On Being Fruitful

"They will know we are Christians by our ___________ " I bet most everyone can fill in that blank.



Love. They will know we are Christians by our love. Love is a fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and selfcontrol."

I'd like to broaden that and say "They will know we are Christians by our fruit".



I mean, won't it show? It should! The fruit should be so apparant, so obvious!



Ugh. I don't think it is always so obvious in my life. I read something yesterday that I want to share because it got me thinking.



I'm reading a book by Anne Graham Lotz called "My Heart's Cry, Longing for More of Jesus". In chapter 7 she talks about being "fruitful through my connection". Here's an excerpt:

Have you been making fruit-bearing more complicated and difficult than it is? Have you worn yourself out until you are discouraged over the lack of fruitfulness in your own service and resentful of others for the fruitfulness in theirs? Then I have wonderful news for you! You can relax! Not only are you freed from trying hard to bear fruit, you are freed from trying at all! That's the secret!"

She goes onto to talk about how we complicate things. How often have you heard it said that in getting places in life it's all about who you know? As a matter of fact, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got came from a former teacher of mine who said "Don't be afraid to get where you are going in life because of who you know." Well, as Christians we know Christ! Now THAT'S a CONNECTION!



He is the vine, I am the branch. I am connected to Him. Without Him I can do nothing. Nothing. With Him...I can do nothing but bear fruit. Fruit of the vine naturally comes from the branch when there is a healthy connection. As Lotz goes on to explain:

"For a branch to have fruit-bearing potential, it must be alive. Since it has no life of its own, it must be organically attached to the vine so that the sap, or life, of the vine flows up through the trunk and into the branch."

Amazingly, or not so amazingly when it comes to God getting your attention, the message on Sunday affirmed this concept. Paul, one of the pastors, talked about sap being the life that is pushed up through the trunk through the branches. He talked about Jesus pruning off the "dead leaves"...our sins and struggles, and when we allow Jesus' lifeblood, the sap, to flow through us, the branches, that sap pushes off the dead leaves and new fruit springs forth. I was entralled by this illustration and how on back to back days I heard the same message from two different sources...naw, scratch that...same source, two different fruit-bearing branches!

So, what is my job? To maintain the connection. To pray, study and cling to Him like a branch that will die without Him!