Where is Jesus right now and what is he saying to you? This question gets to the bottom of what’s happening in our hearts. It helps us stop and evaluate our lives. It helps us examine the health of our relationship with Jesus. It helps us assess whether or not Christ has settled down in our hearts through faith. Our hearts are like fields full of soil and our lives are like trees growing in those fields.
Your life is either characterized by no bitter fruit, rotten fruit or godly fruit. You are either a young, weak sapling or you are a mature, strong oak tree. The roots of your life are either growing in unhealthy soil or nutritious soil that is overflowing with the love of Christ.
In Ephesians 3:14 – 21 Paul says…
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in Heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
#1: What kind of fruit do you see in the branches of your life?
When I was a kid we had mulberry trees on our farm. Sometimes the mulberries were ripe and soft and tasty and they provided a nice snack. Sometimes the mulberries were green, unripened, and bitter to the taste and they would give you a stomachache. Other times the mulberries were rotten, mushy, moldy and would make you terribly sick if you ate them.
Sometimes the fruit of our lives is similar. Our lives, like trees, produce fruit. Sometimes the fruit is good. Sometimes the fruit is bitter and sometimes the fruit is rotten. When Christ isn’t dwelling or settled down in your heart then your life will not be rooted in the love of Christ and the fruit of your life will be bitter and rotten.
Ephesians 4:17-5:21; Colossians 3:5-17 and Galatians 5:19-26 describe the differences between good fruit, bitter fruit and rotten fruit. Read these passages and assess what kind of fruit you see in the tree of your life. Is it bitter and rotten fruit or is it godly fruit? Is your fruit rooted in the love of Christ? If your life is rooted in the love of Christ then your life will produce fruit that is in keeping with the love of Christ.
#2: What kind of character do you see in the trunk of your life?
Character has to do with maturity and strength. Small saplings are young and weak. Large trees are typically mature and strong. Growing up on my mom’s farm there was a stand of trees along the East side of our farmhouse. When a storm would roll through the young saplings would bend and often times break in the wind because they were weak. But the mature trees would stand firm and barely move because they were strong.
Ephesians 4:14; Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:6-7; 1 Timothy 4:12-16; Psalm 1; Psalm 119:9-16 and Romans 12:9-21 describe the differences between a person with weak or immature character and strong or mature character. Read these passages and assess what kind of character you see in the trunk of your life? Is the character of your life young and weak or mature and strong? Is your character rooted in the love of Christ? If your life is rooted in the love of Christ then your life will be like a strong tree with unbreakable and immovable character.
#3: What kind of soil are the roots of your life growing in?
Good soil is really important for healthy roots to grow in. When the soil is lacking nutrients the roots shrivel up and produce weak trees with little to no fruit or bitter and rotten fruit. When the soil is rich with nutrients the roots are bursting with health and they produce strong mature trees with good healthy fruit.
I am convinced that the soil of our hearts must be filled with the love of Christ. This is what Paul is praying for in Ephesians 3:17 when he prays that the Spirit of God would strengthen us so that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith and that our hearts would be rooted in the love of Christ.
Romans 8:37-39; Ephesians 2:4-5, Ephesians 3:19 and 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 describe the kind of love that God has for us through Christ. Read these passages and assess what kind of soil are the roots of your life growing in. This is the love of Christ that Paul prays for our hearts to be rooted in. Is your life rooted in the soil of the love of Christ? If your life is rooted in the love of Christ then the soil of your life will strengthen and nurture the roots of your life and strong mature character will produce healthy and godly fruit.
Application Questions and Prayer…
- What sinful fruit are you aware of in your life? What godly fruit have you observed growing in your life?
- How would you describe your character? What areas of weaknesses or immaturity have you observed in your character? What areas of strength or maturity have you observed in your character?
- What aspects of Christ’s love do you struggle with believing the most? (Permanence, unconditional, relentless, patient, sacrificial, etc.) Which aspects of Christ’s love have affected you the most in your relationship with him?
- Share at least one personal piece of fruit, one personal character attribute and one aspect of Christ’s love that you want to grow in and have someone pray for you about this.