Pruning or Punishment?
Have you ever been pruned by God?! It hurts. If we are intentionally following God’s leading, then we can become confused when God leads us into a pruning season. When we are doing our best to be obedient, sometimes it can feel like a punishment when God tells us it’s time for something to be subtracted from our lives. It can be really painful. But have faith – God knows what He is doing. He takes us through the process of spiritual pruning so that we would bear more fruit! We can trust that God has a purpose when He removes something from our lives. Let’s consider the benefits of spiritual pruning.
Why Is Pruning Necessary?
John 15: 1-8 gives us a beautiful illustration of when pruning is necessary, and the desired results of God’s careful pruning. There are many benefits of spiritual pruning because the Lord is intentional in what He decides to cut back in our lives, because it’s always for our greater good.
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
JOHN 15:2 NKJV (Words of Jesus)
When an apple tree is pruned it comes back the next season with the capacity to bear much more fruit than the previous season!
When the βsuckerβ branches are no longer leaching the nutrients or blocking the sun to the more permanent fruit bearing branches, then that tree thrives and fruits fuller than ever.
Just like in the natural care of a fruit tree, the spiritual pruning process causes our good fruits to develop and multiply with the Lords loving care. And sometimes that looks like removing something from our lives, so that we would have room to grow in another area.
The truth is, not all branches that God deems unnecessary are inherently ‘bad’ or ‘sinful’. We may not have a full understanding of why God would want to remove something that isn’t outright sinful. But when God removes a person, place or thing from our lives, it may mean that it’s simply not right for us at that time. We can put our trust in the God who sees the bigger picture.
God prunes the branches in our lives that do not bear fruit so that they wouldn’t hold us back from where He wants to lead us.
I cling to this promise in Psalm 84:11, that tells us God will never withhold good things from us. I choose to trust in Him for all things!
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
Psalms 84:11
Pruning causes us to bear more fruit in our faith walk with Jesus, and throughout the process, we get to see His faithfulness on display. As a result we learn to trust and obey Him more and more!
Pruned To Bear More Fruit
Isn’t it wild that Jesus said even healthy trees that fruit in their season, still need to be pruned for maximum production!?
I don’t know about you, but I not only want to be a tree that has fruit in my season, but also enough to supply to those around me. I desire to bear MORE fruit, as much as I am able!
So when God prunes those branches that do have some good fruit on them, we shouldn’t fear, but rejoice that we are in the right place at the right time. God is preparing us so that they would bear even more fruit.
One time I heard a pastor preach on John chapter 15. I got a kick out of it when they said, βI guess, youβre pruned if you do and pruned if you donβt!β
I laugh at the saying because I know it is true. There is great reward in working with the Master Gardener, our Heavenly Father, as He goes ahead of us and removes every hindrance that would keep us from abiding deeper in His love.
God has a plan for each one of our lives. He wants to mold and shape our hearts so that we could grow to look more and more like Jesus!
This passage of scripture in John 15 tells us that if we love God and give our hearts to Him, He will eventually prune us. Because He knows by doing so, we will be able to make a greater impact for the Kingdom of God!
When we know that we are choosing to walk in obedience to God, we can rest assured that the pruning He requires of us is going to cause our lives to bear much more fruit than we ever have before. For God’s glory and our ultimate good!
Pruning Increases Capacity!
To be honest I have had many painful pruning seasons with the Lord. I have been pruned up and down. I like to joke and say that I must need a lot of work because God just stays busy on me!
But as I’ve surrendered to the pruning shears that cut away the unneeded parts of my life, God has made room for me to grow-up in Christ in immeasurable ways. We are all called to grow-up in Christ!
I thank God for increasing my capacity to learn and grow in Him!
Even while I know this truth, the idea of enduring a pruning process does not sound like a fun time. My spirit desires it’s benefits, but my flesh takes rejection hard, and knows it will be extremely uncomfortable. Nevertheless, knowing this truth –that I will bear more fruit– I can be thankful in the middle of it all.
God is developing and multiplying our fruit as we make room for Him to work in our hearts.
So how can we stay encouraged during a season of deep pruning? We can Know that God is intentional in His pruning and purposeful in choosing what we need and don’t need in our lives.
We can be confident that just as God started a good thing within us, He promises He would be faithful to complete His work in and through us!
“He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6
What a relief to know that God isn’t done with us yet!
May we be found to have hearts that are open to His teaching and leading. I know as long as my heart is teachable, then the Holy Spirit of God will never stop teaching me. I need the Godly wisdom to instruct me in the way He wants me to go.
God sees all the way around the corner, and all that is to come in our lives. Isaiah 46:10 tells us that “God sees the end from the beginning“. We can trust Him to lead us to the greater purpose that He has placed within each one of us.
Hearts of Surrender
Pruning is not a punishment, it is a benefit of remaining close enough to the Master Gardener who nurtures and cares for His garden.
When the Lord says it’s time to remove something from my life, I pray my heart responds with a surrendered “Yes, Lord. Have Your way”.
I won’t act like it’s easy to say “yes” in the moment. Our flesh literally opposes everything to do with Godly discipline. So while surrendering to the painful pruning process is hard, I am encouraged knowing that this will produce a harvest that only God could prepare within me! A beautiful garden He is creating within His children. So that’s why I pray for a heart of surrender that desires that the Lord to do what only He could do- inside of us.
When we are under the Master’s shears, may we see His perfect purpose being accomplished in the process. He is preparing us to bear more fruit than we ever have before! When we allow God to show us the purpose of our pruning seasons, we can rejoice to know that God is creating beautiful things in us.
How To Endure the Process of Spiritual Pruning with Joy and Patience:
- Expect that God is going to ask to prune a few branches from time to time.
- Trust in the intentional and very capable hands of the Vinedresser, God.
- Rejoice in knowing that God has a purposeful plan, and the best place you can be is right in His hands.
- Be willing to ‘let go’ of whatever God directs you to for the sake of honoring God.
PRAY TODAY: Thank You Lord God, that You see around every corner before I get there. You remove the hindrances that seek to distract me, and pull me away from your love. I thank You for providing all that I need in the time that I need it. Whether You add or remove a thing from my hands, may I be purposefully thankful for Your care in my life. I say that Your plans are better! I surrender MY hearts desires and MY plans for Your greater good to be accomplished in my life. I put my trust in You because I know You work ALL things together for my good! (according to Romans 8:28) I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!
May we be available for God to prune to bear more fruit inside of us, because the benefits of spiritual pruning can only be applied to our lives when we surrender all to Jesus!
May we let the Lord lead us into the life He created us for. God’s wisdom, is our provision!
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Abiding in the love of Jesus and allowing His light to shine through you!
I have read John 15, but verse 2 is on display in my life right now… especially the second part of the verse. In the past, I’ve placed the emphasis of pruning on the removal of what’s dead, but now that I’m losing good things in life and I’ve been made aware by the Holy Spirit of the need for the cutting back of even good things in life. Thank you for your encouragement through your writing.
Esther, WOW, praise the Lord for His care in your life! God really speaks to my heart when I am gardening, and years ago He taught me the difference between “Pruning” Vs. “Trimming” or “Cutting Back” a plant .. (they sound alike in the way that, in gardening terms, parts of the plant will get cut off and it will result in a loss of leaves or branches.) Pruning is when the gardener cuts off dead or broken branches. Trimming or cutting back a plant is when the gardener cuts off overgrowth.. the good and thriving growth.
Uncontrolled overgrowth in a garden can be just as hindering of the NEEDED growth and more IMPORTANT growth in terms of Plant strength and ability to support the fruit growth. It hurts when branches are removed (both by pruning as well as trimmed) but, it would be more painful if we did not keep one plant in check so much that it overshadowed the plants God desires to grow in us. Another hinderance of overgrowth is when it causes a branch to break completely off because the fruit grew too big and the branch was not strong enough to sustain it. Hope that helps to paint an image for you about the second half of John 15:2.
It’s hard to see it in the moments of life sometimes, but GODS PLAN IS BEST, and I believe He has you exactly on a path to bear more fruit in Him. I pray the Lord give your grace as He cultivates all the beautiful qualities in you more and more. God is creating beautiful things in His children for HIS glory and OUR good. Grace and Love to you, my friend! -Dawn π