We can all agree that the power struggle of a bully is most always rooted in their own weakness. So it is that criticism and judgment of others is typically a byproduct of personal faults and an overwhelming fear of being judged. Luke 6 speaks to this fear with definitive reason. "Judge not, and you will not be judged." Have you ever felt the heaviness that comes with passing judgment. If judging others truly took the focus off of your own faults and built you up, why does it feel like an additional weight to carry? While having personal faults is bad enough, calling out the shortcomings of others, the Bible promises, will seal our fate to be judge. So the enemy's once empty threat becomes fear of the certain and you're behind the eight ball. You've been sharked! So stop the criticism, right? But this passage shines light on the source. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." So from an abundance of dark cynicism, selfishness, greed, jealousy and pride come negative thoughts that destroy us from the inside and words, that spoken, plant seeds of bitterness in others. "Bad fruit." But from a heart inclined toward "the true, honorable, just, pure, lovely commendable, excellent and praise-worthy" [GOD] flow thoughts that build us up and words that strengthen others. "Good fruit." So let's nourish our hearts with such things that produce in us real "good fruit."
