“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
In this trying hour, where many are confused and disoriented by what we see in our nation and world, there is still a godly wisdom we can gain and use to help us discern the voices around us.
Who is telling the truth, who is deceiving their audiences and who is only telling half-truths, which is also a great deception?
I used to listen to a preacher for a season and attended a two week training he hosted. But something strange was happening at this event.
The other attendees around me began feeling confused and hurt. We all felt an onslaught of spiritual attacks during our stay at this event.
Soon some of the attendees began turning on one another in the midst of the confusion, and competing for approval from this leader was strong.
I left this training having met the Lord there by His mercy, but with an awful aftertaste of the experiences I had with some of the others and this leader. It was baffling to me and I continued to pray for clarity and discernment.
I prayed for several years after this event, asking the Lord for help and insight as to what had occurred spiritually during that event. He kept telling me to look at the fruit that was produced from it and from this specific leader.
So I watched carefully with a heart to recognize what type of fruit was being produced.
It began with the leadership directly under this particular leader. Several soon left his ministry and one even publicly repented without specifics of what happened and when, but I and a few others knew what he was referencing. Another leader that had walked away shared publicly her pain from what appeared to be betrayal of leadership she had to leave behind.
And then the confusion of those that attended this event alongside of me never fully lifted for us until a couple of years later. Some of us were able to help one another bring understanding, others we never heard from again.
The fruit was clearly bad and the fruit did not lie. It produced strife within that ministry, wounds to those that trusted this ministry, and even pushed others to walk away from their faith. It was terribly sad to see the aftermath and the product of a leader that was not to be trusted.
I continued to ask the Lord why He led me to this event. I was certain without any doubt that He wanted me to be there. And as I processed what had happened, the Lord revealed to me that the multiple lessons I had personally gained was His intent. He wanted me to learn how to recognize who to trust by looking at the fruit they produced.
He also revealed to me other reasons He had me there, but I want to focus on the valuable lesson of discerning fruit.
Jesus taught us in the New Testament that there would be wolves amongst us walking around in sheep’s clothing. That should make us aware that there are those that are bad who will not be easily detected. They know how to blend in, they know how to appear as one of us, but they are not of us.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15
For these it will be by their actions and not necessarily their words that will tell on them.
Whenever we find ourselves confused about a certain individual we can always go back on these basic truths from our Lord. Let us look at the fruit they produce and ask the Spirit of God to confirm what kind of fruit it is. And let us be wise in who we allow ourselves to trust to listen to.