Bearing fruit for Christ is these 5 easy things

Outside my porch is a satsuma tree. When I first moved in two years ago, it was prolific with satsumas. Now, some of the branches have died, and last year's fruit was small and dry.

What’s going on?

It was hit with a hard freeze (infrequent here in South Louisiana).  

It has not been regularly fertilized (unlike the man who owned the house before me!).

My grandkids climb on it continually.

The result:  “no fruit.”

Your life can be like that.  Seasons of dryness, spiritual hunger, and abuse can almost destroy your spiritual fruit.

How can I increase my spiritual fruit for Christ?

1.  Start by feeding your “roots” consistently.

I’m surprised at how many believers have inconsistent patterns of spirituality.  

Their daily Bible reading, prayer time, church attendance, and small group fellowship are “slim to none and slim left town!”

Don’t try to overdo it.  Read a daily Bible plan like the One Year Bible.  Develop a prayer habit right after you read the Bible.

Attend church weekly to worship and hear relevant Bible teaching. Join a small group to “remove the mask” with a few Christian friends.  You will start to bear fruit!

2. Stay connected to Christ, the Vine.

Jesus said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches.  Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (Jn. 15: 5).

To “abide” means to “be united with someone, to be one in heart, mind, and will.”

It’s like being married.  You are “one” with Christ, loving Him as He loves you, thinking with His thoughts, and doing His will.

“Intimacy produces fruit.”  Put Jesus back as #1 in your heart, mind, and actions.

3. We all go through dry seasons.

Even Christ had a wilderness experience.  Even during that difficult 40-day fast, He still managed to be inwardly victorious over Satan.

When you feel like you're in the wilderness, take heart! You still have inward life, and it’s called the “fruit of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, etc.  

The season will soon change.  Let that “inner fruit” keep growing on the inside when things are tough on the outside.

4. Let God prune you from wrong habits.

Jesus said that “every branch that does bear fruit, He (the Father) prunes that it may produce more fruit” (Jn. 15: 2).

A branch that is not producing fruit is a “sucker.”  It is robbing the life from the branch.

Wrong attitudes, wrong speech, wrong habits, wrong relationships are all “suckers.”  Let the Father prune that sucker!

5.  Relax in your walk with God.

Have you ever passed a pear tree and heard it straining to produce a pear?  No.

Fruit is “excess life.”  

Slow down. Let God do the work.  He said to Adam and Eve, “BE fruitful.”   

“It is God who is at work in you both to will and to work of His good pleasure” ( Phil. 2:13).

Bearing fruit for God is easy:  feed your roots, stay connected, be patient, let God prune you, and relax in your work for God.  Let’s grow some BIG fruit this year, and I’m not talking about satsumas!