A Fruitful Life

Scriptures: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

In our Westlake Village office, there’s always fruit on the table in the kitchen area. There are apples, bananas, grapes, mango, and pineapple. People here make the best use of them and I am particularly fond of apples. Everyday, I will go and pick an apple or two. I will look at the color, the brightness, the size, and the fragrance of these apples to determine which one to pick. In almost all cases, as picky as I am, the apples they have on the table are all very delicious. They are tasty, beautiful, filling and nutritious. I really enjoyed them.

Every time I eat these apples, I thank God for the creation of this wonderful fruit. I also give thanks for the farmers who plant and care for apple trees that bear the fruit. It takes a lot of efforts to make these apple trees so fruitful and to make these apples available to us.

Bible talks about fruits, too. They are used as an analogy of our spiritual life. The book of Galatians gives us a list of wonderful attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. They are everything everyone is looking for in life. We all desire to have them all because they are good and remind us of the attributes of God.

But, as desirable as they are, we often forget that before fruits, there must be life. Fruits simply don’t spring into existence out of the blue. Take apples for example, before an apple tree can bear fruits, it has to be planted first. Then it has to be watered, fertilized, pruned and protected before it can grow apples. In the same way, our spiritual lives need to be watered and fertilized, pruned and protected before the fruit of the Spirit starts to appear.

In other words, unless life exists and is nourished, there can be no fruits. No wonder Jesus cautioned us, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4)

I believe, to God, life is the most important things. When life is right, everything that flows from it will be right. If we are the right person, we will do the right things. But the reverse is not necessarily true. That is why Jesus was so harsh on the Pharisee’s hypocrisy for, even though they seemed to be doing all the right things, they were not the right people. Their hearts were far from their outward devoutness.

So, then, how can we be the right persons? The answer is in Jesus’ teaching, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” (John 15:4) When we remain in Jesus, not only are we one with Him, we also get to see what He sees, the sins, hurts and needs of this world; we feel what He feels, the sense of urgency for the salvation of all lost and fallen souls around us; and we do what He does, delivering the truth of God that enlightens and removes the darkness in human hearts, the love and grace that touches and heals the broken hearts, and the power and glory that transforms lives.

May God help, equip and motivate us so we can all be productive servants and maids in the house of God so that, as we bear fruits, God can be glorified and we get to enjoy lives even more, just as Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

Prayer Requests:
For those labor in ministries for the Kingdom of God

Prayer:
Our gracious Lord, we pray that Your Spirit reign in our lives to strengthen, empower and direct our lives so as to mold us into the likeness of our Lord Jesus and bear much fruit to the glory of God. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!