Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

Think back to a time something turned out differently than you expected. When have people turned out to be different than who you thought they were? Maybe the pie that looked perfect as you were making it tasted terrible when you took a bite. Maybe that person you looked up to turned out to be a hypocrite. We have all had moments of disappointment that reveal things are not always as they seem to be. In this fallen world we can tricked, duped, and deceived. When Jesus approached the fig tree, it had all the evidence of being a fruitful tree, but no figs could be found behind the leaves.

This struggle with hypocrisy is particularly challenging because it is something we wrestle with at a personal level too. As much as we hate when people say one thing and do another or when things are not as they seem, we have the same conflict in our hearts. We may know many Bible verses but struggle to apply them. We recall the moment we made the decision to follow Jesus but struggle to allow Him to change our hearts and minds today. Without the constant work of Christ in our lives to change us and bring the fruit of the Spirit, we will run ourselves weary with effort but have no fruit to display. We cannot bring about Christian character in our lives without the inner work of Jesus. We do not bear fruit by trying hard. Jesus said in John 15:4-5, “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” We bear fruit by abiding in the true vine and trusting His changing work in us to bring fruit we could never grow on our own.

• How have you allowed God to change your heart? How have you seen His fruit in your life?
• What does it look like to abide in Jesus? What is the fruit that comes when we abide in Him?
• Pray and invite God to change your heart and show you how to abide in Him that He would bring fruit of your faith.