As I was studying the fruit of the Spirit, I got to thinking about the good fruit and bad fruit Jesus talks about in Matthew 7:16-20.
“You will know them by their fruits.”
And it made me ask a question that I think Christians as a whole need to sit with.
Are we actually producing the fruit of the Spirit?
Not just claiming Jesus.
Not just quoting scripture.
Not just defending our beliefs.
Not just showing up to church.
Not just calling ourselves Christian.
But actually producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Because those are not just pretty words for a Bible study. They are evidence. They show what is growing in us. They reveal whether our hearts are being shaped by Jesus or hardened by something else.
And I think this is where we have to be honest.
It is easy to talk about good fruit and bad fruit when we are pointing at everyone else. It is easy to look at the world and say what is wrong. It is easy to look at someone else’s life and decide what kind of fruit they are producing.
But what about us?
What kind of fruit are Christians producing when someone in our own community is struggling with drugs?
Is our first response judgment? Disgust? Gossip? Or is it compassion? Grief? Prayer? A desire to see them healed, restored, and loved back to life?
What kind of fruit are we producing when a gay or lesbian couple walks into church?
Is it discomfort? Whispering? Condemnation before conversation? Or do we remember that they are people made in the image of God, walking into a place where they should be able to encounter the love, mercy, truth, and presence of Jesus?
That is where I believe our fruit is truly revealed.
Not only in how we treat the people who are easy for us to understand, but in how we treat the people who stretch us. The people we disagree with. The people who live differently than us. The people who believe differently than us. The people who make us uncomfortable. The people the world, and sometimes even the church, has pushed aside.
I do not want my life to push people away from Jesus.
I want my fruit to invite people to ask me about Him.
I want the way I love to make someone wonder where that love comes from. I want the way I show mercy to point back to the mercy that has been shown to me. I want the way I speak truth to still carry gentleness. I want hurting people, doubting people, addicted people, rejected people, different people, and lost people to feel like they can come close enough to encounter Christ, not be shoved away before they ever get the chance.
That does not mean truth no longer matters.
It means love cannot be missing from the truth we claim to carry.
Jesus was never weak. He was never passive. He called out sin, corruption, hypocrisy, and abuse of power. But He also stopped for the wounded. He touched the untouchable. He defended the woman everyone else wanted to condemn. He ate with the people religious leaders rejected. He saw the person before He addressed the sin.
And that is what should convict us.
Because somewhere along the way, many Christians have confused anger with righteousness. We have confused control with conviction. We have confused cruelty with boldness. We have confused political loyalty with faithfulness to God.
But the fruit of the Spirit does not look like mockery. It does not look like pride. It does not look like hatred. It does not look like dehumanizing people. It does not look like calling ourselves Christians while showing no mercy.
And bad fruit does not become holy just because we attach a Bible verse to it.
Jesus said we would know people by their fruit.
Not by their political party. Not by how loudly they argue. Not by how many verses they know. Not by how many people they can correct, shame, or overpower.
By their fruit.
So before we examine everyone else’s tree, we have to be willing to examine our own.
Are we producing love?
Are we producing patience?
Are we producing kindness?
Are we producing gentleness?
Are we producing self-control?
Or are we producing something that looks nothing like Jesus while still trying to call it Christian?
I do not want to claim Jesus with my mouth and deny Him with my actions.
I want my life to look like someone who has been loved by Him, forgiven by Him, corrected by Him, and changed by Him.
Not perfect. Not sinless. Not better than anyone else.
Just surrendered.
Because the world does not need more people using Christianity to prove they are right.
The world needs more people whose lives make others curious about Jesus.
And if love, mercy, kindness, gentleness, and self-control are missing, then we need to be honest.
That is not the fruit of the Spirit.
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