed doors.
When it comes to things like who to take advice from, what books to read, who to vote for, (Remember, I’m an Aussie, and I’m probably talking about my own country *wink*), who you can trust, who you can follow, and all these kinds of things, it’s easy to go with first impressions and assumptions. Follow the crowd. Listen to sound bites. Read crazy articles on the internet. It’s another thing to be humble and vulnerable enough to take a step back and figure out where your heart is and whether or not that person/idea/whatever resonates. Do you need to adjust? Do you need to swallow your pride? Can you find any love anywhere?
Above it all, look for the love…
Go to Part 4 – Grabs for Happiness »
Written by Lizzy Milani
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