First be a faithful disciple
Before we think about our work, we should think about being a faithful disciple. At Fruitful Work, we focus on using our careers for Jesus’ mission of making disciples, but we must remember — before we think about making disciples, we first think about how we are disciples.
Our careers, which are our focus at Fruitful Work, are only a part of our Christian walk. Far more important is being a faithful disciple, abiding in Jesus, loving Jesus and obeying his commands. He says, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). A fruitful life begins and ends with our relationship with Jesus.
Fruitful workers are often “doers” by nature, but we must remember that Jesus praised Mary for sitting at his feet, not Martha for her busyness. Our first calling is to be with Jesus, not just to do for him (Luke 10:38–42). This should serve as a warning to us embarking on this journey. If we do everything else but fail to abide in Jesus, we will bear no fruit. Jesus tells us we will be “like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:6).
How to be a faithful disciple
When asked about the greatest commandment, he gave two: “Love the Lord your God…” and “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:30–31).
Love the Lord
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
This should be our first, second, and third priority. All that we do should then flow out of devotion to the Lord. But that devotion is not about measurable performance, but childlike trust and dependent love.
Do our priorities reflect this? Tangibly, we can make our lives reflect this priority by investing time in our relationship with God every day. Do we give him five minutes every morning? Or 30? Or 60? Could our personal times of devotion to the Lord each day become our most important objective every day?
Do we obey Jesus’ commands? Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). True love for him is shown in obedience — resisting daily temptations to anger, greed, pride, and lust.
Are we safeguarding ourselves against the temptations of the world? In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1–23), Jesus teaches that to be fertile soil — producing a harvest thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown — we must avoid the choking weeds of worldliness and wealth. Left unchecked, these desires quietly take hold, choking spiritual growth and reducing our fruitfulness.
Love our neighbour
Do we love those around us? Not just with words or intentions, but with time, service, patience, and presence? Love for our neighbour often looks ordinary — listening well, forgiving quickly, offering help quietly. It’s these unseen moments that reflect the love of Christ.
Do we love those beyond our circles? Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) reminds us that our neighbour is not limited by geography or background. Our neighbour includes the outcast and the outsider, the refugee and the forgotten, the people next door and the people we’ll never meet. This means caring not just for those we see, but also for those we don’t — the hungry, persecuted, and unreached across the nations.
God’s upside-down economy
The story of Gideon shows us that God can use any imperfectly surrendered life for His glory. He doesn’t need us to have great talent, influence, power, or wealth for Him to work through and with us. Impact flows not from self-sufficiency, but from dependence on him.
Prayer and belief will accomplish far more than our best efforts. Jesus said, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). This is why we can embrace the counter-intuitive but joy-giving truth that He will often accomplish more through our weaknesses than our strengths: “My power is made perfect in weakness… For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12).
This is true because weakness drives us to prayer and forces us to rely on God’s power rather than our own ability. Our goal isn’t to become impressive people, but to be faithful with the much or little we have and let Christ multiply it.
So the next time we feel frustrated by our lack of skill, capacity, or potential, we can thank God.Our weakness can be our superpower — if it keeps us dependent on him and his almighty power.
If we want to be a fruitful worker, seeking impact, making strategic career choices and becoming radically generous, we must first be deeply rooted in Christ. Before we go all-in to make disciples, we go all-in as a disciple.
Put it into practice
Do you treat your quiet time with God as the most impactful part of your day and protect it accordingly?
If someone close to you looked at your life, would they describe you more as a “Martha” or a “Mary”? Why?
Which area of your life is hardest to surrender fully to Christ, and what step could you take this week to lay it down?
What weeds of worldliness might be quietly choking your spiritual growth right now, and how will you uproot them?
When Jesus commands us to love our neighbour, do we limit that to those nearby or extend it to refugees, the persecuted, and the unreached across the world?
Where might your weakness be God’s opportunity to show his strength, and how can you lean on him in that area?
