Friday, November 20, 2015

Bearing Christian Fruit

by Katie Armstrong

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit."
— Luke 6:43 (NIV)

When we declare ourselves as Christian, we declare an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ; for, this is what it truly means to be Christian.

When we live a life that is filled with envy, slander, un-forgiveness, hate, bitterness, resentment, immorality, self-centeredness — bad fruit — under the proclamation of Christianity (an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ), we become hypocrites; for, Jesus Christ was never any of those thing.

You can't have an intimate relationship with someone (Jesus) if they live their life valuing completely different values than you. It just doesn't work.

You can't be a "good tree," and have "bad fruit."

It's time to stop calling ourselves Christian until we care enough to find out what being Christian actually means.

"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit."
—Matthew 12:33 (NIV)