Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.   Matthew 7:1-2 HCSB

If you read yesterday’s blog, you may remember me using this verse. I also spoke of the difference between judging and inspecting fruit. Today, I want to look at a couple of passages like our Scripture passage for today.

I also want to look at 2 Timothy 3:1-6 which says, “But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!

So, you may read this passage in 2 Timothy and think, “Well, don’t I have to judge someone to determine if they fall into one of these categories?” The answer is you have to inspect them. You have to inspect their fruit. Now I don’t mean you have to go to their homes or into their lunchbox at work and see if they have fruit. If they are producing the fruit of the Spirit, believe me it will show. If they are not, that too will show.

We are to be loving and kind even to those who come against us. It’s God’s job to judge and to execute vengeance (Romans 12:19). But we will also encounter those who are just evil and who either want nothing to do with God or claim to be Christians, but really are just faking it. 2 Timothy 3:6 tells us to avoid these people.

The fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22-23. These attributes are considered to be the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. It’s pretty easy to tell if people possess these qualities.

It’s just as easy to tell if they are doing the works of the flesh and these are; sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.

The first thing we should do is examine ourselves to see if we are producing any works of the flesh or if we are producing fruit of the Spirit. Then we should help others. We are told in Romans 12:18 that if it’s possible on our part, to live at peace with everyone. We should try to get along, but we must not become entangled in their sinful habits.

Jesus also told His disciples to move on if someone refused to listen in Matthew 10:14 when He said, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.”

We should be kind to everyone. We should exhibit kindness because it is a fruit of the Spirit. We must remember that we may be the only Bible someone will ever read. We can draw people to God with our fruits of the Spirit or we can send them in the opposite direction without hypocrisy. We walk a fine line as Christians.

We must also be careful who we associate with. We must ask God for wisdom and discernment in all we do. We are told in 2 Corinthians 6:14 that we are not to be mismatched with unbelievers. Paul goes on to question what partnership there can be between righteousness and lawlessness or between light and darkness. In verse 15 he asks what agreement Christ has with Belial or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

The answer to these questions is simple. We have nothing in common with unbelievers or workers of the flesh. This doesn’t mean we treat them with unkindness, but it does mean we exercise caution.

Pray for wisdom and discernment to help you to better inspect the fruit of an acquaintance. Help those you can but move on if you can’t and leave it to God.

Have a great day!