A Tree is Known by its Fruit; A Character is Revealed through Action
This week Jesus tells us that a tree is known by its fruit (Lk6:44); he uses the imagery of tree and fruit to illustrate the two characters- characters with virtues do good and characters with evil are vicious. Thus, our character is revealed through our actions.
“A tree is known by its fruit; or, as we say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world.” ― C.S. Lewis
Fulton Sheen explains that we have the potential to be good or bad- meaning any sinner is capable of being a saint if he directs himself towards goodness and any saint has a tendency to be bad if he directs himself towards evil. He says that the secret to character development is in the realisation that our character is within our power- it is of the will and not of the mind. One can direct himself towards good if he calls upon God to overcome his defects and this is grace, which is freely given.
Sheen highlights 3 rules to character development:
The first rule is that character is in the will and not in the intellect. The intellect/brain/mind is the seed of knowledge whereas the will is the seed of choices, love, motives responsible in the making of all our decision and thus our character. God gives us all free will and thus we have the power to direct our will.
Unfortunately, he explains that education emphasises the development of the mind and not of the will. Very often, there is the tendency for us to shift the responsibility of our characters to external factors for e.g we are who we are because of economic conditions (Marx) or biological reasons (Freud).
We are all works in progress- like the sculptor it takes time to chisel away the defects to make a beautiful sculpture. One single blow does not do the job. Hence, it is with character- it is built through discipline.
The second rule is that we must always look for the good in others. No matter how bad they are or may have been, there is always something good in people. Jesus always looked at what is good in someone like Zacchaeus, the woman at the well and many others. We are to help them turn towards goodness again.
The third rule is to look for what is worst in ourselves- look into our conscience for the seven dominant thoughts-pride, covetousness, anger, lust, gluttony, sloth and envy. We need to lay hold of the dominant faults and work on our character. This is crucial because when we are in crisis or in a predicament, what comes out is what is from within us -from the store of goodness or evil. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart”( Lk 6:45). The decisions, choices we make will reveal our personalities during times of crisis and difficulties.
We need not work on our defects on our own but if we open our hearts to God and direct our will to Him, we can bear good fruits through grace.