Poison Apples

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who really is the fairest one of all?

This spring a new movie was released—a revamped Snow White story called Mirror Mirror. It has all the delightful elements of a fairy tale:

• A wicked but ravishingly beautiful stepmother.
• An innocent, highly spirited and thoroughly lovely princess.
• A dashing prince blinded by the evil queen’s love potions.
• A kingdom in distress.

The trailer for the movie got me thinking about the original Snow White movie—you know, the one where the evil queen asks, “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” When the magic mirror answers that the fairest one is Snow White, the queen goes through a long process to try to get rid of her competition.

Eventually the queen turns into a hag and gives the sweet Snow White a poison apple.

I grow fruit?

The Bible has a lot to say about fruit. No, not grapefruit and kiwis and apples, but rather the fruit of a person’s life. It says that we produce fruit. Hopefully we don’t brew it with magic potions in a caldron in a half-lit basement cell!

God says that the results of people’s actions are their fruit: “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you. … This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:8-9, 12).

God makes it clear what type of fruit He wants us to have. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). This is the type of fruit we are supposed to have in our lives.

Paul also writes in his letter to the Ephesians: “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10).

Am I a poison apple?

The book of Proverbs shows that it is a matter of cause and effect: “The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways” (Proverbs 14:14, English Standard Version).

Obviously, our actions affect us. They affect other people too. Our actions can hurt other people, or they can bless other people. For example, we can get into a heated situation and get mad and rattle off something, or we can take our time and use our words to patch things up and cool people off.

Relationships with others might be complicated, but they are vital. Read helpful information in the “Relationships” section of our new website LifeHopeandTruth.com.

You can imagine it as if we were either “magic” apples that pop up in a pot of potion or wholesome apples that grow on a beautiful tree. Either we can be steeped in poison, with a beautiful and shiny skin but rottenness at our core; or we can be healthy, life-bearing apples.

Proverbs talks about two different types of women, two types of wives. It says “an excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones” (Proverbs 12:4). People can be crowns, or blessings, to those around them; or they can poison other people’s lives and bring “rottenness to their bones.”

Are we poisoning the lives of the people around us, or are we life-bearing apples that refresh people in our lives?

Hannah Baker lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina where she just graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She loves reading, writing, cooking, spending time outdoors walking and hiking in God’s beautiful creation, and learning all she can about the type of woman He wants her to become.