What does it mean to bear good fruit?

thelord's_pearl said:

Is it your works from the will and help of God, or preaching, teaching, being an example of Jesus such as being loving, patient, serving others, or all of that? Thank you

Click to expand...

Galatians 5:22-23
The fruits are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

and those are generalities and more detail is revealed and given throughout scripture

Fruit is the delectable part of a tree that is fit for consumption of the caretaker. You are the tree, Jesus is the caretaker. Fruit are things in your life that Jesus enjoys. Some of this fruit, perhaps, can be found in Galatians 5:22-23. (though this is talking about the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit had yet to go out into the world when Jesus preached this message.)

So before the Holy Spirit came out into the world, what fruits could men produce? John the Baptist answers this question: fruits worthy of repentance. See Luke 3. He tells those with two coats to give one away. He told the tax collectors to only take what they are commanded to take. He told soldiers to do violence to no one, to not falsely accuse, and to be content with their wages.

Perhaps then, "fruit" is following Jesus's teachings. Fruit, maybe, is just pleasing God with your life.
I enjoyed this question. Thank you for asking it. Much love, may God bless you.

Yes and when your impact on other believers (widows and orphans) (and especially by your prayers) has been to strengthen their integrity in turn, in the face of adversities they face, their crown becomes your crown. Our God is the only person in the universe, entitled to run a pyramid scheme.

Fruits are all our actions let by God's holy Spirit for such a life is pleasing to the Lord.

thelord's_pearl said:

Is it your works from the will and help of God, or preaching, teaching, being an example of Jesus such as being loving, patient, serving others, or all of that? Thank you

Click to expand...

Doing good for others. My question about it is how far does one need to go. Is merely not being stingy or selfish enough or does one need to become a Mother Teresa. It doesn't say.

thelord's_pearl said:

Is it your works from the will and help of God, or preaching, teaching, being an example of Jesus such as being loving, patient, serving others, or all of that? Thank you

Click to expand...

Fruit is entirely dependent on the nature of the tree. Branches do not produce fruit. They bear fruit. The difference is vital. Cut off a branch and other branches will replace it. You can remove every bit of fruit but it will grow back.

Those who are born again are "grafted" to the "Vine", who is the Lord Jesus. The "sap" flows through the trunk of the tree out to the branches. So it is that fruit appears. And this fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. It is not work. It is as natural as breathing. Failure in the Christian life is because people are either not born again or lack knowledge of what God has done for us in Christ.

God is not going to help us. His answer is to chop down the old tree and graft us into the new. Some Christians are like Christmas trees, decorated with baubles and trinkets that seem impressive. The problem is that you can't eat Christmas decorations.

thelord's_pearl said:

Is it your works from the will and help of God, or preaching, teaching, being an example of Jesus such as being loving, patient, serving others, or all of that? Thank you

Click to expand...

John 15:1-2 Jesus says: “I am the true Vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful."

Here in those two verses is the answer to your question. So what dos this mean?

We are all born in sin, with no exception. And because we are all born in sin, we are all dead in spirit, therefore we all have to be born again. How? Nothing we can do but only God can do. We are all a dead branch in the dead Vine of the Earth therefore God the Father (who is the gardener) has to take us from this dead Vine of the Earth and connect us to the only living Vine (Jesus) so that we may have a life in Him as well. Only Jesus can give us life and only the Father decides to whom He gives to Jesus.

Now, what is the fruit. The fruit is the works of the Holy Spirit that manifests in us. We cannot do those works, for we are only a mere branch, we don't even know of that the Holy Spirit has to work in us unless it is revealed in us. Now how much fruit (love) are we ought to produce? Only God knows this, only God knows what fruit (works of the Holy Spirit) He wants manifested in us and how much for He is the gardener, He is doing this gardening. Only He knows what He wants from you. Who tells the gardener how much fruit should he produce? Only the gardener knows what fruit he needs and how much, for he is the only one doing the gardening and all of the work.

So what are you meant to do? If you feel like you are still connected to the Vine of the Earth pray to God that He connects you to the living Vine of Christ, so good fruit the Father wants in you can manifest in you. You cannot do anything else, it is the Spirit who manifests all these fruits. You can ask the Spirit if you know that you have it, that it manifests the fruit in you that the Father wants, that the Spirit shapes you into what the Father wants you to be shaped - and that is the resemblance of Jesus Christ.

Hope this answers your question.

thelord's_pearl said:

Is it your works from the will and help of God, or preaching, teaching, being an example of Jesus such as being loving, patient, serving others, or all of that? Thank you

Click to expand...

We're all gifted to do different things, but all fruit are expressions of love, the love that God has birthed in us. Teaching, witnessing, modeling faith, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, encouraging people who doubt, instructing sinners, forgiving willingly, tending to/healing the sick and visiting the imprisoned, to name some.

thelord's_pearl said:

Is it your works from the will and help of God, or preaching, teaching, being an example of Jesus such as being loving, patient, serving others, or all of that? Thank you

Click to expand...

There are three types of fruit:

Fruit of the Spirit, which highlights our character
Fruit of our labor, which highlights our ministry
Fruit of righteousness, which highlights our beliefs

Effectiveness flows from all three working together in balance and harmony.

HTacianas said:

Doing good for others. My question about it is how far does one need to go. Is merely not being stingy or selfish enough or does one need to become a Mother Teresa. It doesn't say.

Click to expand...

What you do, Holy Spirit fuelled, as a quiet person. Do you wish your fellow Christians to gain in maturity and integrity? Pray for that for them. Pray for just government in your country. Meditate on St Paul a lot.

I always loved St. Therese and Her Little Way

Lots of good answers here. I hope you found what you are looking for. God bless you.

thelord's_pearl said:

Is it your works from the will and help of God, or preaching, teaching, being an example of Jesus such as being loving, patient, serving others, or all of that? Thank you

Click to expand...

Gal 5 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience .."