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You Will Recognize Them by Their Fruit

8. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Can one gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles

9. Likewise, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a bad tree brings forth bad fruit. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is only fit to be cut down and thrown into the fire. This is why you should distinguish the good from the bad by their fruits. (Chap. 27:8-9)

Christ explains, corrects
and deepens the word:

At the end of the days of materialism, of the “time of avarice and greed,” many false prophets will appear. They will talk a lot about the love of God – and yet their works will be the works of men. Not the one who speaks of the love of God is a true prophet and a spiritually wise man, but solely the one whose works are good.

The gift of discernment, however, is given only to the one who first examines his own cast of mind: whether he truly believes in the gospel of selfless love himself and fulfills what is meant by it, and what he has already actualized himself, out of selfless love toward his neighbor.

You can recognize your fellow man and sense the difference between the good, the less good and the bad, only when you have attained a certain degree of spiritual maturity.

The one who still condemns his neighbor and thinks and speaks negatively about him cannot yet assess his fellow man. He lacks the gift of discernment. He merely passes judgment and does not examine.

If you are still a bad fruit yourself, how can you recognize the good fruit? The one who does not actualize the laws of God thus lacks the gift to discern between what is good, less good and bad.

And so, whoever wants to assess his neighbor should first examine himself to see whether he has the gift of discernment between the just and the unjust.

A good fruit can be discarded very quickly and the bad one approved, when the rotten fruit makes a show of itself with a lot of words, using many seemingly convincing words and gestures.

Recognize: Like attracts like. Rotten fruits are closer than good fruits to the one who is himself still a rotten fruit. But whoever is selfless is a good fruit, and the good, the selfless, is also near him.

Whoever is selfless also has the gift to discern between the good, the less good and the bad fruits. And so, whoever wants to discern between the good and bad fruits must first be a good fruit himself. Only the good fruit can recognize the bad. The bad fruit always seeks like-minded bad fruits, in order to go against the good ones. The bad fruits condemn, reject, judge and bind.

The good, ripe fruits are understanding, of good will and tolerant, and are kind toward their neighbor. They may very well address serious shortcomings, but they keep their neighbor in their heart. This means that they no longer judge, condemn or sentence.

I repeat: You shall recognize them by their fruits.

The good fruit knows the bad fruit, yet the bad fruit does not recognize the good fruit. The good fruit looks only to the good, the bad fruit only to the bad. The person thinks, speaks and acts accordingly.

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