One of the things I love to do each year in my own life and a small group I lead is to ask everyone this simple question: If you were to look more like Jesus a year from now, what would that mean? What changes would you make? How would you know if you became that person?

Many people miss what God has for them because they lack a vision for their spiritual growth. 

But make no mistake, God has a vision for who we are becoming. 

In John 15, Jesus tells his disciples what some of that looks like: to abide in Him. 

To abide means to dwell, remain, make your home in, to be held and kept.

A simple heart-check question is, “What or who am I abiding in?” We are all abiding in something or someone. We all look to something or someone to keep us and hold us. We look for love and security from someone or something. We are making our home somewhere. That might be in our career, political party, relationship, kids’ sports, or lives. But we are all abiding in something or someone. 

The question is, are we abiding in the right thing?

I have often struggled to know what it means to abide. Abiding sounds passive, but it isn’t. 

When we think of the Christian life, we usually focus on the commands to go, do, make, etc. 

And those are all over Scripture. 

But John 15 also says that part of the Christian life is abiding, dwelling, remaining, being held and kept. 

For that to happen, we must choose it. 

In many ways, abiding is letting God love me. 

How do we do that?

One, we must choose it. We must actively believe and trust that God loves us. We must believe that we can make a home in God and that he will hold us and keep us. 

If this is hard, ask God to help you. Ask him to show you that you are loved and that he is keeping you. 

Two, dwell with him. 

Jesus tells his disciples in verse 3 that this happens through the word. 

Third, submit to the pruning that the Father brings into our lives. 

We don’t know the fruit we need to grow in as well as the Father.