Trees are identified by what kind of fruit they produce. An apple tree can't be confused for a pear tree because you can see the apples dangling form its branches. Just as the species can be seen, so can the quality; a good tree is identified by its good fruit, and a bad tree can be identified by its bad fruit. In the same way that you can see whether a tree is good or bad by looking at the fruit, you can recognize the heart of man - to a limited degree - by looking at his actions.
Now, let's not get carried away in this idea; although the heart can be recognized by ones deeds, the deeds do not define the heart; deeds are rather defined by the heart. In other words, a man's heart isn't good because he produces good works; he produces good works because his heart is good. If a man's heart is right with God, we will see that flowing forth in his good works; however, at times we will also inevitably see sin showing through. Inversely, if a man is not right with God, we will see that coming out in his wrong-doing, but we may also be tricked by things that look like they come from a good heart. It isn't hard to see that as a general rule we can tell where someones heart is by his actions.
When we see bad fruits and less than perfect actions in our own lives, many times our response is to cut down all the bad fruit and assume that the problem is fixed. Although cutting away our sins is good, it's never enough; it looks like they just keep regrowing over and over again. When we see bad fruit we need to go to the root; all of our sins ultimately stem from a problem in the heart, and we need to address them accordingly. We need to fertilize the root and water it every day with the Word of God. If we do this, we will slowly but surely see the bad fruits falling of our branches one by one.
Luke 6:43-45
For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Now, let's not get carried away in this idea; although the heart can be recognized by ones deeds, the deeds do not define the heart; deeds are rather defined by the heart. In other words, a man's heart isn't good because he produces good works; he produces good works because his heart is good. If a man's heart is right with God, we will see that flowing forth in his good works; however, at times we will also inevitably see sin showing through. Inversely, if a man is not right with God, we will see that coming out in his wrong-doing, but we may also be tricked by things that look like they come from a good heart. It isn't hard to see that as a general rule we can tell where someones heart is by his actions.
When we see bad fruits and less than perfect actions in our own lives, many times our response is to cut down all the bad fruit and assume that the problem is fixed. Although cutting away our sins is good, it's never enough; it looks like they just keep regrowing over and over again. When we see bad fruit we need to go to the root; all of our sins ultimately stem from a problem in the heart, and we need to address them accordingly. We need to fertilize the root and water it every day with the Word of God. If we do this, we will slowly but surely see the bad fruits falling of our branches one by one.
Luke 6:43-45
For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.