Killing Sin: Conquer the One Thing That Is Defeating You

by Karl Clauson

Jesus is the Vine and holds all the juice and life the branch needs to produce fruit. There are two ends of the branch. One is for proximity to Jesus, the Vine. The other end is for performance and fruit-bearing. You can only focus on one end. If you focus on fruit-bearing, your face naturally has to turn away from your connection with Jesus, the Vine. But if you focus on your connection to the Vine, you will see that fruit flourish one day. Think about this question: Do you focus more on trying to produce fruit in your life or on proximity to Jesus? Most people I talk with focus on squeezing more love, joy, peace, self-control, etc. out of their lives. But it will never work. The startling reality is that the further we drift from proximity to Jesus, trying in our strength and ingenuity to produce fruit, the more we drift apart from Jesus and the more susceptible we are to being picked off by sin. Just take the fruit of self-control. Self-control is not something we are naturally born with. The fruit of self-control that can keep us from caving into sin is only found in proximity to Jesus. When we drift apart from Jesus, we distance ourselves from the only source of self-control that can help us conquer and resist sin. Attempting to produce fruit in our strength and ingenuity is the wrong end of the branch to focus on. You need to focus on proximity to Jesus because that connection will ensure His power will flow through you.