The Fruits

Henri Nouwen states,

"There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another’s wounds. Let’s remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness."

When you combine your giftedness with shared weakness and vulnerability that’s where the true glory lies.  You see the fruits, we leave behind.

Jesus was powerful but he was also vulnerable and he died on a cross.  That was not successful in the world’s eye.  But it was his way to show the world that his greatest gift to the world is also where his greatest vulnerability and weakness lie.  His suffering created a community of believers who would keep the dream alive.  Who would come after him empowered by the Holy Spirit to go out and touch lives.  His death brought about the communion of saints, the Apostles first creed, and the early church; a sisterhood and brotherhood of devoted believers.

 His death released unto his children an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 1Peter 1:4