One of the halmarks of a true disciple of Jesus is the fruit he or she produces. Where there is no fruit there is no discipleship. The Lord said it this way,
John 15:8
“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”
Jesus equates bearing fruit with being a disciple, so the two go hand in hand. But what exactly does it mean to bear fruit? Well, when you allow scripture to interpret scripture (the way it should) you understand that fruit is first and foremost that which flows from within, the product of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Longsuffering
- Gentleness
- Goodness
- Faith
- Meekness
- Temperance
This is the fruit, and this is what will flow out of the true disciple of Jesus. This is what Jesus said a tree would be known by (Luke 6:44). Works void of this fruit don’t prove anything. Often times we attribute fruitfulness with lots of good stuff happening; souls being saved, churches being built, works of power, etc. No doubt, these things should be happening. But those “things” aren’t the focus of being fruitful. “Fruit” is seen because of what is happening in the “unseen”. Fruit is the character of a person, which has been shaped by a living relationship with the “husbandman of our souls”.
Bearing fruit is a process, observe this principal found in Leviticus 19:23-25,
“And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal. And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.”
God, in His wisdom, instructed his people to wait until the fifth years before partaking of the fruit of any of the trees they planted. Perhaps it would take a similar amount of time to prove the fruit in our own lives. Things might look great on the outside, but a time of proving, similar to what a fruit tree endures encountering different elements season to season, as time passes the truth of the tree will be seen. Four years later, if our heart remains right, the fruit will be ready. Fruit that will bring glory to our Father!