Stay connected to Jesus

You are responsible for the good work, but God is the One who produces the fruit. The results of your "good works" are His business. Not yours.

Aug 16, 2024

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. (John 15:8)

Here’s a question for you: Why do you want to work for God?

Maybe it’s a loaded question, but it’s one we all need to consider as followers of Christ. Because motivation matters. What’s in your heart matters, not just for your focus and your perspective, but it matters a great deal to God.

Doing good deeds and good works is something that every believer needs to participate in. It’s part of following Jesus. Serving each other, serving those who don’t know Jesus, being kind to those who aren’t kind to us—those are good deeds. But they aren’t fruit.

Fruit is what happens as a result of a good deed. A stranger feeling seen. A friend feeling loved. A person coming to know Jesus. Whatever the result is, that is the fruit of your good works.

And here’s an important truth to remember: You are responsible for the good work, but God is the One who produces the fruit.

You can’t control how anyone responds to your actions. Your choices don’t change another person. Other people are responsible for their own beliefs, their own feelings, their own actions. And that is between them and Jesus.

Fruit—or godly results—is only possible with God’s help. You can’t produce fruit on your own. God is the source of our productivity.

Now, sure, there are times when we reap what we sow. When we plant good seed, we will get a good harvest (eventually). That’s a law of nature. But even then, the laws of nature were established by God. We can’t control them. We can only operate within them.

The best way to produce fruit is to stay connected to Jesus. That works for spiritual productivity, but it’s also true for practical productivity.

You want to make wise decisions in your life so you can perform at the top of your game? Stay connected to Jesus.

You want to exhibit patience and wisdom in the choices you have to make on a daily basis? Stay connected to Jesus.

You want the energy and the focus and the creativity you need to produce the products that you need to sell? Stay connected to Jesus.

Whether you’re talking in the spiritual sense or in the practical sense, walking in tandem with Jesus is the key to productivity.

You can certainly finish projects without Him. You can make progress on tasks and responsibilities without Him. You can do all sorts of things without Jesus. He made us that way, you know. He made us with the free will to choose our why.

So you don’t have to work for Him. You don’t have to rely on Him for your strength or your wisdom or your future. You can rely on yourself for as long as your self lasts.

It’s just that your self won’t last long enough.

When you lean on Jesus, when you rely on Him, when you allow Him to do His work in you and through you, that’s where true productivity takes place. That’s where the real fruit comes from. That’s how you can produce “much” of it, through His power not your own.

And when God’s kids do extraordinary things with God’s power, that brings Him glory. That gives us a chance to point the attention back to Him, to acknowledge that without Him we wouldn’t be where we are.

That thing on your task list that needs to get done? Entrust it to the Lord. Do you best, but if you can’t finish it, let it go until you can.

That project that’s absorbing all your focus and attention? Let it go. No project is so important that it should take away from your relationship with God. Work on it with God. Let Him help you.

On your own, my friend, you aren’t enough. You don’t have capacity. You don’t have the strength. That’s not a failing on your part. It’s true for all of us. None of us have “enough” of our own strength to make it through life.

But our great, glorious, compassionate God offers His strength. It’s not just for mighty spiritual accomplishments. No. God’s strength works for everyday projects, for everyday relationships, for everyday needs.

Stop trying to get it done on your own. Your heavenly Father is waiting for you to ask for help.