Producing Good Fruit
What kind of fruit does a good person produce? Are you producing good fruit?
Followers of Jesus are to serve God and his church in fruitful ways. We are to bear good fruit for the kingdom of God in this world.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus rebukes the religious leaders for producing the wrong kinds of outcomes. Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33, ESV).
Followers of Jesus should be discernible in how they live their lives, and in how they serve God and others. We should distinguish ourselves as God’s servants through the fruit we produce and we should stand out as “good trees” in a forest of unfruitfulness.
Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for not bearing good fruit. Jesus said, “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”(Matthew 12:34-35, ESV).
Like this corrupt religious leadership, people show forth their character through their words and deeds. Out of the core of who we are—out of our hearts—our mouths speak.
We can produce good fruit through our words and we can display the fruitfulness of goodness in our lives, or we can speak forth destruction and bring about the fruit of judgement through our words. We can bring forth treasures of goodness, or we can bring forth treasures of evil. Everyone will know the kind of tree we are by the fruit we bear.
Jesus warned the people of the account they would give, saying, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37, ESV).
How we live matters to God. The words we speak matter to God. We can bear corrupt fruit through our words. We can produce good fruit through our words. Our words can condemn us, or our words can produce the good fruit of justification. Our words bear fruit.
May we bear good fruit in our lives as we represent Jesus and his kingdom in this world, and may we distinguish ourselves by producing good fruit—bringing out good treasures and through speaking fruitfully.
In Christ alone, Robbie
A Collect For Ember Day (Autumn Wednesday): “O God, you led your holy apostles to ordain ministers in every place: Grant that your Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable persons for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of your kingdom; through the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
