Like Jesus

God has not said that He wants a improved you when you decide to follow Him. He doesn't want someone who is a better version of themselves. He gives us an example of what He wants us to be in this life. He wants us to be like Jesus. When I compare myself to Jesus I realize that I am not even close. It isn't as if I can fix a little bit here and tweak something over there and then I will be like Him. I can't do it. But Jesus told us how God wants to bring this about in our lives. He told us that He is the vine and we are the branches. The vine gives life to the branches. The branches die on their own. But when we are connected continually to Jesus, His fruit is what comes out. The character of Jesus is what comes out of us when we stay connected with the vine. When we disconnect from the vine our fruit becomes rotten. We can't bear fruit apart from Jesus. We can't have Jesus' character apart from Him.