WHAT IS FRUITFULNESS?
According to Cambridge English Dictionary, Fruitfulness is the fact that something produces good results. Also is the fact that plants produce a lot of fruit.
INTRODUCTION
In 2 Peter 1:5-11 we are given very clear guidance about becoming fruitful Christians. It should be the burning desire of every Christian to become fruitful; the alternative is to remain barren and unfruitful - to be unproductive, like the withered fig tree. When we have committed ourselves to Christ and live to please Him, the natural result is behavioral choices that look like His. He was clear that true followers of Christ will be recognizable by their fruit: “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
SIX WAYS ON HOW YOU CAN BE FRUITFUL
On becoming a fruitful Christian, there are some steps you need to take.
1. By Accepting Jesus into your Life:
Romans 3:22, We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
John 1:12, …to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
2. By Abiding in Jesus Christ:
John 15:4, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
John 15:5, 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.
1 John 2:28, ESV …abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
3. By Dying to Self, then Following Christ and Imitating Him:
John 12:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
4. “Make Every Effort” By Growing Spiritually:
2 Peter 1:5-11, For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Psalm 92:14, Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.
5. Always ready to do good:
Titus 3:14, And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.
James 3:18, And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. “By their fruits you shall know them”
Proverbs 11:30, The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.
Matthew 7:14-17, You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.
6. By Living in Faithful Obedience to God, Continually Seeking and Doing God’s will:
Romans 6:22, But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Romans 12:2, Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Brethren, practice this six ways, as you practice it, the Lord will make you a fruitful child # IJN