October 23
“If you make a tree good, its fruit will be good; and if you make a tree bad, its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
Matthew 12:33 (CJB)
Nature Before Fruit
Think about an apple tree. It produces apples because it is an apple tree. The apples appeared because it is an apple tree. So the tree comes first, and then the fruit.
The same is true for you. When you believed in Jesus, God gave you His righteousness. You became righteous on the inside. You did not become righteous because of the good things you did. Jesus made you righteous! And now you can do righteous things because you are righteous.
Because you have a righteous nature, you produce righteous fruit. Your words, thoughts, and actions can show what God has already put inside you.
As you learn God’s Word and grow, the good things inside you will become easier to see like fruit.
Read Your Bible.
Isaiah 61:3. Romans 5:17. Romans 4:25. 1 Corinthians 1:30-31
Speak the Word!
“I am the righteousness of God in Christ, and I produce fruit of righteousness because His seed remains in me.”