Poison bottles usually carry a symbol, a skull and crossbones, which warns people to stay away or suffer death. Sadly, spiritual poison carries no such label. It often looks like insight, sounds like depth, and feels like devotion.

That’s exactly why in 1 Timothy 6, Apostle Paul calls us to take great care with errant teaching. How do we know it’s errant? Thankfully, we’re not left guessing. He tells us in v3 that we have been given a fixed standard. Correct teaching agrees with “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ” and “accords with godliness.” This standard is given to us in the Bible, and every teaching, trend, and personal conviction must be measured by it.

This is how we test teaching on the front end: Does it align with God’s Word?

But God has given us a test on the back end as well: Does it produce godly fruit? False teaching, according to Paul, will puff people up with pride, give them an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words. It’ll “produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people.” That’s some real nasty fruit. It’s actually poisonous fruit. If you don’t guard against false teaching, your fellowship will die. Therefore, you must work to detect and reject it.

Beloved, discernment isn’t cynicism. It’s love people with eyes wide open. Test everything. Hold fast to what’s true. Your spiritual health, even life, depends on it.

Change begins in you!