You Will Know Them by Their Fruit (Matthew 7:15-20)

I’ve learned that loving your neighbor starts with knowing who truly loves you back. That sounds simple, but when you’ve been raised to give grace, to turn the other cheek, to keep showing up for folks who drain you dry, it gets complicated. Especially as a Black woman in America, we’re often taught that love means enduring, that loyalty means never questioning. But Jesus gave us a different measure: look at the fruit.

A woman who loves you will produce love in your life. Her words will build you up, not leave you second-guessing yourself. Her actions will reflect consistency, not chaos. And if someone’s fruit is rotten with gossip, manipulation, silence when you need her voice, you don’t have to keep eating from that tree. You can love her from a distance and pray for her without letting her roots tangle with yours.

Practicing this love means being honest with yourself about what you’re receiving. It means asking: Does this friendship help me bear good fruit? Does this church, this job, this relationship make me more like Christ or more exhausted? And it also means looking at your own branches. What kind of fruit are you producing for your sisters? Can they count on you to speak truth in love, even when it’s hard?

We don’t have to be perfect trees. But we do have to be real ones. In a world that has often treated us like bad fruit, we get to decide what we grow. Let it be patience, kindness, and the kind of love that doesn’t wear a mask. That’s how you love your neighbor: by being the good fruit you wish to find.

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