Living a Fruitful Life

Fruitful Life | John 15:1-8, Galations 5:16-23 | Michael Watts

I didn’t grow up in the church, and my family was not very religious. My mother always said that we were Protestant, but I never really knew what that meant! Protestant? I thought I was an Aquarius! We didn’t even go to church on special occasions like Easter and Christmas when literally almost EVERYONE goes to church. I didn’t find out until I was an adult that Easter was all about the resurrection of Jesus and not a bunny!

However, by the grace of God, even with this upbringing, I was interested in religion and always wanted to go to church. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity. That is, until high school when I met a girl who invited me to go to church with her. Because of her invitation, I began to attend a Baptist church with her and her family on a regular basis. I even continued to attend after the girl and I broke up because I had become a member of that church.

After a while, I lost focus and stopped attending. Other things became more important to me, like school, jobs, and, well, just other things. Walking away from church and Christ led me down a very dark path. I began to live a very sinful life. I began to suffer from depression and suicidal ideation. I developed a drinking problem. I became very lonely. God was cut out of my life, and I was reaping the consequences, though I did not see it like that at the time. In fact, I blamed God for all of my problems and poor decisions. I can look back now and see that even through all that, God did not leave me. God was always trying to reach out to me.

I’m sure many readers can relate to at least some parts of my story. Maybe you didn’t grow up in church. Maybe you have found yourself in dark places. Maybe even right now, you find yourself in a dark place and are shaking your fist at God, blaming God.

Thankfully today, by the grace of God, I am in a better place. God has saved me and called me into ministry. I am in the process of being ordained in the Church of the Nazarene. I love God, love talking to Him, and do my best to listen and obey. God has truly been working in my life. He has blessed me with a beautiful family, home, and job. It doesn’t mean things are always easy, but in my experience, when we put God first in our lives and participate in a relationship with Him, it changes things. Have you noticed this as well? Do you notice a difference when you are connected with Christ?

In John 15:1-8, Jesus teaches us about vines, branches, and fruit. Take a minute to read it:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit because apart from me you can accomplish nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire and burned up. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.” (NET)

This whole passage is a giant metaphor that Jesus is using: He is the vine, God the Father is the gardener, and we are the branches. Without the vine, the branches cannot bear any fruit. The branches that do not bear fruit are cut off by God, and the ones that do are pruned so they will bear much fruit. Jesus is talking about different types of people. The ones who bear fruit are the ones who faithfully follow Jesus and obey His teaching. The ones that don’t are people who don’t believe or don’t have faith, so they do not follow.

In the second half of the passage, Jesus is describing the relationship between the branches and the vine and how the branches rely on the vine to bear fruit. Jesus mentions cutting off fruitless branches and pruning others so that they will bear more fruit. It seems that Jesus wants us to bear fruit, but what does that mean? What is the fruit that Jesus wants us to produce with our lives? The apostle Paul can help us out with this.

Let’s take a look at what Paul has to say in Galatians 5:16-23:

"But I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God! But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law." (NET)

This passage is my life. It is my experience. When I turned my back on God, the works of the flesh that Paul lists here were literally a description of my life. But now that I live a life connected to Christ, His Spirit in me produces all those fruits that Paul lists.

These passages, and my life, testify to the fact that

A FRUITFUL LIFE IS ONE THAT IS FIRMLY ATTACHED TO CHRIST THROUGH FAITHFULNESS AND OBEDIENCE.

In John 15, Jesus is talking to His disciples. He is pointing out to them that it is not only important to believe in Him and in the lessons He is teaching them, but it is also important to live out those teachings and to live their lives as He lived His. They need to live in complete devotion to Him.

Jesus is showing us that the only way to a “fruitful” or meaningful life is one that is firmly attached to Him. If we choose not to follow the Son, we have no chance with the Father. God put Jesus here as an example for us in how He wants us to live our lives. He put Jesus here to die for our sins because we are unable to atone for those sins ourselves. Will you respond to this with love, faith, and obedience? Will you stay connected to Christ? Will you live as He lived?

Without a relationship with Christ, your life is fruitless, and your existence is lifeless. You are fallen and dead without faith and living rooted in sin without hope of salvation! If you want a fruitful life, you need to be firmly connected to Christ, remain in Him, and have a continued, loyal, and unwavering belief in Jesus and obedience to His commands.

When I was in my “dark times,” I was sinful, hurtful, uncaring, and unloving. I wasn’t living a life that was pleasing to God and faithful to Christ. I wasn’t accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I just straight up wasn’t having a good time. Now I am connected to Christ and loving life! I am astonished at the fruit He produces.

In today’s world, we think we can produce these things on our own without the help of Jesus. There are all kinds of “life hacks,” self-help programs, and so on. Don’t get me wrong; these things can be helpful, and there is nothing wrong with humanity helping each other, but to produce the kind of fruit and live the kind of life that Jesus is looking for, you need that sustained relationship with Him, which is why He says, “apart from me, you can do nothing.”

What did your lives look like then, and how do they look now? How is your relationship with Christ? Are you living a life that is faithful to God and remains in Christ? Are you following His commands to love God and love your neighbor? What do you need to do to make that relationship better, to be that example of a Christlike disciple in the world? What things in your life need pruning to bear more fruit? Have you connected with Christ today?

A FRUITFUL LIFE IS ONE THAT IS FIRMLY ATTACHED TO CHRIST THROUGH FAITHFULNESS AND OBEDIENCE.

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