When Growth Looks Like Cutting Back
Healthy growth often starts with subtraction. Pruning feels like loss, but Jesus shows us it protects our purpose.
So… What is Pruning?
Pruning is the intentional removal of the things keeping us from fully living out our unique God-given purpose.
While we can all recognize the need for pruning obvious harms, we also need to prune the good things growing in the wrong direction - the seemingly admirable habits, opportunities, or voices that quietly pull us off purpose.
Beautiful Weeds
My garden is where I connect most with God- with my hands in the dirt and the sun on my face (unless it’s August… because Texas…)
Last year I had Morning Glories pop up in one of my large garden beds. I love Morning Glories. Gorgeous vines with flowers that open in the early morning light revealing vibrant blues and purples.They “volunteered” and quickly created a canopy everyone admired - neighbors I had never met peeked over the fence, and I found myself taking way too many pictures to share on social media.
Here’s the problem: As these vines grew, they shaded out everything around them, specifically all of my tomatoes growing in this large garden bed, leading them to produce ZERO fruit.
The purpose of this particular garden is to produce fruit- and it failed to do so.
Admiration isn’t proof of alignment with something or someone’s purpose. If a beautiful thing keeps you from your God-given purpose, it may need to be pruned back, or even removed.
We often think of weeds as ugly nuisances- but in reality, a weed is simply a plant growing where it shouldn’t be.
A beautiful weed is still a weed.
How to discern what needs to be pruned.
So how do we find weeds in our lives? Both the kind that are obvious and destructive, or subtle and seemingly admirable.
There are certainly more ways to discern this, but here are some questions to get you started:
To dive deeper, see the verses listed at the bottom of this post!
What fruit is this producing now - and over time?
Does this turn my heart toward God or away from Him?
Is this adding to or draining my love for God and people?
Would wise, truth-telling friends say this isn’t helping?
Is this a good thing growing in the wrong direction?
Is it distracting me from my God-given purpose?
If you’re unsure, James 1:5 is your permission slip: Ask for wisdom. He loves to give it.
It’s easy to build a beautiful canopy of activity - even ministry - and still miss the fruit God desires: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
I think I know what needs a trim… Now what?
Name it clearly. Clarity can fuel the confidence and courage to take next steps.
Replace, don’t just remove.
Protect yourself from distractions and temptations.
Change your routine.
Delete the app (if one popped to mind, it’s that one).
Run a 30-day experiment.
Expect big feelings (grief ≠wrong decision).
To dig deeper, see the verses listed at the bottom of this post!
Prune as a response to God, not a performance for others. It may look like a step back for a while, and that’s okay. Keep your eyes on the fruit and purpose He’s placed in front of you.
Remember who the gardener is
John 15:1
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”
I encourage you to read all the way through John 15:1-8 and remember who the true gardener in our lives is meant to be.
Let’s pray that we will have the willingness to hear His voice, seek His wisdom, lean on His strength and gain courage knowing that we are not alone as we strive to bear fruit in our lives.
What’s one beautiful weed you sense God inviting you to prune?
Want to dig deeper?
This week’s podcast (Season 2, Episode 4) unpacks practical pruning - how to choose fruit over “beautiful canopies.
Until next time! -
To dig deeper, here are Scriptures that connect with the reflection questions and action steps above!
How to Discern
Galatians 5 – Fruit of the Spirit
Colossians 3:1–2 – Set your hearts and minds on things above
Matthew 22:37–39 – The greatest commandments
Proverbs 27:6; Proverbs 15:22 – Honest friends and wise counsel
Hebrews 12:1 – Throw off everything that hinders
1 Corinthians 7:35; Luke 10:41–42 – Undivided devotion; Mary and Martha
Now what?
James 1:5 – Ask God for wisdom
Proverbs 28:13 – Confess and renounce to find mercy
Ephesians 4:22–24 – Put off the old, put on the new
1 Corinthians 10:13 – God provides a way out of temptation
Romans 12:2 – Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
Matthew 5:29 – Remove whatever causes you to stumble
Daniel 1:12–13 – Testing for a set time
Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 – A time to weep and a time to laugh
