The fruit that the spirit and soul bear/produce determines who the Christian follows.
Matthew 7
15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
False prophets are men, so we’ll consider them to be any man.
So let’s consider that this verse concerns us all.
Why? Because we’ve already hurt our loved ones, families… or even said bad things about the people behind them.
And sometimes we’ve looked at ourselves as perfect when in reality we’re not; we’ve looked at the other as bad, yet we ourselves are no different.
Why does the Lord tell us to beware of them? Because they’re tall, short, handsome…?
No. That’s because they’re fake.
This means that reason is in the spiritual realm: mind and soul.
But very often, we tend to think of things as if they depended on a person’s looks. So let’s beware of the devil’s manipulation.
15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
That is, they approach with a double language, a behavior that seems acceptable, that seems loving, but inside they’re wolves.
Through the Word, we can mirror our spirit and soul.
This passage shows that in man there can be a spirit of selfishness, abuse, fraud, love of money, wickedness…
And so we can draw from it several prayer points to cry out to God for our lives.
Matthew 7
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Here, we’re talking about spiritual, not physical, fruit. Man is spiritual.
The devil makes sure we always look at things on a physical level. That’s his strategy.
We must eliminate this confusion and be aware that domination lies at the spiritual level.
Matthew 7
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
When the soul, the spirit of the person is good, then it can only bear good fruit.
But what is fruit?
Galatians 5.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
These fruits are not physical, but spiritual.
The fruits that the spirit and soul produce determine who the Christian follows.
They determine whether the person has received the seed of God or of the world.
These fruits are visible at every level, in every place: in the family, at home, at work, on the street, in church…
The root can be hidden, but not the fruit.
And it’s the fruit that determines the type of tree.
Love, peace, joy…come from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We were created by God, so we must automatically bear these fruits.
They are generated by our mind and soul.
So when we receive God’s Word into our minds and souls, we produce these fruits.
A person who does not produce these fruits has not received God’s seed. So instead of joy, there will be sadness; instead of peace, there will be turmoil; instead of goodness, there will be wickedness…
When a person produces fruit that is not of God, he is said to produce the fruits of the flesh.
Galatians 5
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, [e]fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like;
We can see that whoever is in disputes, divisions… is in hatred. And can’t you even see the sadness in this person’s soul?
Yes, because bad fruit connects to each other, just as good fruit does.
Matthew 7
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Here, the word “tree” should be replaced by “person”.
Anyone who produces good fruit is born of God, and if they make a mistake, they ask forgiveness right away, because they are a person of peace.
But he who produces evil fruit, divisiveness…has not been born of God. When he makes mistakes, he always tries to crush us, to make us accept his fault, his mistakes, no humility but pride…
All this to enable us to discern and no longer allow ourselves to be infected.
For if anyone is not born again, who does not have the seed of God, what is the use of fighting, of arguing with him?
On the contrary, you must bring this person to God through your patience, pray for this person through your love, push this person to understanding through your kindness…
Matthew 7
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
It would be terrible to wait for God’s judgment after our life on earth.
What makes a person bear bad fruit?
It’s because of the soul’s desires.
How to get out of it?
Standing on the Rock. Ask forgiveness in spirit, and decide in spirit to renounce.
Why the spirit? Because in the heart, there can still be pride, the love of money… The heart won’t release it quickly. But the person must remember the Word, so there will be remorse for the necessary repentance. And by using his mind in this way, the Holy Spirit will give him the courage and strength to give up, and even the power of sin will be destroyed in his soul.
From these verses, you can, for example, raise these intentions to the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ:
“Lord expose everything in me that is against my neighbor, my church, against Your will …
I ask Your forgiveness for all the evil in me, for what I have said and caused around me.
Lord, may Your light shine on me so that I do no harm to my brothers and sisters, family, colleagues…but that I may be a blessing to everyone.
May Your grace over my life lead me to produce only good fruit.
May my spirit, my soul, my tongue and my thoughts bear only good fruit.
Lord remove the evil fruit from my heart, my will, my thoughts, my blood…Let no evil fruit be in me.
I must bear the fruits that are worthy of You, that honor You.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.”
We have the opportunity to remove any bad fruit from our lives while we are on earth: anger, unforgiveness, hatred...you must remove this without delay.