Matthew 13:24-30 gives us a sobering lesson on how we grow in the Lord. In this passage, the Lord Jesus gives one of His famous parables, the parable of the wheat and the tares:

"Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'""

As we understand from this passage, the wheat are from the Lord, the Master of the field, and the tares are from the enemy. The enemy sows his tares in the same field where the wheat were sown, and the tares grow along with the wheat.

While both are young, they appear similar. Easton's Bible Dictionary says "It bears the closest resemblance to wheat till the ear appears, and only then the difference is discovered." This is why the Master of the field told His servants to let both grow together until the time of harvest.

And as we read from the passage, it's a terrible thing to be a tare -- for they will be bundled together with other tares and be burned together.

In this article we'll take a quick look at ways to distinguish the wheat from the tares, so that we can reflect on what we are growing into.

1) Wheat are from the Lord, tares are from the devil

Based on the passage, the wheat is produced from what the Master of the field has sown. The tares, on the other hand, grow from what the devil sows.

Has the Word of God taken root and borne fruit in our lives? Do we live by the Word of God, or by the imaginations of man? Are we compelled by the love of Christ and led by the Spirit of God, or are we driven by the flesh?

2) They look alike, but they are not the same from the inside

Some have a form of religion, an appearance of piety, but inward are fleshly and corrupt. 2 Timothy 3:2-5 tells us,

"For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power."

Godliness will produce in us Godly character. If we are of God, then we will work towards Christ-likeness. There's no other direction but towards Christ.

3) They produce different fruit

How do we live? What are the words that come out of our lips? What do we pursue? These, and many other things, show if we are wheat or tares.

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit." (Matthew 12:33)