Day 30 :: Productive or Fruitful?

My mom and dad visited a few weeks ago.  I love it when they come because it always refreshes my soul.  As we always do, we started talking about life--the good, the bad and the ugly {at least my ugly}--and we began to talk about thriving.  {Yes, my mom reads my blog}.  She shared with me some of the things she had recently heard at a retreat she attended.

One thing she shared stuck out to me as it relates to thriving.  The speaker had said something like, "We must not confuse being productive with being fruitful."

This has been a good reminder for me, especially during this season of my life.  If I thought that it was only possible to thrive when everything on my to-do list was done or I 'had it all together', then I would never thrive.

There's always going to be one more thing to do.  The laundry might get done, but by bedtime that night, more's going in the dirty clothes' basket.

And I will never 'have it all together' whatever that means, because I'm not holding anything together. All that I am or do is Christ at work in me.

So, I'm trying to replace the word productive in my mind with fruitful.

Am I bearing fruit in this moment?

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, for apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:5 -

source

In order to bear fruit I must abide in Christ.  I must dig my roots deep into His truth.  I must depend on Him for all things.  And I know that it is only by His power that I will do anything.

What is the fruit that we bear?

The fruit that we bear is our obedience to Christ, the fruit of the Spirit that only comes by walking with Him.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..." -Galatians 5:22-23

I can truly thrive when I am abiding in Christ and walking in the Spirit.  Then, my life will be fruitful not because I got a lot done, but because I am a person changed by God.

For a list of all posts in this series go here.