BE FRUITFUL

Genesis 9:7
It’s a command to be fruitful, not a suggestion. It is written in the imperative form meaning we MUST be fruitful – there is no choice.

But HOW? How do I be fruitful? In order to answer this, I thought deeply about how a tree is fruitful and what the benefit of fruit is.

In order for a tree to be fruitful it requires sunlight, pruning, space, soil, watering, fertiliser, weeding, the flowers need to be fertilised (usually through bees or other insects through spreading the pollen), leaves for photosynthesis.

Sunlight: Jesus Himself is the morning star (Rev 22:16) and so we cannot be fruitful unless Jesus is our Saviour and Jesus Himself is living in us. Only true Christians can be fruitful (not fake Christians, or religious Christians).

Pruning: (John 15:2) we have to remove all our sin in order to be fruitful. For example, if you don’t prune all the dead flowers from roses, they won’t grow anymore flowers and you can actually kill the whole plant. Diseases also need to be cut out of the plant or it will die. We need to cut out all the bad thoughts, desires, characteristics, behaviour, etc or we too can die spiritually or not bear any fruit.

Water: the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26). We can’t be fruitful without reading, or meditating or practising the Word of God. We need to use it in our own lives and in the lives of others, to pray for others. We need to read it daily in the same way that plants need to be watered regularly. You should never leave a plant without watering it for ages and then suddenly shock it with water, they will die. In the same way, we should not go for days without reading the Bible and then suddenly read for hours. It is much more beneficial to read everyday a little bit, just like watering plants.

Fertiliser: food for the plant, it sustains the plant and makes it grow and makes it healthy and fruitful. What makes a Christian grow, what sustains us and makes us healthy, what feeds our soul? The Word of God made alive by the Holy Spirit. (1 Kings 17:6, the meat represents the word of God with life in it). The Holy Spirit convicts us and helps us to be made healthy and fruitful.

Weeding: removal of things around the plant that would block sunlight or take the plants food or water or space. We need to remove those things around us that distract us, or are harmful to us or choke us such as the worries of this world. This could be spending too much time on the internet or watching t.v., or being with friends who are a temptation or sleeping too much or eating too much. Whatever it is that keeps us away from God or His Word or following His will or whatever it is that keeps us sinning, we need to remove that – weed it. The Bible says that if your eye causes you to sin....remove it (Mathew 18:9). For me it’s stress, I like to do at least three things at once. Usually I cook dinner, make lunches, and watch the news all at the same time but if someone asks me a question during that, I’ll be a bit stressed and I might answer rudely and sin. Therefore, I have to remove that habit and just concentrate on one thing at a time.

Space: plants require enough space to grow. You can’t grow potatoes next to beans, the potatoes suck up all the nutrients and the beans are unfruitful (I know, I’ve done it). We also need our space. We need to take time away as Jesus (Mathew 14:23) did to pray, to meditate, to reflect, it’s very important. Everybody needs time to be with God on their own and this is an extremely important part of being fruitful and should not be neglected.

Soil: must be good soil. Soil that is the right amount of sand = salt = be salt of the earth (Mathew 5:13) = tasty to the world = attractive. Soil has to be that nice dark, crumbly soil that allows water to drain in and it soaks up the water and keeps it so the plant can use it as it needs. We need to be like that, soaking up the Word of God and using it daily and if there is ever a drought (hard times) we can draw on that Word of God to get us through difficult times. Good soil (Mark 4:20) hears the Word of God and accepts it and this is how we bear fruit. Our bodies came from the soil and so being fruitful requires our bodies to be involved. Our bodies must have self-control and accept to live according to the Word of God in order to bear fruit.

Flower: fruit begins with a flower. We can’t eat the flower but it’s very important. Without the flower, the fruit won’t be able to grow and it’s the flower that attracts insects which fertilise it and the fruit grows. It’s our actions that attract others to us and from our actions people will see the fruit and as we practise daily to live according to the Word of God, we will bear fruit. A flower starts our as something small that is inedible and turns into something really great and that is the same with our actions. E.g. an encouraging word can be like a flower and from that word fruit is produced. E.g. doing an act of kindness is the flower that will one day produce the fruit of kindness. E.g. holding your tongue is the flower that will one day produce the fruit of self-control. And that fruit multiplies ‘cos it’s not only produced in you but in those around you. When I observe someone doing something great – it pushes me to do that too.

Leaves: leaves are green and the colour green represents life and leaves do produce life for the plant as without them the plant would die. If you cut off all the leaves, the plant can’t survive. They take the sun and convert it into food that course the fruit to grow. The sun = Jesus Himself = Word of God and so we must take the Word of God and convert it into food for our souls, without that, we will die spiritually. There is no point in reading the Word of God like a story, we must meditate on it and apply it to our own lives; without that we won’t produce fruit.


What is the benefit of fruit?Fruit is a general term covering different types, e.g. banana, lemons, oranges, apples. Some fruit look beautiful but taste sour (lemon) or are rotten inside. Some fruit are ugly but taste awesome (uglifruit – we should not neglect the weakest among us) and some fruit look really similar to others but taste quite different (lemon and limes – not Christians are truly Chrisitans).

When God tells us to be fruitful, it’s a general term covering all the fruit and He expects us to bear ALL the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) not just one or two and therefore we should examine them and find which one(s) are missing in our lives.

Fruit attracts animals to eat them and from this the seeds are dispersed so more trees can grow and produce more fruit. Therefore if we are fruitful people will be attracted to us and they will receive the gospel (seeds) from us and hopefully water too and they will go out and start to spread the gospel and this is how we multiply (Gen 9:7). But fruit that is unattractive will have the opposite effect; fruit of the flesh will never cause multiplication for the glory of God. Birds are not attracted to rotten or sour fruit. Sometimes an animal sees a fruit and it looks good but after tasting it, they don’t forget and never go back. If someone tastes our fruit and it’s sour or rotten or bitter, they won’t come back. When we are jealous, or angry or proud, we are not attractive to anyone much less non-christians and they won’t be interested in the gospel and the gospel does not get multiplied.

Less sugar in the fruit makes it less tasty. Fruit that is not sugary are those that are forced ripened and haven’t spent enough time in the sun. When we don’t spend enough time in the presence of God (sun), reading His Word, meditating, praying etc, we are tasteless and lack the fruit of the Spirit and are therefore less attractive.

Fruit is a sign that the tree is healthy and if you are not producing fruit then check your spiritual health. Are people attracted to you? Are people coming to Christ through you? Are you full of love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control or are you full of hatred, bitterness, envy, complaining, problems, harshness, anger, impatience or unforgiveness?
The opposite to love is hatred. Are there people who dislike you? Is there anyone in your life that you avoid? If so you have unforgiveness, possibly Do you have negative thoughts about someone/people?

The opposite to joy is complaining. Is everything hard for you? Some people can only complain, there is no joy at all. From the time they get up to the time they go to bed, they just complain, about everything. “you don’t help me” and when you try to help, “your making a mess”. With these people you can’t win. They even complain when you are encouraging them, “thanx for dinner it was awesome”, “oh, yes I started preparing it since 5am and I haven’t rested all day.....”Nobody is attracted to complainers.

Opposite to peace is problems. It’s normal to have problems, everyone has them but those who are full of peace will know how to resolve the problem and bring peace again to the situation. Those who don’t have peace, they will ALWAYS have problems. If you don’t have peace and always have problems, that is a sign there is something wrong. If you have a problem with many people, then the problem is with you and not them. Therefore pray God will fill you with peace and the ability to find solutions through humility. Don’t accept your pride to tell you that you are right and everybody else is wrong.

To be fruitful means to be productive, to produce something through hard work. A tree doesn’t grow without hard work behind it. Someone had to dig the hole, weed, water, prune, and then pick the fruit and even clean the fruit and pack it. It takes work to be fruitful and we don’t have to forget that. If we want to be fruitful and multiply, we need to work hard; reading the Bible, praying, visiting others, going to meetings, fasting, encouraging others, changing our character etc. It’s a work and we don’t have to think God will do it for us, we have to do it ourselves.

By Hayley Boud