Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Matthew 7:20
(Christ was talking about leaders in this Chapter, but this is one of my anchor verses in my Christian life)
One of the things I told my mum when I gave my life to Christ was that as much as I admire the people who introduce themselves and say “my name is …… and I am saved” I want to be the kind of person whose identity in Christ is revealed by how I live my life, how I interact with people. Don’t get me wrong I admire the people who let you know in an honest and open way that they are saved, but I just wanted to draw people towards me based on how I live my life.
How many times do we get shocked when someone tells us, or we find out that they are a Christian – simply because their fruits do not express their relationship with God? This is not from a place of judgment (none of us are perfect), it is just a thought that I always had in my mind! And so when I was not saved, I always thought going to church made me a good Christian – because I knew Christians who lived separate lives than their “Sunday lives” and still identified themselves as Christians. How different was I?
There is a prayer my mum always says when she prays over us, she says “may people see the God in you”. And that is such a deep prayer for me, because I also got to admire the relationship my mum had and has with God, because of her fruits.
When writing this word of the week, I thought about the story of the woman by the well in John 4. Jesus did not identify Himself as Jesus when they started speaking, but look at what she says to people “Come, see a man who told me everything that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). I mean Christ was so humble to the point that the woman was able to open up and be vulnerable, because she could relate to Him! His fruits were evident and for me when I think about when He was crucified, people said “truly He was the son of God”. Yes He spoke to people about it, yes, but most importantly He lived it out! Jesus hang out and spent time with everyone but they could tell that He was different – they knew He was the Christ because of His fruits!
My prayer for myself and for you is that we will be known by our fruits – that the world will see Christ in us, and that our relationship with Him will be reflected in our lives daily!
Dear God,
We cannot do this on our own, lead us in all areas of our lives that we may be able to reflect our love for you in our life. That through our fruits, people will be drawn to us, and eventually to you! Thank you God for using us in ways that ensure that you get the glory, it is never about us God, but always about you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
