Spring is here! In just a short while, the flowers will start to bloom, the grass will start to turn green, and trees will sprout new leaves.

Fruit trees will also begin to blossom with leaves and flowers, making the landscape beautiful again.  But to the untrained eye, most fruit trees look very similar until they start to bear fruit. Then it is easy to tell an apple tree from a pear tree since the apple tree will have apples on it and the pear tree will have pears.

Jesus said that we can use the same method for telling true believers from unbelievers—look at our fruit.  Galatians 5 tells us that unbelievers will bring forth the “works of the flesh,” which includes anything that is done in our own power and for the purpose of pleasing ourselves. Believers, on the other hand, will exhibit the “fruit of the Spirit,” consisting of a life that exemplifies the character of Christ in both action and attitude which can only be produced by God’s Spirit within us.

What kind of tree are you? The answer to that question is found in the kind of fruit that your life is producing.