“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “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. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

—John 15:1-11 (TNIV)

Have you ever stopped to consider the nature of love? Too often we think of love as giving the beloved whatever he or she wants. But that is not real love. Real love always desires the best for the beloved and sometimes it requires us to say no to our beloved or to remind them of the better way. But real love never imposes its desires on the beloved. It must allow the beloved to freely respond to our love; otherwise there can never be any real relationship.

As Peter reminds us in his first Epistle, we are called to be holy just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:13-25). Being holy means we set ourselves apart from living in sin so that we can be God’s people. We do so because this is what God has called us to do and we know that God always knows what is best for us.

As Jesus reminds us in today’s passage, we can be God’s called out (holy) people only when we have Christ in us, our hope of glory. We cannot be holy people by our own power. We can be holy people by God’s power living in us. Thankfully the God who calls us to be his holy people also gives us the means and power to be what he calls. But because he loves us, he will not impose his will on us. He will give us the desires of our heart, for good or for ill.

Which will you choose?