FollowBy Beth White
Just before Jesus went meekly to his death, He gave His loved ones this insight: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8).
We tend to struggle with these words. We think, “Ok, fruit is what He wants, so fruit is what I had better get.” But I believe that the Lord is far less concerned with the fruit we bear than with the roots of our tree and what we allow to nourish and water them.
Fruit is the product of something that starts much deeper, something unseen. That’s why bearing fruit proves that we are His disciples; the fruit cannot be borne unless we are connected to the True Vine (John 15:5).
When you and I read Galatians 5:22-23, we may feel convicted that the fruit of the Spirit is not flourishing abundantly in our lives. We may realize that we’re not very patient, for example, so we begin to pray for patience. While that is a good place to start, the fact is that we don’t gain patience by praying for patience. We grow patient by seeking the Lord first and trusting Him to lead us in the way we should go. The same may be said for all of the fruits of the Spirit. We allow the Lord to refine, or prune, our hearts, and the fruit begins to grow.
If we’re not bearing fruit, we don’t need to get fruit. We need to water our roots! Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
How do we tap our roots in to that source of everlasting water? Begin with prayer. It is the Lord who does the work; we must ask Him to do it in us. To read our Bibles daily is also essential, because through the Word of God we know God. Then, as we hear His words and do them, abiding in Him, we are conformed more and more to His image—we bear fruit.
It’s spelled out for us in 2 Peter 1:5-8: “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Take Him at his Word. There is much to be sacrificed if we are to live in this way, as His disciples, but He has promised that we will bear fruit.
Because our Father is patient, we should be too. Our job is simple obedience; it is His to determine the variety of fruit and its growth. We must say, “Look, Lord! My heart is a fertile garden with soft soil. I will water it with your words of life; grow in it what you will.”
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