“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." --Matthew 7:15-20

As writers, we work hard creating characters our readers can relate with. Kids enjoy reading about people who are brave, clever, funny, and strong. When we shape these traits with Biblical truth, we have the opportunity to produce good fruit in the lives of our characters that can have a powerful impact on our audience. Even in stories that don't directly mention faith topics, we can show examples of God's love and goodness through the traits and actions we choose to highlight.

So how do we go about creating characters that produce good fruit?

Before we delve into discussing characters, what do we mean by fruit? In the passage above, Jesus warns His disciples of the danger of facing false prophets. Those who twist the Word of God, distorting truth and leading people astray, excel at hiding themselves. However, Jesus says that their fruit--their deeds, words, and the results of their teaching-- would help the disciples recognize the false teachers.

When our words and deeds lead us and others astray, we can be sure that we're not walking in the way of the Lord. On the other hand, actions produced by faith will bring us closer to God. Often as writers, we have the opportunity to be teachers as well. Our readers learn from our stories. Therefore, we want to be sure that our words point to truth. One way important way we shine a light through our stories is through our characters.

The Ways Our Characters Produce Good Fruit:

Whether we directly mention Christianity in our stories or not, we can still shape our characters with Christian virtues. As we craft their tales, we can create characters with good fruit in several ways.

First, we can consider how our lives look different when we walk with the Lord.

In Galatians 5:22-23, we see that life in the Spirit is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Many of these traits are common in fiction. We love to see characters who show compassion and act selflessly out of love. Yet, some of these qualities are often overlooked. By incorporating these traits when possible--having characters grow in patience or succeed through gentleness--we give our readers examples of Christ-like people.

Second, we can show truth through our characters' deeds.

The choices our characters make and the motivations behind them can give great examples of love, mercy, humility, and forgiveness. Even when our characters fail, the way they respond to wrong actions and the consequences they face can reveal truth and help our characters grow.

Third, we can explore the impact our characters have on others in the story.

The way our main characters interact with others and the influence they have gives our readers insight into who they are. If the main character helps others and inspires others to do good, they will often inspire our readers, too. If our characters are inwardly focused and disconnected from their community, we as readers might have a harder time connecting with them.

Finally, we can consider what our audience will take away from the story.

Often our audience will find specific characters they relate to and admire. Children especially will latch onto characters who they think are cool, and who they want to imitate. (I learned woodcarving as a teen because a character in a book I read whittled for a hobby).

If a reader falls in love with our characters, what will they take away from the story? What kind of example do our characters set? Do they make wise choices, act in humility, and show kindness? How do they respond to conflict? How do they grow?

Our heroes and heroines should also be people worthy of admiration. As we are creating characters, let's focus on producing good fruit in their stories, so they can share good fruit with our readers.

What characters have had the greatest impact on you as a reader?

Karley Conklin

Karley Conklin is a librarian by day, a writer by night, and a bookworm 24/7.