By Their Fruits You Will Know Them

Monica Portogallo considers Jesus' exhortation to look beyond initial appearances as a way to avoid misjudging others.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit." (Matthew 7:15-17) 

When have I misjudged someone?

Lately, I have been looking back on situations where I misjudged someone, for better or for worse. Sometimes it was because I didn’t allow myself to look closely enough at someone to really know them. Other times, it was because I ignored or downplayed their good or bad actions because I thought other factors were more important. 

These thoughts have led me to see the wisdom of Jesus’ exhortation to know the tree by its fruits. He did not say: 

• You will know the tree by its size or shape 

• You will know the tree by its bark 

• You will know the tree by how green its leaves are 

• You will know the tree by where it is planted 

• You will know the tree by the trees around it 

• You will know the tree by the tree it came from 

• You will know the tree by what people say about it 

Get close enough to really look

In order to know the tree by its fruits, we need to allow ourselves to be close enough to the tree (within the bounds of prudence, of course) to see its fruits. We need to trust our own God-given instincts and sense of taste, even when other people might be telling us how great (or terrible) the fruit from that tree is. 

I invite everyone to join me in thinking more critically about how we think about those around us. Are we allowing other factors besides a person’s own words and actions to influence how we think about that person? 

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Copyright 2024 Monica Portogallo
Images: Canva