Abide, Don't Strive
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
— John 15:5
Jesus gives a living picture: vine and branches. Branches do not produce by strain but by connection. Fruit is the outcome of abiding, not self-powered effort. 'Apart from me you can do nothing' is not shame language; it is reality language.