When most of us think about following Jesus, we naturally think about what we should do.
Read our Bible.
Pray.
Obey.
Serve.
Share our faith.
All of those things matter.
But before Jesus ever spoke about bearing fruit in John 15, He said something remarkable about our relationship with Him.
“No longer do I call you servants... but I have called you friends.” (John 15:15)
That statement would have been shocking to His disciples.
Servants obey commands.
Friends are invited into relationship.
Jesus wasn’t lowering His authority.
He was revealing His heart.
He wanted His disciples to understand that they weren’t simply following a Master.
They were walking with Someone who wanted them to know His heart.
Identity before activity
One of the themes we’ll keep returning to throughout this Identity in Christ Journey is this:
Who you believe you are will shape how you live.
If you think you’re merely a servant trying to earn God’s approval, your Christian life will eventually become exhausting.
You’ll always wonder if you’ve done enough.
Prayed enough.
Served enough.
Believed enough.
But Jesus points us toward something deeper.
He invites us into relationship.
We don’t obey so that God will accept us.
We obey because, through Christ, we’ve already been welcomed into His family.
That changes everything.
A question to reflect on
As you spend time with John 15 today, ask yourself:
Do I approach God more like an employee trying to perform... or like a beloved child learning to trust her Father?
That one question reveals more about our hearts than we often realize.
🎥 Subscriber Bible Study
Today, I taught the first live Bible study in our Identity in Christ Journey, walking verse by verse through John 15 and exploring what Jesus meant when He called His disciples friends.
In the full teaching, we looked at:
What it means to abide in Christ.
Why identity always comes before fruitfulness.
The difference between serving God and living in relationship with Him.
How John 15 reshapes the way we see ourselves.
The complete video replay is available below for paid subscribers.