Bearing Fruit

Dear Victorious,

Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." I get that. But He loses me when He talks about bearing fruit, not bearing fruit or even bearing good and bad fruit. What exactly does this mean?

Angie P. - Waxahachie, TX

Dear Angie,

I can seem a bit complicated. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches is really the background for the notion of bearing fruit. What is this so-called "fruit?" It's the love of God being played out in people's lives. So if you're volunteering at the library, feeding the homeless, teaching a Sunday school class, etc. --- these are all the "fruit" that Jesus was speaking about.

Think about trees that bear fruit. Often the type of tree cannot be ascertained until it produces fruit. In other words, the fruit is the certain evidence of the tree's real identity. In the same way, the "fruit" that we bear is the certain evidence of our real identity (as Christians). Consider this verse:

"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." - John 15:2

What Jesus was saying here is that the "fruit" really matters to God. And if any of us doesn't mature spiritually enough to ever bear fruit, then He will conclude that we don't belong on the tree (Jesus) and we will be cut off (never acquire our salvation).