Recognized by Our Fruit
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Matthew 7:15-16
We can recognize a Christian because they are Holy, and they reveal the fruit of the Holy Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Christians live by the fruit because of their divine Christ-like character. Their conversations are always guided by the Spirit and they always seek to bring Christ into the conservation.
In the last days Satan is always trying to infiltrate the church to make us ineffective, complacent, or have us believe his lies. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matthew 7:15) This describes Satan’s people that infiltrate the church, and we recognize a number of churches going against scripture. Satan is very active every minute of the day trying to destroy God’s people, and we need to watch to protect God’s people from false teaching.
The main fruit of the Spirit is love, and the other fruit fall under a heart of love. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) We can recognize a true Christians because their hearts are filled with the characteristics of love. The seasoned Christian will exhibit these characteristics with little effort because they love the Lord more than anyone or anything, which means they are closer to Lord than anyone on the planet. This means they have more of God’s love in their hearts to bring to their family, the Church, and to the world.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Be alert because Satan poses as the angel of Light and his attacks can go unnoticed. His goal is to slowly make us justify our will over God’s will, to choose to do something in place of what the Lord has called us to do. If one Christian does this then yeast can spread through the whole church.
Today make an effort to keep the church family from being deceived by Satan and remain in God’s truth. Be alert because Satan is desperately working to pull Christian’s away and you can identify them by their fruit.
Prayer: Lord, help me to never be deceived by Satan but always be alert to walk in your truth. Lord help me to die to my own will and let my will become your will. In Jesus name, Amen