What Fruit Would Be Produced?

One morning, I was driving to run errands and fill up with gas. As I went, I looked down at my gas hand, noting it was empty. Breanne had driven it home the night before, and we should have stopped and got gas, but it was late, so we didn’t. I told her I thought she drove it home empty, but she assured me t wasn’t empty.

That morning, I thought, “When I stop, I am going to take a picture to show her that it is indeed on empty and I was right.” As soon as that thought came through my mind, the Lord asked me a question. He said, “What fruit would that act produce?”

This pivoting question took me back to several years ago when I was doing an interview with Joyce Meyer. She had made a statement to me, then she stopped and said, “Would you delete that please, even though it is true, it would produce no good fruit.”

It has been a statement that returns to me time after time – just as it did that day.

What type of fruit are our words and actions creating?

That day, as my vehicle filled with gas, I began to reflect on my motive for taking a picture and sending it to Bre. Mainly, it was to show her I was right and she was wrong – which is pride. Ouch!

Pride always goes before a fall. Never doubt that. We never want pride or our need to be right, to be our motive for anything.

Okay, it would be a true statement, but what kind of fruit would it produce? Frustration. Hurt feelings. Perhaps even offense. Is it worth all that? I think not.

My friends, there are things that we know about people and situations that are true. However, just because they are true does not mean they should be repeated. Before repeating a truth that would hurt someone or would smear their character, we must ask ourselves this question. “What fruit would that act or those words produce?”

If the answer is that it will produce nothing good, then we need to keep it to ourselves.

I see this often with parents or spouses, they feel they must say something. They have a need to be right. At times like those, even though it very well may be the truth, the words that often come out only produce bad fruit. Hurt. Resentment. Anger.

Galatians 5:22-23 says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The Amplified Bible says it like this; But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law that can bring a charge].

If our words and actions produce this kind of fruit, that’s good. However, if our words and actions produce any negative fruit, something different from this, again, we should keep them to ourselves.

Dear friends, like you, I am always learning. Often being corrected. Continuously growing in Christ. I often feel God teaches me lessons so that I can pass them on to others. I hope this teaching blesses you today and causes you to look closely at the fruit your words are producing, just as it has with me. To God be all the glory.