A tree shall be known by its fruit

The title is from a very popular bible verse that’s a major driving force in my spiritual and religious life. It is the words of Jesus. Initially taught as a performance based motivator by many pastors and preachers, this verse forced me to look at myself and work on showing visible signs of what is going on inside me. A tree shall be known by its fruit so naturally an apple tree should bear apples. If it does not bear apples then what use is it? A lemon tree should bear lemons. The verse is a comparison between a tree with its fruit and believers and their deeds/lives. If you claim you are a Christian then your “fruit” or life/deeds should show it to be so. Whether the motivation is from external factors (deeds motivated) or internally (heart motivated) the fact remains: you are showing the world what you are based on the fruit you bear, based on the life you are living, the daily deeds you are performing.

It is a very dangerous thing to openly align yourself with a specific belief or religion or faith. As soon as you do this then you are shouting to the world “I am a lemon tree”. And beware if you at any stage do not bear any lemons, or perhaps pop-out an orange. Then you will be judged, laughed at and even condemned. I don’t see a problem with this though. Aligning yourself openly to a specific cause or belief is a bold thing to do and with this decision comes a huge responsibility. The onus is on you if you do not adhere to your own decision to be a Christian, Muslim, Atheist or whatever belief you chose to openly declare. Yes there’s room for mistakes and we all take time to “grow” lemons and to fall in-line with the core beliefs of our religion or faith… but c’mon; eventually you should at least have gotten rid of the things that directly oppose your faith/religion right?

It is then with all of this in mind that I cannot help but feel extremely frustrated with people and even friends that have made this choice and aligned themselves with a certain set of beliefs. Yet they are still bearing the wrong fruit, or not bearing fruit at all. They exhibit beliefs and points of view that are nowhere near the faith/religion or belief they openly proclaim to follow.

We all have certain points if view and beliefs that are not always in line with what we want it to be. But (yes there’s always a but) are you openly proclaiming to the world how you love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself? And in spite of this you have absolutely zero love or patience for people of a certain race or gender.

Let me state my point directly: I find it extremely hypocritical and frustrating that people that claim to be Christians and still refuse to forgive certain people and/or have no love for other. These Christians have smart ways to explain how they do love all people but it’s nothing more than a clever cop-out.

You chose to align yourself with a commanded that says you are to love all people more than you love yourself. This is what you are aligning yourself against, this is what your fruit is supposed to be. Yet you love only the people that falls into your little box of similar beliefs and religious alignment. Then, on top of this you dare to judge these people for not having the same beliefs as you (yet you quite obviously fail to show how you actually have this “fruit”)? Really?

Breathe…

The world is tough place and if you make any bold statements that align yourself to a cause/belief prepare to be held accountable. More so if you want to make a difference in this world you HAVE to align yourself to something, and do so openly. Then it is critical that whatever tree you choose to be you 100% fully agree with otherwise you will be the reason why people are driven away, get angry and put up a fight with you and your beliefs.