What does the Bible mean when it says my life is to produce “good fruit”? - Productivity - TouchPoints

Psalm 1:1-3They delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

Isaiah 5:1-7“What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes? Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed.” . . . The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.

The Bible often uses metaphors of trees and vines to paint a picture of how people should be useful and productive. This means in part that just as the natural world is designed for productivity, so we have been designed by God to do certain things well. As God’s followers, we are to live lives that bear the healthy fruits of righteousness, justice, kindness, love, and truth—all important means of growing God’s Kingdom on earth.

Luke 6:43-45“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. . . . A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

A piece of fruit can look good on the outside but be full of worms and rot on the inside. In the same way, we can look good on the outside but only pretend to love God and desire to serve him. Our “good deeds” can easily be motivated by desires for personal gain. The fruit God desires from us naturally rises from a heart that truly loves him. A good heart is essential for producing good deeds.