But I’m confused if you are somehow indicating that schizophrenics experience “bad fruit” – i.e. hearing voices, pervasive unreal thoughts, mis-perceptions of life events that lead to unreasonable behaviors, etc. If you are considering these symptoms that most schizophrenics suffer from greatly to be bad fruit; then, if I’m following your application of this verse, it would follow that these things flow out of a spiritual problem. While I have no difficulty on one level with this thought, since we all suffer spiritually and are in need of a savior in Jesus to save us from our sin in both eternal terms as well as daily life (connection to Him the “vine’ produces His fruit in our daily lives).

However, on another level, I have a problem with this thought because it somehow indicates that people have caused their own schizophrenia. As a sister of a paranoid, schizophrenic as well as a licensed CA nursing home administrator who has ran secured psychiatric facilities serving the chronically mentally ill, I do not really see this. I know for sure my sister was raised in a Christian family and I can remember when she accepted Christ as her savior; up until the time she became symptomatic, which was when she was in her late 20s, she was a devout, faithful, follower of Christ. Now she has lots of unreal thoughts and won’t take medication and her life is a mess.

I pray for her, and all the other schizophrenics who I know. I do not have the answers or understand why they must genuinely suffer so much. I continue to trust God and seek Him on this issue. At this point in my life it’s somewhat filed under “I don’t understand all things”.