By their fruits, you shall know them.

This is a familiar guideline, but what does it mean?

Does it mean we should judge people like produce? Obviously not. Does it mean people are okay if what they say and do feels good? Not entirely.

Does it mean if someone doesn’t always act correctly, what they say is no good? Not exactly: we are all imperfect. True, if someone is substantially out of compliance with the Gospel, we should be a little careful in accepting what he or she says as being godly, but we are not being called here to judge the person’s status in the eyes of God, but rather the words they put before us.

By their fruits, you shall know them.

First of all, if what they say, their fruit, unmistakably contradicts the faith we have received from Christ, it is certainly bad.

Beyond that, we would do well to use the Fruits of the Holy Spirit as guides. When we hear these people speak and we see the effect their words have on the lives of others, do we perceive these fruits?

Charity… joy… peace… patience… kindness… goodness… generosity… gentleness… faithfulness… modesty… self-control… chastity…

We should look for these fruits in the words we hear and in the people we are with and we should always seek to cultivate these fruits in our own hearts and our own lives.