Stop Explaining Yourself
Their fruit will tell you what they already think of you.
A person very near and dear to my heart is under fire from people who should know better. My friend has been called names, lied about, slandered, miscalculated, used and abused. What makes it extremely grotesque is that these same people slinging mud and acting up swear they are God’s children.
Everyone has their purpose in life - even Judas, and even the king of Egypt. No one is perfect, of course and we all make mistakes, but some things are better left unsaid and undone. Once that line is crossed, it’s best to just leave evildoers in our Heavenly Father’s hands and close the door permanently.
If we haven’t started already, we need to begin to examine the fruit that the people in our lives produce. It’s alright if we don’t immediately know - we often won’t know if an apple will be sweet until it reaches maturity. Furthermore, we still won’t be able to assess an apple’s sweetness until we actually taste it with our own tastebuds. When it comes to people, that works out to how they treat you when you are down or going through a crisis. The ‘sweet apple’ will behave with the fruits of the Holy Spirit as their foundation (found in Galatians) -
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The corrupt fruit will cling to a different type of spiritual fruit altogether as illustrated in Proverbs 6,
16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
These things are dark, demonic, hateful and evil. Unlike the sweet apple which delights our tastebuds, this corrupt fruit is filled with filth, disease and decay and we reflexively spit it out in disgust. Sometimes we can look at it before we take a bite and see the wormholes, other times it can be polished up to hide its defects. Either way, we should strive to be that good fruit - that sweet apple.
Leave corrupt fruit on the ground to wither and decay. Wait for the good fruit to grow for a healthy harvest.
All praise, glory and honor to The Most High.