Know them by their fruits
A bad tree cannot bear good fruit, and a good tree cannot bear bad fruit.
Lately, I’ve been coming into a deeper understanding of what it means to know people by their fruit—to trust not simply what someone says, but to pay attention to what their actions consistently reveal.
Words can be beautiful. Promises can sound sincere. People can tell us what they intend to do, who they intend to be, or how they intend to show up. But eventually, the fruit tells the truth.
I’ve been reflecting on the times in my life when someone told me they would do something and didn’t follow through. The times an exchange was agreed upon—I fulfilled my part, but the other person did not fulfill theirs. For a long time, I sometimes continued believing the words instead of accepting what the actions were showing me.
And yet, this reflection isn’t only about looking outward.
As I evaluate my life, the energies I’ve welcomed into it, and the experiences I’ve participated in creating, I’m also looking more deeply within myself.
What fruit am I bearing?
Do my actions match my words?
When I make a commitment, do I honor it?
When someone gives to me, do I reciprocate with integrity?
Do the people who encounter me leave with something good because I crossed their path?
Discernment is not simply learning to recognize bad fruit in others. It is becoming increasingly devoted to bearing good fruit ourselves.
I want my word to mean something.
I want what I say and what I do to be aligned.
I want to move through this world leaving behind the fruits of kindness, integrity, honesty, generosity, love, and respect.
And I am learning that I can hold myself to that standard while also allowing myself to recognize when someone else repeatedly chooses not to meet it.
We do not have to condemn the tree.
We simply have to become wise enough to recognize its fruit.
Trust patterns more than promises.
Trust actions more than words.
And above all, become the kind of tree whose fruit you would be grateful to receive.
With love,
Gage