How to Improve Your Life and Bear Good Fruit [6 Tips]

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In this post, I share six tips on how to improve your life and bear good fruit. God designed and purposed you to produce good fruit. But, bettering your life is about living intentionally and purposefully The only way to improve your life for the better is to apply God’s principles. He’s the One that designed and created you. Father is familiar with your feelings of insecurity, discomfort, fear, hurt, and discontentment.

Additionally, change and increase aren’t easy. You must be dedicated to the process and incline your ear to God’s heart. If you lean into His will, life makes sense and won’t feel as burdensome. People often seek change based on everyone else’s advice and then get frustrated when that advice doesn’t work out.

In the past, I struggled a lot with a low self-image, depression, anxiety, and fear for many years. That all changed when I found out who I am in Christ.

The devil planted several seeds and lies, in my soul, since childhood about my self-worth. But when I discovered the truth about my identity, I fought back with my spiritual weapons. When you portray confidence in your status—new habits form, life improves, and good fruit results.

 I wrote a four-part Identity Series – Do You Know Who You Are? I encourage you to check them out here:

 

What is a Halfway Christian?

halfway Christian is half committed to the Lord. I’ve been a Believer for more than three decades. However, when I look back, I was what I call a halfway Christian for at least fifteen of those years. I claimed to love God but never placed His will above mine.

It was not like I lived this halfway life intentionally. I thought it was not too bad to partake in some of my sinful pleasures (fornication and gossip). When you think you are Christian but fail to surrender to God, you fool yourself and create distance between you and God.

 

VIDEO – HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE AND BEAR GOOD FRUIT

 

Sadly, I appeared successful through the eyes of the world, but by God’s Holy standards, I wasn’t growing spiritually. I attended church weekly, went to Bible studies, tithed consistently, read the Bible and Christian books on my own, but my spiritual life was not sprouting.

I didn’t live a surrendered life, and I was unrepentant of sin (in many areas). Additionally, there was no consistent evidence of spiritual growth and fruit-bearing. I had knowledge but was void of wisdom. As a result, my lack of commitment left me unable to experience the fullness of Christ.

I see the way sin blinds the heart and mind. You can now see the blindness only when you dare to live a surrendered life.

 

Matthew 7:16-20 NKJV says, You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits, you will know them.

 

Just as faith without works is dead, a tree is known by the fruit it produces. Action activates trust, and visible produce shows what a tree is. No one can mistake good fruit for the bad, just as your words can’t override your actions.

PEW Research conducted a demographic study in more than 200 countries and concluded that 2.18 billion people claim Christianity as their faith.

Regrettably, most of these people don’t know the gospel and certainly can’t explain it to anyone else.

 

Do you know what the Gospel is Click here:

What does the bible mean by born-again?

I know this may be hard to take in, but I encourage you to keep reading. You didn’t land on this page by chance or circumstance. Your connection here is divine Soulful. My heart is to shine a light on the truth, so your soul can heal.

Growth is Expected

If your child isn’t reaching their growth and learning milestones, you’d be alarmed. You’ll spend time praying, worrying, researching, investigating, and seeking medical attention to find an answer and solution for the stunted growth. There is no such thing as a halfway growing child.

 When you plant seeds in your garden, you expect a harvest, right? You want a full yield, not a half one.

When you start a class or take a course, you comprehend what you study, apply it, take the test, and complete the course. If you don’t pass the course or understand the lesson, it highlights an area of concern.

Yes, because you’re looking for the fruit which typically manifests from your labor. A farmer plants a seed and expects a crop. The bottom line is we sow to reap; thus, we reap what we sow.

God created you for a purpose. So, if you fail to bear good fruit or live out your intended purpose, you forfeit your spiritual success. It does not matter how successful you are by the standards of this failing and crumbling world. The success that matters is your achievement according to the standards God outlined in His Word.

Therefore, you accomplish much when you spend time daily with God. We are His children, and children spend time with their parents in their developmental years. Since you will always be God’s child, you must stay in tune with Him.

Let’s look at five ways we can improve and bear good fruit.

 

PIN THIS IMAGE ABOUT GOOD FRUIT:

Do you want to change your life? To see positive and lasting change you must plant good seeds. Remember you reap what you sow.

1. Get to Know God

If you are born-again, scripture encourages you to examine yourself regularly. You can’t claim to know God when He does not recognize you. Testing yourself is not about completing human-made tasks. It’s about a life-changing transforming relationship with the one true living God—Jesus Christ.

 

Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

 

Not everyone who shows up in church or participates in the activities are born-again, this includes some of the leaders too. This life is short compared to eternity. Evidence of conversion is good fruit.

If you are not sure if you’re in the faith, please visit the relationship with God page immediately! If you are sure about your eternal life, are you surrendered to Him and doing His will?

2. Love God by Keeping His Commands

The scripture speaks of loving God and keeping His commandments.

 

John 14:15 NIV says, “If you love me, keep my commands.

 

If your spouse consistently disregarded your marital vows, you’d believe they didn’t love or respect you. They overlook your sacrifices and selfless actions, but they still don’t value you. This feeling is heartbreaking. When you plant seeds, you expect a harvest.

Soulful, you must honor the King of king and Lord of lords. When you fail to acknowledge Him in every area of your life, it does not demonstrate love or faith. You then grieve and eventually quench the Holy Spirit.

3. Take Ahold of Your Salvation

Don’t merely confess with your mouth—Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead—show it (Romans 10:9).

Belief and confession is only the beginning.  Likewise, the wedding ceremony is the start of the marriage. The confession is one step, but the vows follow with consistent actions. The new name, lifestyle, and the title comes with new responsibilities.

An investment is required for the relationship to flourish and grow. Why should this be any different with your spiritual life?

 

1 Peter 2:2-3 NIV says, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

 

A relationship with Christ is a new birth. And a newborn craves the pure milk of the Word and eventually advances to more solid foods and meat. When you taste the Lord, your desire is for more of Him.

Sadly, there are so many grown-baby Christians. They’ve claimed salvation for decades, yet there is no good fruit. I am saddened when I see this. I cannot say who is unsaved, but the mark of a true Believer is one with a desire to feast off God’s goodness.

You will have seasons of inconsistency, but the desire for more of the spiritual will eventually arise.

4. Practice Forgiveness

Matthew 6:14-15 NIV says, For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The scriptures have much to say about forgiveness and loving our brothers and neighbors. God’s love and mercy give us access to His grace and saving power. If Jesus didn’t make way for us through reconciliation, we’d still owe Him death for our sins. We’d be separated from Him eternally as the wages of sin is death.

So, if Father forgave and still forgives our sins, He requires the same from us. There is no way around this as nobody is beyond God’s forgiving arms. Self-righteousness is a sin and a joy thief.

5.  Listen More Than You Talk

In your prayer time, listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say and meditate on it. You may think talking during the entire prayer is the only way to pray, but it is not. I hope that you enter into worship to hear from God, not just to dump everything that you’re feeling in his lap and walk away.

Indeed, Father is concerned about your every need, and He encourages you to cast all your cares upon Him. Since prayer is communicating with God, it is not one-sided. If you fail to allow God to speak during communication, you will not have clarity regarding His will.

I will admit, praying this way is not always easy to do, but it is possible. It will take practice to allow the Holy Spirit leadership in your prayer time.

Bonus Tip: Enter into prayer with your Bible, and pray over what you read. Speaking God’s Word back to Him is a sure way for two-way communication to be fruitful.

Speaking of God’s Word. His Word contains principles for success in every area of our life, including business or ministry. So if you’re looking for goal-setting assistance to grow, start, or restart your business or ministry or to just thrive in life. Grab my free Dream Big Goal-Setting Guide now.

It’s time to re-prioritize your life! Start or Restart that Business or Ministry & Live life on purpose.

Take faith-driven action today! Download this workbook for FREE.

 

6. Learn and Apply God’s Instructions

If you do not spend time regularly reading your Bible, how can you know what God expects? Notice I didn’t say anything about attending church regularly. The truth is, you cannot understand what God’s requirements or standards are if you are not reading His Word for yourself—outside of the Pastor’s leading.

A professing Christian with no desire to read and study God’s Word is carnal. You will go through dry seasons as a Believer, but eventually, you should make your way back into God’s presence. The scripture says we should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out the mouth of God.

Scripture is your daily bread.

When you wander away from the presence of God, you become vulnerable to sin and temptation. When you stray, it’s not a matter of if you will fall into it, but when will you fall. Don’t get entangled in immorality.  You can’t step away from God’s will, refuse to feast on His divine food, and think the devil won’t grab hold of you.

Pray for God to bring back your yearning for scripture. Melva Henderson said, “the Bible is God speaking to me.” When you read scripture with this mindset, the Holy Spirit can teach you. But, if you pick it up with believing you don’t understand it—you won’t!

 

Soul Actions:

Change your attitude about the Holy Scriptures, and you’ll experience a new hunger for them.

 Read a chapter of your Bible daily. Daily reading develops a new habit.

 Know that God created you to succeed and bear good fruit, continue to push forward.

 

Reference: (Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population, n.d.)

If this writing has been a blessing to you, please share it with two friends. Again, thank you for reading. May God continue to bless you and may His grace about even more.

PIN THIS IMAGE:

You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. Matthew 7:16-20

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