Personal circumstances have delayed my writing this post until the day before I will publish it, mainly because they have caused a maelstrom of emotion and mental fogginess. Yet those circumstances have also brought me here to create this very post. I have no idea if this will help anyone, but God laid it on my heart to write it, even if it’s only for me.
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves…Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:15-23
There are many people who call themselves Christians or simply seem like upstanding individuals who are actually dark souls beneath. There are people who we come to trust and love who turn out to be wolves underneath, waiting to strike. That type of betrayal is not foreign to God, who, besides the innumerable people who turn their backs to Him, was also stabbed in the back by Judas while here on Earth as a man. The difference between God and ourselves is that no one can trick God. How would God deal with such a person?
A person living with no remorse for their sins is the rotten tree. We’re not speaking of all sinners, which would include everyone of us. As described in the above verse, many are master manipulators and can don a disguise as easily as breathing. So, you and I will never truly know if a rotten tree ever genuinely feels remorse and turns to God for actual salvation in his or her heart. That is between that person and God on a soul level. However, what is impossible to man is possible for God. He’s raised the dead before and He can do so again.
On a personal level, it is best, when a rotten fruit reveals a deceptively rotten tree in your life, to do three things as a child of God:
- Forgive them. You can read a post of mine titled “Forgiveness – What It’s Not.” I wrote another post that’s called “Loving Even the Wolves” about loving our enemies. We don’t do evil against them, exchanging evil for evil. Forgiveness is not absolution. It doesn’t say what they did was right or okay. It does not mean you trust them. It does not mean you will even keep them in your life. However, a rotten apple spoils the whole bunch, they say. Don’t forgive, and you have a death grip on a rotten apple, and that will spoil all of your own fruit. Cast it aside for your own sake.
- Cut off the branch. If someone is a manipulator and deceiver, it’s not healthy for you or the others around you to keep him or her in your life. As much as you are able, cut them off. Consider the following verse:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:1-2
Why does God cut off the branches that bear no fruit (or in this case, possibly rotten fruit)? The death of those branches will pull down the rest. If God does this, it’s a sign you should as well.
3. Grieve. The part of our brain that processes emotion does not easily grasp the complexities of human relationships (or maybe that’s just me). If a person has betrayed or hurt you, it’s not easy to let that relationship go because all of the memories and emotions you had before are still there. Let yourself process the symbolic death of who you thought they were and the life you shared.
Another thing to remember, just in case: If a person who claimed or claims to be Christian shows his or her true nature of being rotten, some will use that as a reason to fall away from God. If you stop following God because a follower of God (or fake follower) betrays you or lets you down, you were never following God. You were following the person. A human will always disappoint in some way.
Hope this helps someone one day.
God bless!
learning2belove 