(Mark DeJesus) We are designed to produce fruit in our lives, manifesting the ways of God through changed lives and relationships that display His ways. Yet there is nothing more discouraging than feeling like your life is not producing any fruit. If we are honest, a lot of accusation and condemnation can pummel the mind, keeping us wondering whether our lives even make a difference. Although I never try to answer questions with pat answers, I do think there are two critical things to keep in mind if you honestly feel that you are not seeing the fruit you believe God can manifest in your life.
1. Your investment needs more time. In the natural, we all understand that when you plant a seed in the ground it is utterly foolish to expect fruit the next morning. But we tend to treat our spiritual lives as though the fruit should show right away. It doesn’t work that way in the natural, nor does it in the spiritual. Seeds need to grow into plants. Then plants over time begin to blossom and produce fruit. A lot of time and care go into the full process. There are seasons of growing a harvest and you need to know what season of life are you in. If you are an overcoming believer, odds are you are planting seeds everywhere. You would never drop a seed in the ground and expect to eat fruit the next day. But we tend to do this with our spiritual life. The quick results mindset of today does not fit into the Kingdom of God. Most major changes often work through a lifetime of investment. Even bigger changes can take generations to take place. So we must keep the bigger picture in mind of what we are contending for, long term. CONTINUE
