Good Trees, Good Fruit

“By allowing Him to fill us with all the good, we produce all the good.”

“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:18-20 NIV

Good, fresh, fruit is a hot commodity at my house and rarely lasts long. Especially berries. And it’s the same for the families of my friends. When one of us finds berries on sale (usually at Meijer, they have great sales), we text each other like we’re sending out the Bat-Signal.

It’s no secret that good fruit is good to eat, useful for nourishment, and bad fruit is something no one wants. It’s not useful for much, and usually just gets thrown out. And as Jesus says in our scripture today, a good tree (or in the case of berries… a bush) will produce the good fruit and a bad tree will produce the bad fruit. 

But, what was He really saying? Spoiler alert, He wasn’t just talking about trees. He was also talking about people. It goes deeper than being a good or bad person, but rather it’s about what we let inside us that produces the good or bad fruit. Some Bible translations use the words “healthy and unhealthy”. How do good trees become healthy? They’re well nourished with good care, which then allows them to produce healthy, nourishing, good, fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (NIV) These are our “good fruits”, mom friends. These are the qualities we produce when we allow ourselves to be nourished and healthy. Our nourishment doesn’t come from sun and water (although that probably helps), but rather from the Holy Spirit living inside us. By allowing Him to fill us with all the good, we produce all the good. 

So moms, think about those mountains of berries that our children eat and how they nourish their bodies. Think of the care those fruit farmers put into producing good fruits. What if we put that much care into making sure WE are producing good fruits?

Action Steps:

• Be mindful of the influences you allow into your heart and mind. Those things will affect what you’re producing. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you so full of good fruits, there's no room for any bad. 

• What if instead of texting our friends about berry sales (ok maybe in addition to the berry sale texts, because I definitely want to know where to get the cheap berries), we encouraged our friends to fill themselves, and their children, with spiritual fruits? Ask a mom friend how you can be praying over her spiritual fruit bowl today. 

Written by Cathrine, mom of 4

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