Jesus spoke in John chapter 15:
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Do the branches eat the fruit? No, this fruit is for the benefit of those who hunger for Spiritual blessings we have to offer. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are all fruit to be consumed by those in need. We are to supply those fruit and should not be “fruitless”. By abiding in Jesus Christ we are connected to the life-giving branch which provides us the appropriate life energy to produce such fruit. If we are fruitless then we will be pruned away from the branch and be thrown in the fire for additional purging of “self”.
Make no mistake, FATHER will prune us in order to optimize our Christ-likeness which in turn will produce even greater fruitfulness in our walk. We will truly be able to turn the cheek and offer up the other one. We will be unaffected by any wrong done us and will be quick to forgive and forget. Jesus gave further instruction along this line: “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” These are not occasional or isolated examples but are meant to describe being Christ-like. Love has no issue in fulfilling such requests.
16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
17 These things I command you, that you love one another.”
If we bear the life-giving fruit we should expect our fruit to remain and be expressed in those we minister to in Love. We should expect positive changes to occur in their lives as they consume “our” fruit. This is how the Kingdom advances on earth. We need to live in this Truth everyday no matter what the world throws at us. We do this by keeping the faith and walking in Love.