All of the goal and none of the Grace

In John 15 Jesus says this: 

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remainin the vine. ... "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from meyou can do nothing.

But do you know what I hear? ‘Bear fruit.’ Or to be more specific. ‘Hey, you, why aren’t you bearing fruit?’

I, read Jesus’s words and hear all of the goal and none of the Grace. I want the end but forget the means.

Yes, bear fruit, yes, love others. Yes, give grace to a world that will misunderstand and even hate us. But look back through John 15. Jesus is not commanding His disciples to bear fruit. The command is to remain! When we remain - when we abide in the never ending, unconditional forever love of Christ then fruit will come. But only then.

- Excerpt of a devotional from the She Reads Truth Bible.