True Growth is Christ Centered Growth

John 15:5-9

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 me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love.

Our lives are all about growth: professional growth, educational growth, growth in teamwork, and many other areas. However, there is really only one kind of growth that matters and that is growth and development in Christ!

God’s Word needs to be at the center of everything that we do and learn. Now, does this mean that we can only grow if it is a church offered course? No it means that whatever we do we must keep Christ at the center, and we must be critical consumers that always look at everything through the light of Scripture!

John tells us through divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we are all branches, outgrowths of Christ. It is our connection to the vine, Christ, which allows us to grow and bear much fruit. However, if we become unattached and cut off from the vine we begin to wither and die. The Law clearly tells us that the wages of sin is death. If we are not connected to Christ we are dead and there is no hope. A pastor once stated that if you cut off your hand what would happen? The answer given was that the hand would rot and die away. He then responded that this is exactly what happens when we lose our connection to God’s Word. We begin to die and rot away. We can not allow this to happen. We must remain in God’s Word through the power of the Spirit. Do not allow yourself to fall way from the one thing needful: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the only true hope!

If we leave off here, the picture is somewhat bleak. Thankfully, God gives us more. He tells us clearly that yes we are sinful, but Christ has done it all for us! He has saved us, and he keeps us connected and alive in him! What joy this brings! It is also worthwhile to note that God does not give us an option for bearing fruit. The passage does not state that if we remain connected to Christ we could bear much fruit or we might bear much fruit. He states unequivocally that we will bear much fruit! What comfort this brings. We need not worry about whether or not we are doing anything good or worthwhile! Christ tells us that in him we bear much fruit! This is a promise of assurance to us! We can be confident that no matter how useless or ineffective we feel or seem many times we are actually still bearing fruit because of our connection to Christ! We are the vines, and we are bearing much fruit in and through Christ because of our connection through faith worked by the Spirit.

It is our job and responsibility to continue to be fertilized to grow and bear even more fruit! Therefore, we need to remain connected to God’s Word in all that we do, and we need to continue to delve more and more into the Word because it is only through Christ who is revealed to us in the Word that true growth will occur!

May the Lord grant that each and every one of us grow daily in his Word and remain in his love all of our days now and in eternity!