Identify

Matthew 7:20 
Just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. (NLT) 

It is rare that someone we meet is the person we think they are. Circumstances play a big part in our perception. Add to that what others have to say about them and our opinion of them can change drastically.

That old adage that says you can tell a book by its cover is far from true. It is what is inside a person that truly counts. And as one builds a relationship with God allowing Christ within, the Holy Spirit to teach them and mold them like the potter's clay, the inside changes.

What we were before we met Jesus has changed. He changes us into the person we were destined to be. We take on a new identity. The fruit in our lives changes.

However, the Lord uses our past for us to identify with others in similar circumstances to help them see their way out of the old life. We become the light at the end of their tunnel. We become the possibility they never thought existed.

So how we dress and what words we speak does not identify who we really are. It is the fruit that falls to the ground all around us as we walk through this life hand in hand with Holy Spirit. It is the result of how we interact with others showing God's love in all we do.