A Different Kind of Fruit

In the midwest where I grew up, fruits seemed scarce. When I moved to California, my fruit options expanded. Kiwi was new to me, but I couldn’t resist trying them when a commercial grower brought a big box to share at church.

One summer, on an extended family vacation, we picked long-stem cherries in Idaho. I grew to love those dark beauties; I still do.

Are you familiar with Spiritual Fruit? Nine desirable character traits are produced in us by the Holy Spirit. Listed in Galatians 5:22, they are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

But in studying the words of Jesus today, I ran across a completely different type of fruit. Yes, we can tell a tree by its fruit, but the fruit he mentioned here set forth a new challenge.

Do you ever stop to think that what comes out of our mouths comes from our hearts? Based on this premise, Jesus explained that a good man brings good things out of the treasure of his heart, and an evil man brings forth evil (Matthew 12:33-37 NKJV).

But his real clincher is this: “By your words you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.” I have often thought about my words being positive or negative, but today I looked at them in a new light.

Paul's teaching is the same. Hebrews 13:15 (NIV) says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise---the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”

He further emphasizes the importance of words in Ephesians 4:29 (NIV): Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  

In The Message, Eugene Peterson refers to Jesus’ teaching by saying, “It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. Words are powerful; take them seriously.”