Connected to the Vine?

I am confronted on a near-daily basis with this issue, and I really believe it's important to look at.

Every day I, or someone I know, justifies wrong-doing, bad attitudes, and other sin, with an excuse:

"I'm tired"
"I deserve it"
"They don't deserve it"
"It's culturally acceptable"
"No one told me not to"
"No one's perfect"
"That's not a realistic expectation"
"It's not as bad as that"

Jesus was very clear in the book of John about what the Christian walk was supposed to look like: fruit. If you're really connected to the vine, you'll produce fruit. If you're just next to the vine, then you'll look connected from some angles, but from others it'll be obvious.

Christians aren't supposed to be known by the fact that they attend church. And you know what, they aren't even supposed to be identified by carrying a Bible or posting verses to facebook.

Jesus says that people will know His disciples by their FRUIT.

You can look "shiny" or "new" or "on-fire," but if you're not connected to the vine, you won't bear fruit in ALL parts of your life.

By the way, fruit isn't success. Fruit is:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control

If our lives don't look like that, the only explanation is we're not connected to the vine.