John 15:5

Devotional
One of the greatest mistakes we can make in our spiritual lives is becoming frustrated because we aren't growing fast enough. We look at ourselves and ask: “Why am I not further along?” “Why do I still struggle with this?” “Why am I not more patient?” “Why do I still get angry?” “Why isn't God finished with me?” Remember this: Growth takes time. You don't just wake up one morning with all nine fruits fully developed. They have to grow. And growth takes time. A tree doesn't produce fruit because someone walks up to it and commands it to produce. The fruit comes because the tree is alive and connected to the right source. That's the picture Jesus gives us. The branch doesn't manufacture the fruit. The branch stays connected to the vine. And eventually, the fruit appears. The same is true for us. We don't manufacture holiness through human effort alone. We surrender. We obey. We pray. We stay in God's Word. We remain connected to the body of Christ. And as we stay connected to Jesus, what God is doing on the inside begins showing up on the outside. You may not be where you want to be. But thank God you're not where you used to be. Holiness is a journey. Grace meets us where we are, but grace doesn't leave us where it found us. God is still working on you. So don't spend your life trying to manufacture fruit. Stay connected to Jesus. And the fruit will come. The goal isn't to spend our lives trying harder to look like Christians. The goal is to stay connected to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit. Our responsibility is to remain connected to the Vine.
 
Read the Context
John 15 NIV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
 
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
 
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
 
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]
 
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
 
Footnotes:

• John 15:2 The Greek for he prunes also means he cleans.
• John 15:20 John 13:16
• John 15:25 Psalms 35:19; 69:4

 
Make it Personal
What is one spiritual practice you need to become more consistent in so that you can remain connected to Jesus?
 
Practical Application
Spend 15 uninterrupted minutes with Jesus today. Put your phone away. Open God's Word. Pray. Listen. Abide.
 
Talk to God
“Jesus, help me abide in You. Keep me connected to the Vine. When I become frustrated with my growth, remind me that You are still working in me. Help me surrender, obey, pray, stay in Your Word, and remain connected to Your people. Produce Your fruit in my life so that others can see Jesus through me. Amen.”