Okay, it was three days ago, on Wednesday, but I'm just trying to make a point. The bible clearly says, "Judge not least ye be judge." BUT the Bible also says, 'You shall judge a tree by it's fruit.' I've always been hung up on these two verses and exactly how they work together. Judging a person is making up your mind on their heart issues. For example, 'They must not be a christian or they wouldn't have done that.' Or more recently what happened to me when someone remarked that I was walking in unforgiveness, when they didn't know the whole situation.
So what does it mean to judge a tree by it's fruit? If you're not supposed to judge, why use the word judge here? Here's my take on it and how I understand it. If a tree is producing apples I can pretty much assume it's an apple tree. If the tree is producing pecan's then I can say with complete confidence that it's a pecan tree. You with me so far? ;) I knew you were. Soooo, if a person's life is not producing the fruit of the spirit, (faithfulness, kindness, goodness, self-control, etc) then it's safe to say that person may not know Christ. That's not judging the heart, it's taking stock of what that person's life is producing and we clearly have the right to do that. We do it with our children quicker than we do it with anyone else, or even for ourselves. My oldest daughter (Mackenzie) isn't allowed to spend the night with certain girls her age, because all I hear out of those girls mouth's is boy talk and who's cute and who they want to date. Their fruit is totally strung around guys. Mackenzie is barely 12 and that's not what kind of seeds or fruit I want planted, or growing in my daughter.
What's my point in all this? Since my walk with Christ has increased tremendously over the past two years I've tried to walk a straight line between, not judging people's hearts, but watching the evidence of their fruit dictate to me if this is a go or a no. Now, to have someone I trusted discern my heart in an ugly manner really bothers me and throws me for a loop. You can't disguise discernment/judging underneath, "I'm your friend so I can just spit it out there." It's wrong, no matter how you cut it.
On a happier note, I feel the HS is dropping the word 'reinvent' into my heart at every turn. I've being exercising, and taking better care of myself, (despite the hives and allergy/colds that I can't seem to shake). I've been getting more time to myself here lately as well. Not much but I'll take whatever I can get. I feel like this is a new beginning for me. That I'm going to keep the things I like from the past few years about me, get rid of the stuff I don't' like and better develop my backbone. My most recent bosses really tried to break it and now I've got to spend some time building that back up. :) It's working and I'm in love with this word, 'reinvent.' When's the last time you reinvented yourself?
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