UNEARTHLY THINGâ—½ ENCOURAGEMENT
Known By Our Fruit
by Angela Dolbear
October means time for Halloween. I love Halloween. It signifies fun to me—decorating, dressing up, and, well, candy!
But as I get ready to celebrate, I brace myself. I know there will be negative talk about one of my favorite holidays, primarily by those I am called to love.
It always hurts me a little bit and makes me feel misunderstood when I see posted tirades about perceived evil that seems to only surface on October 31. I start to question who I am and if my fondness for “dark” things is unacceptable.
But really, why all the fear? Is Halloween too much for God to handle? No. Absolutely not.
I’ve always loved the dark and spooky. There is a bit of humor involved in it all. One of my all-time favorite movies is A Nightmare Before Christmas, which I consider to be both a Halloween and Christmas film. It has excellent music, animation, and humor. I relate to the Jack Skellington character so much.
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I am typing this article with a sweet black cat lounging between me and my keyboard.​
She is purring softly and enjoying intermittent tummy rubs whenever I pause to think. I love that my Maddy is a black cat God gave me. Nothing evil there.
So, I try to remind myself of all the times God has told me to be who He made me (i.e. see A Nightmare Before Christmas). God also reminds me to allow others to be who He created them to be. Even if they feel it is necessary to condemn things and other people.
Yep. Got to love. Unconditionally--just like Jesus.
Loving others is especially important with this being an election year. People have very strong opinions and convictions about their political affiliation. I have witnessed some verbal ugliness on social media that leaves me feeling so sad. I choose not to respond or chime in with my opinions because I don’t want to add to the divisiveness, especially in this heated political climate.
But I consider my silence and what it says. I’ve heard people in the church say we shouldn’t be silent. But if our words come from the fullness of our hearts, shouldn’t they be filled with compassion instead of criticism?
Recently, I was reading about this topic in one of my daily devotionals. Jesus talks about identifying a tree by its fruit in Matthew 12:33-34 (Amplified Classic translation). “Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.” Verse 34 goes on to say, “You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
Sounds a bit harsh, but if we take the time to read His words slowly and thoughtfully, there’s a good lesson there about being mindful of our words.
I want to be known for good fruit—words and actions that help others and exhibit God’s love. Consequently, I need to have a good heart. A clean heart, created by God (please see Psalm 51:10-12).
Blessings to you!
Angela Dolbear is the author of contemporary Christian novels, such as THE GARDEN KEY Series and THE TORMENTOR’S TALE, as well as many short stories. Her novels are available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook formats. Angela writes real, relatable, and reverent fiction. She loves reading, writing prose, and writing and recording music with her husband Tim in their studio in Nashville, TN—listen to her new album STORMS on your favorite music streaming service. Please drop by and sign up for news, read new stories, and hear new original music at http://www.angeladolbear.com/subscribe.htm. Blessings to you!