Daily Self Growth Journal

Good Fruits

“If my life is fruitless, it doesn't matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful, it doesn't matter who criticizes me.” John Bunyan

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Matthew 7:16-18

Perquisite: (perk) “an advantage or benefit following from a job or situation” New Oxford American Dictionary

Who do you trust? Can people trust in you? It's easy for people to get caught up in the everyday living of their lives and forget about what they look like to other people. It's easy to be so engrossed in what we're doing, we don't even recognize that others may see a different image of us than what we believe we're projecting. I'm sure most of us like to think of ourselves as an apple or a peach tree, but in reality we may be more like a locust tree, providing little more than thorns. If you were to go to an orchard, you would probably notice the apple trees are planted with other apple trees, the pear trees with other pear tress, and so on. Farmers do it deliberately because they want similar trees pollinating each other to develop more of a particular fruit. We could take a lesson from that. You've probably heard the phrase, “Misery loves company.” Unfortunately that phrase is more accurate than we'd like to acknowledge. People have a tendency to associate themselves with others who display similar fruits. If I were angry at my job I would be much more likely to associate with people that were also angry about their job. While they may be comforting, these type of associations tend to foster negative attitudes and rotten fruits. Maybe we could take an example from nature and associate ourselves with people who bear good fruits, so that those actions which are good develop more readily, leaving the negative actions to fall away, chocked out by the good fruits of our spirit. A tree that produces rotten apples drops it's fruit on the ground to be thrown away and it is eventually eliminated from an orchard. But a to a tree that produces delicious apples, its fruit is picked and cherished, and it's valued as a productive tree. Value is a perquisite of bearing good fruit. How much could we all change our lives if we always tried to bear good fruit? How much could we change the lives of others if our actions were cherished?

Journaling Questions:

How did I help someone in kindness today?

What did I learn today?

What am I thankful for?

Who did I love today?

What about today do I want to remember forever?

What are my goals for tomorrow?

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you come back tomorrow to see tomorrows message.

Jake