• Question: How does one identify someone who is a Christian or Christ-like?
• Answer: By their “fruit”/action.

Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Saint Matthew 7:20, New Living Translation

A Christian is one whose life is governed by the Spirit of God.

In Galatians 5:22-23, the Bible talks about the “fruit of the Spirit,” which is inclusive of: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faith, meekness, and self-control. Think of this “fruit” like an orange—it’s one fruit with many different parts.

Just like the pegs on an orange aren’t all the same size, our character traits, or “pegs,” can also vary.

As a believer in God, I’m given the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit to shape my character, but sometimes certain traits might be smaller. I might struggle with impatience, lack of self-control, or unkindness. However, I’m still a child of God—a Christian.

What this means is that I need help to strengthen these smaller “pegs.” I can’t do it alone; I need the Divine Gardner, God, to build me up. He reminds me that becoming more like Him is a daily journey, and it requires complete dependence on Him.

Yes, there will be times when I stumble, but God acknowledges this too. He says that a righteous person may fall seven times, but the key is that they rise again (Proverbs 24:16).

God is always there to pick us up and help us strengthen the underdeveloped traits of our character, just like a caring gardener tending to a tree.

Shabbat Shalom! May you find peace in knowing that falling short does not mean you’re no longer a child of God, it means He’s still working on your character to be like His. The Christian journey is a process, one that is guided by the Word of God as laid out in the Bible.

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In creative solidarity, Dee