When writing about fake friends, I feel most self-help sites and advice is given from an angry and bitter mindset. I feel that’s counter-productive when you are trying to help someone better his or her life. After watching “Paid in Full” for the hundredth time on Netflix, I started thinking. In the film, Rico kills his friend Mitch over hate and jealousy. Even though Mitch was shocked that Rico pulled a gun out on him, their friend Ace already saw Rico’s true character. He just became oblivious to it. Often times we are just that in life, oblivious. So in this post, I’m going to touch on spotting a “wolf in sheep clothing.”

Wolves aren’t interested in following the shepherd to refuge; they want to eat his sheep. Sheep are naïve and wolves are all about the right opportunity. They will attack a sheep when the time presents itself. They will follow the pack and be in harmony until they find the sheep vulnerable. The shepherd constantly tries to get the wolves away from the sheep, but sheep are so oblivious. Crazy enough wolves try to get noticed by sheep with something that will lure in their trust. In the film, Rico helped Mitch beat up an inmate who disrespected him. Mitch thought that this meant Rico would be a loyal friend by helping him. In reality, he wanted the stability Mitch had waiting for him outside of jail.

Lets face it; this type of person will fool you. This is just the unfortunate part of figuring out a person’s true intentions. We can say that we had seen it coming, but it reality we were just so blinded by other aspects. Some people don’t value you as a person; they value you as a resource. Don’t get a friendship confused with an opportunity.

On the other hand, a wolf always reveals who they really are. They eventually get hungry, and decide it’s time to eat. In the film, Rico cared more about getting back into the drug game than Ace; so he recklessly killed the man who shot him. This could in return have linked Ace to the murder. Rico craved attention, so much, he wanted people to know about the women he had and how much money he made. Biblically, Matthew 7:16 states that “you will recognize them by their fruits….”

In a nutshell, you will know a person by the things they produce and do in their life. If they are constantly producing negativity and cultivating drama, then they aren’t good for you. If all they show you about them are tangible things, reconsider. If they are more about helping self than helping others, reconsider. If their life is more focused of on what others think, reconsider again. Be careful because all fruits people broadcast aren’t good fruits.

Lastly, I’m sure a sheep knows the wolf smells different. The sheep sees the wolf walking differently. The wolf doesn’t look the same as them. The sheep senses something different, but continues to travel with the wolf because it see’s the wolf walking in harmony with the herd. In the film, Ace’s intuition about Rico constantly messed with him. They way he saw Rico craving attention and making reckless decisions, he knew the type of person he was. He just ignored it because he felt Rico showed his loyalty by helping Mitch.

Most of the time we ignore one of the biggest gifts God ever gave us, intuition. When a person isn’t authentic you can sense it. Things about them start to not add up, and those things start to not make sense. The things that they do in life you aren’t really down with. Your gut feeling always lets you know about them. Being that we are naïve, we give them the benefit of the doubt. In life, sometimes we should listen to our intuition. Trust me, you will save yourself a lot of disappointments. A person will reveal his or herself eventually, hopefully with this post you will realize before it’s too late.