Luke 6:45“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.” 

What is the fruit of your life? Think about your words, your social media comments,  habits, and invisible thought life. Are these producing good fruit? What would fruitfulness look like in those areas? 

Comparing ourselves to others often produces the fruit of discontentment. Critical and judgmental thoughts harden the heart and steal energy that would be better spent elsewhere. Gossip breaks trust and damages relationships. Are your words, thoughts, and actions yielding good fruit? 

Proverbs tell us that life-giving words can be like “apples of gold.” Are your words a treasure to those who hear them? Our words can be a chance to be generous with encouragement and kindness. We can be the ones to speak the words we have longed for. “I’m proud of you.” “You are such a gift.” “Thank you.” 

What is a critical spirit like? Some words often associated with a critical spirit include closed off, harsh, judgmental, “mean girl,” proud, snobby, insecure, prone to comparison, passive-aggressive, sarcastic, snarky… Does any of this sound familiar? Remember, we’re here to examine ourselves, not to label others! 

Unfortunately, our sinful nature leads us to notice the flaws in others more readily than we notice them in ourselves. We tend to judge ourselves based on our best intentions, while we evaluate others based on their actions. Often, we mask these critical tendencies with snarky comments, passive-aggression, or by secretly harboring resentment underneath a polite exterior. We can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that our criticisms are justified.

How do we become the bearers of good fruit? Luke tells us that our words originate from what is in our hearts. We can’t treasure earthly things if we want to walk in step with the Spirit. To walk closely with God, we need to call our critical spirit what it truly is: sin. Then we can confess, repent, and turn away from sin and toward God. 

Like apples of gold in settings of silver, is a word spoken at the right time. Proverbs 25:11