How to Live a Truly Fruitful Life
Scripture — Philippians 1:9-11 (NRSV)
And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Focus
Philippians 1:9-11 encourages us to see our lives, not in terms of daily urgencies, but rather from the perspective of the day when Christ returns. If we are full of love and knowledge, if we are open to God’s work in us, then we will produce “the harvest of righteousness” that will truly glorify God. What we do today, by God’s grace, can have eternal significance.
Devotion
As the Apostle Paul opens his letter to the Philippians, he shares with them how he has been praying for them: “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God” (1:9-11). In yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I reflected on how Paul’s prayer helps us know what really matters in life. As love for others fills our hearts and knowledge fills our minds, we will be able to “determine what is best.”
Today, I’d like to look closely at one result of knowing “what is best.” To be sure, such knowledge will help us live well from day to day. We’ll be empowered to invest our time and talent in what matters most. We won’t waste our energy on trivialities. Thus we’ll live with a greater sense of meaning and purpose.
While all of this may be true, it’s not what Paul writes to the Philippians. Rather than focusing on the short-term results of knowing what’s best, he takes the long view . . . the longest view of all. Paul looks at our lives from the perspective of the “day of Christ,” that is, from the time in which Christ returns. On that day, if we have let love and truth guide our lives so that we “determine what is best,” we will be “pure and blameless” (1:10). It’s not that we will have done this in our own strength, of course. Rather, God’s work in us will be completed and God’s will for us fulfilled (see 1:6). We will have been purified and made blameless by God’s grace in Christ as it transformed our lives.
But that’s not all. Also, we will have “produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God” (1:11). The NRSV’s use of “harvest” as a translation for the Greek word karpos is reasonable, though several other translations prefer the more literal “fruit of righteousness” (ESV, CEB, NIV). If we live in a right relationship with God and people through Christ, then our lives will be fruitful. The fruit we produce will lead to “glory and praise of God” (1:11).
Paul’s language in this passage is reminiscent of the teaching of Jesus in John 15. There, he depicts himself as a vine with branches. We who believe in Jesus are those branches. If we are deeply connected to him, then we will “bear much fruit” (John 15:5). When this happens, Jesus says, “My Father is glorified” (15:8).
Both Philippians 1 and John 15 encourage us to be fruitful in this life. In Philippians, we do this by abounding in love and knowledge. In John, we bear much fruit when we are deeply connected to Jesus, the source of our fruitfulness. In both biblical passages, fruitful living is not something we manufacture through our individual efforts. Rather, fruitfulness is a result of God’s work in and through us. Remember Paul’s enthusiastic promise in Philippians 1:6, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”
As I reflect on this portion of Philippians, I’m encouraged to live less driven by daily urgencies and more by the perspective of the “day of Christ.” I want to devote my time and energy to things that matter in light of eternity. I long to know that what I’m doing today will, in the end, glorify God. This longing not only motivates me, but it also gives heavenly value to my earthly work. What we do today, by God’s grace, can have eternal significance.
Reflect
As you think about your life, in what ways have you been fruitful?
What helps you to look at your life in “the long view”? What keeps you focused on the demands of the present moment?
When you are productive in your work (whether paid or unpaid), do you ever think God is glorified in what you have done? If so, why? If not, why not?
Act
Talk with a wise friend or your small group about the ways in which your life is fruitful.
Pray
Gracious God, thank you for the work you are doing in me through Christ. Thank you for enabling me to work with you, even producing fruit that gives you glory.
O Lord, may I live my life from the perspective of eternity. May I produce fruit that comes from being rightly related to you and other people. May the fruit of my life glorify you both now and in the day of Christ. To you be all the glory! Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: I Am the Vine and You Are the Branches (John 15).
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Strategist
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders,...