You would never judge a book by a page you opened it at would you?
Would you judge a movie by a single scene that you might have walked into the middle of while it played?
It’s easy to do, but this is what it is like when we choose to judge a person by the current situation or experience they are existing with based on the moment we meet them or begin to know them. It’s not fair really, and it isn’t something that we want anyone to do to us.
There is a scripture I always hear that is used slightly out of context in too many situations and that is “you will know them by their fruits”. Yet all too often people interpret this as “you should judge them by their fruits”, but who are we to judge based on our perception of the fruit we are looking for? What about the potentiality for a plank in our eye that skews our spiritual sight?
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Matthew 7:15-19
So what did Jesus mean when He said this? I believe He meant for us to seek His guidance in every matter of the human condition so that we may know the person we are with. Where are they in life? What are their circumstances? Is there anything holding them back from a relationship with God? Are they living falsely or righteously? Are their spiritual and physical fruits good or bad? Only He knows the whole truth.
So it’s still always best to slather a whole lot of grace and mercy on situations where we may perceive a person wrongly and view their fruits as bad when it could just be a situation right before the spiritual fruit has fully matured and seek the Lord’s discernment when it comes to discerning the person.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
I haven’t yet met a person who is perfected on earth and either have you. I haven’t found one who has lived the perfect and most righteous life either, but if I choose to judge them by a certain page in the book of their life that I entered into, I will likely judge wrongly. But, I can at least know a person by their fruits, as in are they kind, gentle, or loving? Are they cruel, impatient, or unforgiving? The questions we need to ask God are, “what do you want me to do?” and “What kind of prayers can I speak over a person who is experiencing issues in their life so that Jesus Christ can help them it they are not manifesting the fruit of the very Spirit of God?”.
I write this because there are many in the body of Christ in the present hour working so hard against other parts of the body of Christ. Jesus said that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand and we must do all we can to unify in His body, walk, talk, pray, and live as Jesus showed us to in order to stand against the wiles of the devil and all his various schemes.
But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Matthew 12:25
Yes, satan himself knows this and plans tactics against Christ’s church. The devil seeks to guide us to be divided, rail us against one another, and have our differences to prevent us from spreading the gospel of Jesus and diluting the word of God by our infighting and derision. The whole point of identifying the false prophets, apostles, and teacher is to prevent damage to the body of Christ. Yet, when we exclude imperfect men from the groups because of past sin, potential issues in life, and the like, then we are doing the damage rather than trying to edify His body. Again, a whole lot of love, nurturing, discerning, forgiving, and applying, correctly of course, grace and mercy is the best choice.
I pray today that we all learn how to navigate these challenging days for all people. That we all learn to discern what our enemy is doing and work against it by not giving into the temptation of error, while seeking to bring more lost souls into the body of Christ. I also pray that we understand the Word of God in a ever-increasing revelatory way and apply it in the Spirit of God to do the Word rightly. And I pray for those who truly are false prophets/apostles/teachers/preachers/shepherds to repent and be saved too. Amen!
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22
Blessings!
Darrell