Leaves But Not Fruit- A Personal Post

Today’s sermon was about a fig tree that had leaves but no fruit, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Because if I’m being honest, I think for a long time I’ve had a lot of leaves.

From a distance, leaves look good. Leaves look full, alive, healthy, like something is happening. You see the schedule, the business, the kids, the leadership, the workouts, the responsibilities, and it looks like a full life.

But leaves aren’t fruit.

And it made me think about how easy it is to have a life that looks full, looks successful, looks busy, looks important — and still not be producing the kind of fruit that actually matters.

One of the things that was said today was that fig trees grow stronger when they’re planted near other trees. Their root systems intertwine, they share strength, they cross-pollinate, and they actually grow better together than they ever could alone.

And I thought about how many seasons of my life I’ve lived in survival mode. When you’re a single mom, a leader, a business owner, the decision maker, the problem solver — you get used to carrying everything by yourself. After a while, you don’t even realize you’ve isolated yourself because you’re just trying to keep everything moving and everyone taken care of.

But isolation impedes growth.

You can be gifted and still not grow, you can be strong and still not grow, you can be busy and still not grow. Some people come into your life to help create potential in your life. Not everyone is a distraction — some people are cross-pollination. And you can’t ice everyone out and then wonder why you’re not growing.

Another thing that was said today was that leaves are basically advertising that fruit is supposed to be there.

That part really got me, because appearance can make you look healthy. You can look like you have it all together. You can look like a great parent, a great boss, a great leader, a disciplined person, a happy person, a faithful person… and still be struggling in areas no one sees. You can pretend to be okay when you’re not okay, but you can’t fool God.

There’s a story in the Bible about the man with the withered hand, and he kept it hidden inside his clothes. Jesus told him to stretch out his hand — to reveal it. And the moment he revealed what he was hiding was the moment the healing started. The moment you reveal the weakness is the moment it stops having power over you.

Spiritual appearance is easy, but formation is hard. Looking the part is easy, actually becoming the person is hard. And I think a lot of us, myself included, can get really good at managing leaves.

The last part that really stuck with me was this….intention isn’t contribution.

That one hit me hard because I have really good intentions. I intend to be a great mom, a great friend, a great leader, a great boss, a great business owner, to be present, to be disciplined, to serve people, to grow in my faith. But intention and direction are not the same thing.

You can intend to call someone and never call, intend to spend more time with your kids and still be on your phone, intend to serve people and still be completely focused on yourself, intend to grow and still stay the same. Good intentions don’t produce fruit — obedience does.

At one point he said, “Sometimes you have to push your plate back and go find someone to serve.” In other words, life is not just about being busy and building something that looks good. We’re here to produce something. We’re here to serve. We’re here to make disciples. We’re here to contribute, not just intend to.

So here’s the honest part for me today.

God has blessed me. I can’t sit here and say He hasn’t. He has always taken care of me. I’ve been blessed in business, blessed with opportunities, blessed with my girls, blessed with a career, blessed financially, blessed with people who love me. I do have fruit in my life.

But what I keep asking myself after today is — am I fruitful in all areas, or just the areas that come naturally to me?

Because it’s easy for me to produce in business. It’s easy for me to achieve, to push, to build, to grow, to perform. But what about patience? What about being present? What about serving when it’s inconvenient? What about showing up for people when I’m tired? What about the kind of fruit that no one applauds, no one sees, and no one posts about?

I know I’m not the best friend all the time, not the best

parent all the time, not the best coworker, boss, or business owner all the time, and I’m definitely not the most consistent human on the planet. But I don’t want to be a tree with a lot of leaves and no fruit.

I don’t want a life that just looks full. I want a life that actually produces something — the kind of fruit that actually changes people, not just impresses them.

Maybe this season of my life isn’t about adding more leaves. Maybe it’s about pruning, about connection, about obedience, about serving, about becoming the kind of person who bears fruit in every area of life, not just the ones that come naturally to me.

I don’t want to just look like I’m growing.

I want to actually bear fruit.

Alyssa