To answer your good question, let’s begin by reading John 15:1-5, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth FRUIT, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth MORE FRUIT. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth MUCH FRUIT: for without me ye can do nothing.” 

The word ‘fruit’ in the above verses, if taken in a literal sense, simply means a fruit that is picked from the vine or the tree.  Of course, in this instance, we realize the Lord is not talking about literal fruit that can be picked and eaten, rather He is speaking of that which is produced from being in a relationship with Himself.  In the analogy of a farmer and the growth of his crop, the Lord here says that He maintains the same relation with His disciples that a vine does to its branches.  This does not imply any physical or incomprehensible union. It is a union formed by our believing on the Lord Jesus as our savior.  He tells us that He is the vine, and we, through faith in Him, are the natural off shoots…we are the branches.  The branches will naturally produce the fruit that comes forth from the vine.  In the Bible, the word fruit is often used to describe a person’s outward actions that result from the condition of the heart.

Good fruit is that which is produced by the Holy Spirit in us.  We read in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  We know we are not saved by our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but rather we are saved so we might do good works.  This is the natural product of a heart that has been saved and now has a desire to live a life to honor the Lord.  The fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in believers is found in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”  These are not works, but are the characteristics of those who know Christ as their savior and live their lives under the guidance of God’s Spirit. 

One of my favorite portions dealing with bearing fruit for the Lord is found in Psalm 1:1-6, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”  When we refuse to live according to how the world lives…when we reject the counsel or advice of those not saved, when we do not make ourselves comfortable in the presence of those living in sin, and when we do not sit down as to join ourselves to those who scorn or ridicule the ways of our God…when we reject these ungodly behaviors and find our delight in the Lord, we will bear fruit like a well-watered tree.

How can you be fruitful to the Lord?  You can be fruitful by living for the Lord, seeking to follow His ways, rejecting the ways of the world, and delighting yourself in the true and perfect will of God.  “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” (Luke 6:43-44).  (CC)  (741.4)