Want to bear genuine Christian fruit? Simply abide in Christ—the True Vine. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote:
“How does the branch bear fruit? Not by incessant effort for sunshine and air; not by vain struggles for those vivifying influences which give beauty to the blossom, and verdure to the leaf: it simply abides in the vine, in silent undisturbed union, and blossoms and fruit will appear as of spontaneous growth.
How, then, shall a Christian bear fruit? By efforts and struggles to obtain that which is freely given; by meditations and watchfulness, on prayer, on action, on temptations, and on dangers? No. There must be full concentration of the thoughts and affections on Christ; a complete surrender of the whole being to Him; a constant looking to Him for grace.
Christians in whom these dispositions are once firmly fixed go on calmly as the infant borne in the arms of its mother. In spiritual as in temporal matters they take no thought for the morrow; for they know that Christ will be as accessible tomorrow as today. Their hope and trust rest solely on what He is willing and able to do for them; on nothing that they suppose themselves able and willing to do for Him. Such is the “exchanged life,” the abiding, fruitful life, the life that is Christ, which should be in possession of every believer.”