When we moved to our house twelve years ago, there was a mango tree in the back yard. The previous owners had purchased it and put it in a flower bed next to the pool deck. It grew there, having rooted itself through the flower pot. When we moved in, the tree was firmly rooted with a plastic flower pot around the base!

For a few years, as it grew, it didn’t produce any fruit. I was disappointed and wondered if it would ever produce any. One year, to my delight, a few mangos appeared! I didn’t even know if I liked mangos, but I was so excited to see around eight of them on our tree!

Every year it seemed that the tree produced more fruit to the point that they couldn’t be counted! They were everywhere! But the tree had gotten huge (with no signs of stopping), and it was apparent that the roots were growing toward the pool, which would cause damage to it.

So, after having the situation evaluated by an arborist, I reluctantly agreed to have it cut down. I was so sad about it, but I knew it had to be done. I asked the guys cutting it down to save the mangos if they could. The day it was cut down, I looked into the back yard and there were literally hundreds of mangos covering the ground! I had no idea there were so many!

If there was ever a visual describing “fruitfulness,” this was it!

Biblical “fruit” describes outward actions that result from the inward condition of a person’s heart. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the “fruit” this way:

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-control

Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

When I think about the hundreds of mangos covering our back yard, it reminds me that I want to be “fruitful” for God’s kingdom.

What kind of “fruit” will you bear?

I’ve been decluttering, which means it’s a new year! I don’t always get motivated to do it, but this year we got lucky.

Do you have a junk drawer in your kitchen? I’ve heard that everybody has one. Ours got cleaned out this week. I don’t know how it gets to the “junk” stage. Right now it’s organized, including little trays and boxes to hopefully keep it that way.

The process of dealing with the drawer reminded me that I need to examine my spiritual “junk drawer.” I hadn’t really thought of the fact that I have one, but decluttering physically led to this realization. For me, it’s thoughts and behaviors that occur repeatedly and need to be brought to my attention so that, with God’s help, I can “declutter” them!

What is in your spiritual “junk drawer?”

I know there is plenty in mine. I have discovered that journaling my thoughts gives me something concrete to look at that reminds me of areas I need to work on. It helps to see these challenges in writing and find scriptures that address them. If I don’t write them down, it’s easy to ignore them! Before I know it, my spiritual self needs decluttering again.

For example, I sometimes find myself thinking negatively. A verse that addresses this is Philippians 4:8 — “. . . whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praise-worthy, think about such things.”

Another example is that I have a tendency to be judgmental in my mind, even before I know the whole story! Here is a verse about it — “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)

God can help us improve the challenging parts of our lives. He has even given us scriptures that remind us how powerful he is and that he can help us be more aligned with his spirit and purpose for our lives.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

We have a fresh start in a new year with God helping us begin with a clean slate and decluttered junk drawer.

Let him do a new thing in you!