I am often asked if there is a way to tell if a person in living a productive life. Are they making progress in their life’s journey? Are the people around them better because they are in the circle of friends or acquaintances. I believe the answer to how to tell if it is a productive life, can be found in the words in Luke 6:43-45, “For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (New American Standard Translation)

If you spend any time around a farm or a garden center, it is easy to see how true this statement is. If you are looking at a healthy, vibrant peach tree, you will eventually see plump delicious peaches coming off that tree. If on the other hand, you are looking at a tree that is withered, with no flowers, and infested with a disease, you know you will not see good fruit being produced. The same goes for humans, if a person is bitter, angry, giving off what is called a toxic atmosphere, it is pretty easy to tell that on the whole they are not living a productive life. You can witness that on social media every day. People post angry, nasty remarks about others, and often they do not even know the people the are posting about. They just have a need to spew hate or sarcasm.

On the other hand, you can see people who are joyful, smiling, and generally looking at life through the lens of a person who is happy to be alive. These people often reach out to others to offer help, they run animal rescues, they do not condemn others, they talk to others. After meeting them and spending time with them you come out of it feeling better about yourself. If you want to insure you live a productive life, trying starting out the day reading something from the book of \Proverbs, read the Gospels, just give a quick thanks to God for giving you another day on this earth to celebrate your productive life.