4 Heart Conditions that Impact Your Spiritual Fruitfulness

Sep 5

Where are you on your spiritual journey? The Parable of the Sower is a quick guide to assessing your heart’s soil, and in this blog, we examine how our receptiveness to the Gospel indicates our fruitfulness.

The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.[a] 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Why A Seed?

At the end of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus talks about the results of fruitfulness in your life when you apply the Word of God. He does so in the same way a broker or financial advisor would do so.

How would you feel if I told you of an investment opportunity whereby you could have returns of 30 times your investment? Or what about 60 or even 100 times your investment? Most of us would be suspicious, and we might think you have returns like that. However, you would have insider information.

Insider Trading: When someone trades a security while they possess knowledge of non-public information about that security or company.

Now, I recognize this is a bit cheesy (at least I’m self-aware enough to admit it!), but the CEO of the universe has already disclosed insider information to you.

JESUS: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Matthew 13:11

Jesus is sharing that you have information the world does not. The soil of your heart allows you to live a fruitful life for God’s glory, where the returns could be up to 100 times where you started.

This parable teaches that God’s Word is like a seed, so why would God, in Christ, compare His Word to a seed? A seed is living and powerful, and it has life in it! When planted in good soil, it germinates; thus, God wants us to see the metaphor that His Word has life in Christ. Applying the way of Christ as a believer produces life 30, 60, 100 fold.

However, when we look at this parable, we notice that 3/4 of the seeds do not bear fruit. However, the result difference isn’t related to the seed but the soil quality. The differentiation in results isn’t related to God’s Word but to the quality of the heart.

Let’s examine what Jesus describes as conditions of the heart that create conduciveness for the Word of God to bear great fruit in the life of a believer.

Four Conditions of the Heart

1) Superficial Heart

JESUS: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.” Matthew 13:19

The superficial heart is unresponsive to the Gospel. It exists because the heart is hardened, so Jesus uses the soil metaphorically.

This has nothing to do with a deficiency in the message of God’s Word but is attributed to the listener’s hardened heart. The Old Testament refers to this kind of person as “stiff-necked,” meaning they are unconcerned about the things of God and are indifferent to anything spiritual. Their heart is impenetrable.

Because the seed of God’s Word makes no penetration, the seed is fully exposed to the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the enemy comes and snatches it away.

Their lack of repentance, or any sense of guilt or shame, insulates them from God’s help and exposes them to Satan’s attack. Their heart has never been softened by remorse, never been broken by the conviction of sin, and has never cultivated the desire for anything good, pure, and holy.

This person is who the Apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians:

“…in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4

They are self-sufficient, self-satisfied, and often self-righteous. They don’t need the Gospel; therefore, it never takes nor bears fruit.

2) Shallow Heart

“As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” Matthew 13:20-21

This shallow heart quickly responds to the Gospel, as if their outward eagerness indicates that they’ve longed to hear this message their entire life. They can’t embrace it fast enough, and there’s no resistance. For this message, they’ll likely manifest a lot of excitement and even emotion.

However, while the shallow heart accepts salvation with open arms, this person goes silent when life’s trials start to hit. Why? Jesus says they have no firm root in him or herself. They believe that good feelings are the barometer of a relationship with Christ.

I want to be clear: feelings matter. You are made in God’s image; He also has and expresses emotions. However, what Jesus is declaring is this person immediately falls away when affliction arises. They built a religious house on the sand of emotional experience, and Jesus declares that it can’t sustain you or posture the heart for fruitfulness.

The most common reason John Wesley removed people from the early Methodist roll was “lightness and carelessness” (journal, 3/12/1743). We don’t want to be people who make a profession but have a shallow heart.

“Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sins; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sins.”

— Francis Chan, pastor and author

3) Distracted Heart

JESUS: “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Matthew 13:22

A distracted heart is infested with thorns and represents the person who hears the word but who is too worldly for it to take root and grow in their heart.

This person is oblivious to their deceived heart and inability to satiate their desire for lasting joy and happiness because they haven’t encountered the Lord. They don’t notice how their deceiving worldliness chokes the Word because their attention is on riches, possessions, prestige, position, and other things of the world.

While they may exhibit an initial interest in God, there is no genuine heart response because the world's cares blind them. Once again, Jesus describes the root not taking and no fruit bearing.

We’ve just described three of the four seeds. Let’s be clear: Jesus was not saying only 25% of the people who hear the Word would listen, but He is teaching that the majority will not receive God’s Word. This is one of those places where you want to be among the minority.

4) Fruitful Heart

JESUS: “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matthew 13:23

The only barrier to salvation is unbelief; anyone willing to receive Jesus Christ on His terms has a heart with good soil. A man or woman who hears the Gospel and responds genuinely, God will honor their humility.

John 6:44 tells us that no one comes to the Son unless the Father draws them. Supernaturally, God will open your spiritual ears, and your understanding of the Gospel will be awakened.

What Does A Fruitful Heart Look Like?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Following Jesus can be difficult; however, this is not the hard part because God supplies the power to live this out. Even when we read about the Fruits of the Spirit, that’s not the totality of the fruit Jesus references. He’s talking about the desired will of God in every area of our lives.

However, to experience life with a root system in Christ, we can begin with the rubric based in Galatians 5.

Love

The fruit of the spirit is love; the way to know this kind of love is by putting down roots in Jesus. It's appropriate for us to be mindful that Jesus declared believers are the light of the world. You're a city set on a hill. Because you love differently and are different in Christ, you will respond differently than people who don't know the Lord.

Patient

The fruit of the spirit is patience. Some don’t want to pray for patience because they fear their patience will be tested. However, there’s a much easier path: Put your root system in Jesus and His Word. Through the revelation of His Word, will and way, and the Holy Spirit, allow God to do the work where patience flows from the inside out, the source of Jesus.

Righteousness

“…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:11

When we are filled with righteousness, we relate to people differently. E. Stanley Jones said, “When you're in the way, the way works. When I'm not in the way, the way doesn't work.”

Where Are You

Colossians 1:6 tells us that the Word of God is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. True believers produce and bear fruit because we take on the root, which is Christ. We have the honor of bearing fruit 30, 60, and even 100 fold.

But as we finish, my question is: Where are you?

When God asked Adam in the Garden the same question, He wasn’t a geographical question. He was asking a spiritual question. As Jesus calls you, take inventory of your soil. What does your heart look like? Distracted? Shallow? Hard? Or is it good soil?

TL;DR:

In the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13:18-23, Jesus compares the Word of God to a seed and highlights four conditions of the heart that determine its fruitfulness.

Superficial Heart: This heart is hardened and unresponsive to the Gospel, making it vulnerable to the enemy.
Shallow Heart: While initially enthusiastic, this heart lacks deep roots and falls away when faced with trials.
Distracted Heart: Worldly distractions prevent this heart from bearing fruit.
Fruitful Heart: This heart receives and understands the Word, producing abundant fruit.