John 15:8

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

What is your favorite fruit? If we use the spending habits of American shoppers as a guide, bananas take the top slot, followed by apples, strawberries, and grapes. In fact, Americans consumed an average of 27+ pounds of bananas per capita in 2019. That’s a lot of banana bread…or maybe banana splits…or perhaps banana pudding here in the South. But what about the “fruit” of the Christian life? Jesus made a big deal out of his desire that we “bear much fruit” as his disciples, so it would be helpful to understand what kind of “fruit” he was—and still is—talking about.

The most common list that comes to mind for Christians is the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5. This is all about our character and sets a high bar for us to try and get over. It’s also a great way to measure how well we are abiding in Christ. The more we abide, the more Fruit of the Spirit we produce. How much are these attributes showing up in your daily life recently? Consider each on an individual basis:

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. Faithfulness. Self-Control.

Are these showing up on your vine? If so, it’s because you have been doing a good job of abiding in Christ. If not, your branch is not feeding on the vine enough. There is always a direct correlation. These are the essential fruit of your Christian character, but what other kinds of fruit should we be producing? There is the fruit of good deeds as described in the first chapter of Colossians. In fact, Jesus said that our good deeds will shine like a light for all men to see and will glorify God (Mt. 5:16). Good deeds like working hard, being charitable, caring for the needy, service to others, and being a good listener (just to name a few).

There is also the fruit of bringing others to Jesus Christ through our evangelistic efforts. Have you shared the Gospel with anyone in the past week? Month? Year? The closer you walk with Christ, the more you should desire to share that amazing gift with those who don’t know Him. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News (Rom. 10:15)! And finally, there is the fruit produced by our lips in giving praise to our Lord. Hebrews 13:15 states that, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name.” Do you openly give God credit for the wonderful things He is doing in your life? Do you praise His name in church…as well as in private? In your small group…as well as in your office?

I’ll leave you with this closing thought on our fruitfulness from a Christian website/resource I like, GotQuestions.org:

God is the judge of even our thoughts and motivations. All will be brought to the light when we stand before Him (Hebrews 4:12–13). A poor widow in a one-room hut can bear as much fruit as a televangelist leading giant crusades if she is surrendered to God in everything and using all He has given her for His glory. As fruit is unique to each tree, our fruit is unique to us. God knows what He has entrusted to each of us and what He expects us to do with it (Luke 12:48). Our responsibility before God is to be “faithful with little” so that He can trust us with much (Matthew 25:21).