By Their Fruits

By Their Fruits
By M.T. Clark — P-2114 | 11/06/2026 – Today’s Audio Podcast
Today’s Message on YouTube:

Today’s photo of a calm pond with trees reflecting in the still water, framed by autumn-touched pines on both sides and a wide blue sky above, comes to us from yours truly, as I captured this view at East Greenbush Town Park in East Greenbush, NY, on October 1, 2023.

Well, it’s Friday, thank God, and I share this photo as a reminder that what grows in our life over time tells the truth about who we are.

This week at Celebrate Freedom, I praised the group for their faithfulness in showing up each week and following the Lord to find freedom from their hurts, habits, and hang-ups. I told them to be proud of staying the course, walking in new levels of freedom, and progressively growing into the people God made them to be, and that they can genuinely build healthy self-esteem by recognizing their obedience to God’s call—that they were the ones who leaned on His strength and made wise choices to resist temptation and the enemy’s lies. I commended them for their hard work and the victories they have won.

However, I also reminded them that while healthy self-esteem rooted in faithful effort and growth is good, true self-worth is something we can only receive from God. Our self-worth isn’t an accomplishment we earn; it is a gift from the Lord. Our self-worth was established when God created us in His image, but it is fully realized when we are redeemed through faith in Jesus Christ. While every human being has dignity as an image-bearer, our redemption through the blood of Jesus makes us priceless. We don’t have to hustle, perform, or arrive at some spiritual summit to prove our lives matter—the Son of God already settled that question on the cross.

Many people claim to be Christians, but Scripture warns that merely saying we know Jesus doesn’t mean He knows us. While a verbal profession of faith matters, Christ made it clear that genuine faith produces evidence: spiritual fruit that reveals the authenticity of our walk. Speaking of the fruit that grows in the life of a believer…

Our series, “The Beatitudes,” continues today with Jesus giving us the test for telling the real thing from the fake thing in the Christian life.

By Their Fruits

Jesus moves from the narrow gate to a warning about the people who’ll try to lead us away from the path that leads to life. In Matthew 7:15-20 (NKJV), Jesus tells us:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Jesus is warning us about a specific category of person. A false prophet isn’t a person who disagrees with us or holds a different opinion. A false prophet is somebody who presents themselves as a messenger of God but is working for a different master underneath.

The image Jesus uses is sharp. False prophets wear sheep’s clothing on the outside and are ravenous wolves underneath. The disguise is deliberate. The heart is predatory. Jesus is telling us that not every voice calling itself Christian is a Christian voice, and not every teacher calling themselves a shepherd is one.

Then Jesus gives us the test. You will know them by their fruits. We don’t know false prophets by their words, their platforms, or by the number of their followers. We will know them by what grows in their life and in the lives of the people they influence over time.

The tree-and-fruit image carries the whole teaching. A thornbush can’t give you grapes no matter how long you wait. A thistle can’t give you figs no matter how carefully you tend to it. The fruit of the tree reveals the nature of the tree. The life and results of a teacher reveal the nature of the teacher. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. And so, it follows that the heart of the teacher will produce the results of their influence. If the heart is lined up with God, the fruit of a life will show it. If the heart is lined up with something else, the fruit of a life will show that too.

So, how do we apply this teaching? There are two ways.

First, when we’re evaluating a teacher, a leader, or a voice in our life who claims to speak for God, we don’t look only at what they say in public. We look at the fruit, which is the character of their life. We look at the way they treat their own family, the way they handle money and power, and the way the people under their teaching are either growing or not growing. The fruit never lies, even when the words do.

Second, we turn the test on ourselves. We are trees too, right? The Lord is paying attention to our fruit and what’s growing in us. Is our life producing the kindness, patience, honesty, and love that the Holy Spirit grows in a healthy Christian life? If not, we should go to the Lord and ask Him to work on us at a “root level”, because the root is where the fruit comes from. If we are rooted in Christ, we will produce good fruit. If we are rooted in anything else, it will be a harvest of compromise and corruption.

Good fruit is possible for every believer, because every believer has the Holy Spirit at work in them. Our responsibility is to become rooted in our identity in Christ, to make a commitment to live by faith, and to walk in the Spirit every day.  When we live by faith and walk by the Spirit, our tree will bear good fruit.

Remember, every step we take toward the Lord is a step in the right direction. So, keep on walking and talking with God.

— M.T.

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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

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