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b'What does it mean when Jesus called Himself the vine? He gave His disciples\\nthis picture on the night before He went to the cross, saying, \\u201cI am the\\nvine; you are the branches\\u201d (John 15:5). Jesus as the vine is a great\\nmetaphor for our relationship to our Savior. Jesus being our vine means\\nthat we can draw love and strength from Him, like a branch that is\\nconnected to a vine can draw water and nutrients to sustain growth. Jesus\\nwants to stay in connection with us, and when we remain in Him, we see\\ngrowth in our lives. Jesus also offers us support as our vine. A branch\\nthat is connected to its vine won\\u2019t blow away or break off in a windy\\nstorm. When life gets windy and we are connected to Jesus, we can remember\\nwho we are in Christ and what our purpose is in Him. Remembering that we\\nbelong to Christ is a great way to center ourselves when life is getting\\nchaotic. If we\\u2019ve put our trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit reminds us that\\nwe can reach back to our connection to the main vine, rest in His strong\\nlove, and reconnect with our purpose. And what is this purpose? To bear the\\nfruit of love. Just a few verses after calling Himself the vine, Jesus\\ncommands His disciples to love each other like He has loved them. But He\\nmakes it clear that they cannot do this without Him, saying, \\u201cNo branch can\\nbear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear\\nfruit unless you remain in me\\u201d (verse 4). And Jesus has already shown us\\nwhat bearing fruit can look like. Our vine has already demonstrated His\\nlove for us. Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross and rose again, beating\\nsin and death, because of the deep love He has for us. And because of His\\nsacrifice, we can now bear the fruit of love too. \\u2981 Naomi Zylstra \\u2981 What\\ndoes it mean to bear good fruit as a Christian? (Take a look at Galatians\\n5:22-23.) \\u2981 Why is it important to remember that we can\\u2019t bear this good\\nfruit on our own? What do you think it means to \\u201cremain\\u201d in Jesus? \\u201cMy\\ncommand is this: Love each other as I [Jesus] have loved you.\\u201d John 15:12\\n(NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nJohn.15.1-John.15.12'