- Key Verse
- “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit... A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Luke 6:43-45, NLT)
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Central Truth
What’s in a person’s heart will eventually show through: how they act, speak, and behave.
Reflections
For me, this passage strikes a very familiar chord. This passage, though it doesn’t really talk about trust, reminds me how much I should and have to trust God.When I was a small child, my mom and dad used to fight a lot. One day we were driving on the highway. They started fighting. Two police folk driving behind us pulled our car over and arrested my dad. That’s all I knew for sure.
Both parents told me their side of the story. Their stories contradicted each other; just as they were at odds when they argued. Since I don’t remember what happened, I used to get caught up in trying to decipher the truth–the “good fruit.” The big question that was constantly on my mind was “Who can I trust?” It became an obsession for me. But every time I came to this passage about the good and bad fruit, it reminded me look at the fruit my parents showed in their day-to-day lives. So I carefully examined all the fruit. Now it’s clear that was what God intended for me to do, and that it was His Spirit inside me telling me to do so. And it worked. Observing the fruit, and learning to discern and weigh things with God’s help every step of the way, I ended up being liberated from my confusion and pain. Well, the pain is still there. But as I immerse myself in God’s Word, following Him daily, seeking His direction for my life, I find that He helps me endure everything. That is, provided I take it to God first.
This passage reminds me to trust God, that my Maker knows what I can handle and when I can handle it. He will show me what fruit is good and what isn’t, but all in His time and plan, not mine. So when you don’t know how to recognize the truth, remember this: you can always trust God. Good fruit comes only from Him.
Discussion Questions
1. Are you seeking the truth–the “good fruit”–in your life?
2. Do you trust in the Lord to help you sort out the bad fruit (untruth) from the good fruit (truth)?
3. What are some ways you can daily exercise your faith, learning to lean more and more on the Lord for Truth?
Comments
The views expressed under “Comments” are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Trinity Assembly.
March 11, 2010 09:22 AM
My husband, Glenn, and have known Julia since she was born and have seen some of the issues she has gone through. She maye not remember us because we are first-service people, but we have seen her grow into a thoughtful, lovely young lady. It was very courageous of her to reveal so much of herself in the passage. God Bless you always, Julia. Glenn and Joan Wilson