Fruitfulness versus Productivity

A few weeks ago, an episode of a podcast I was listening to explored the idea of fruitfulness versus productivity.  If you’re like many people, you probably find yourself striving for ultimate productivity.  How many emails at work can we get through before the end of the day?  (I’ve finally come to the realization that I will probably never be at zero emails in my inbox ever again!)  How many tasks around the house can we finish in three hours?  How many meetings can we attend in a week?  Instead of productivity, what if we aimed for fruitfulness?

There are a lot of things we cannot avoid and that we must just do as a part of being human-- working, cleaning, organizing, just to name a few things.  However, if you’re anything like me, you could work on improving your mindset and how you go about doing certain things.  Everything we do has a purpose.  It just comes down to whether or not we realize it.  Do we think about why we are doing the things that we do?  Instead of seeing how productive we can be in a day, we should try to think about if what we are doing is fruitful.

We are all called and invited to grow in our faith, develop a relationship with Jesus, and share Him with others, so that they too can be drawn into a deeper relationship with Him.  John 15:16 says, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…”  God has chosen each one of us to bear fruit for Him and His kingdom.  When we do everything with a Christ-centered mindset, we will find much greater purpose in what we are doing, and in our whole lives.

Fruitfulness is different from productivity in the fact that when we work to bear fruit, a lot of times, we will not see the results of our work.  This can be hard to accept at times.  What we are doing may not always lead to tangible results.  Sharing a witness story with others, teaching students about the faith, serving others in some way, inviting someone to attend mass or a retreat.  All of these things, and more, that we may do can seem hopeless or useless.  However, we must trust Jesus that He is powerful enough to work through us and that He can reach anyone at any time, even long after our encounter with someone.
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The next time you are tempted to measure your day by how productive you’ve been, change your mindset to how fruitful you think you’ve been.  How well have you loved?  How well have you served?  How well have you shared Christ with those around you by your words and actions?  My prayer for today is that others might come to know Jesus in a deeper way by the fruit that we bear.