In John chapter 15 Jesus said that He was the true vine and we as Christians were the branches and our responsibility is to bear fruit. Jesus explained that a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it is connected to the vine and then He goes on to say that neither can we bear fruit unless we are connected to Him.

In the same way that a tree limb withers away and no longer bears fruit when it is cut from the trunk of the tree, likewise without being connected to Jesus we cannot live.

I'm sure that everyone reading this has seen an apple tree. An apple that is ready to eat, hangs from the branch, ready to be harvested. But let me ask you this. Have you ever seen an apple growing off the trunk of a tree? No, of course not! That's because it's the job of the branch to bear fruit.

As Christians, we know that the fruit of the Spirit is goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:9). An even more detailed description of the fruit of the Spirit is given in Galatians 5:22 where it says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (NKJV) The fruit of the Spirit is the byproduct of being a Christian that is connected to the vine.

The source of all goodness, righteousness and truth is Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6 NKJV) Love, light, and life flow from the vine through us and into the fruit. In the fruit are seeds. The seeds continue to grow and multiply in the lives of others. When a Christian stays connected to Jesus and walks in goodness, the fruit produced can change the world.