Like A Tree... Pruning Growth
Meg Chaney
Hi friend! I’m so glad you found your way to my blog! Below you’ll find the text from my “Like A Tree” Summer Podcast Series. Have you had a listen yet? I’ve been having so much fun learning about Podcasting! You can find my Podcast here. We’ve been looking at Psalm 1 lately, and considering what it means when we compare our Christian life to that of a tree. Today we’re going to consider the process of pruning.
Early each Spring my roses start to bloom. They’re fragrant and wonderful, until they’re not. And then, I carefully prune off the dead flowers. I make room for more vibrant flowers to come. The same is true with trees. Sometimes our tree in the front yard will send out an awkward new branch, one that’s way too close to the ground for my husband to mow around. And so he prunes that tree, a lot. He prunes it, so that there’s energy for other future branches to grow. He prunes it for the fruit to come.
Growing can be a painful process, but we have to clear the dead things away so that new growth can form.
As we grow closer to God, we see the painful reality of how much we don’t measure up. Sins that God may have not pointed out when we were a new Christian, now come to light. But it’s so important that we have a teachable spirit. While it is painful to ask, to draw closer to God we have to go through the painful process of pruning, getting rid of the old habits to make room for the new. It’s hard to admit when we have areas that need work. (Even more so for a perfectionist like me!). The Holy Spirit’s influence on our lives prods and pushes us to bring things out in the open and truly get rid of those yucky things, so that we can draw closer to God.
The dead things have to be cleared away, so that the lasting fruit can begin to grow in its place.
When we prune, fruit from the Lord can grow in our lives.
What is this fruit?
For one, consider the Fruits of the Spirit:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit”
Just remember, we’ve never past His renewal. We’re never past the ability for God to work and change our lives around. We always have something that needs pruned. In this broken world, we’re slowly going through the process of being renewed, day by day.
What might need to be pruned in your own life? Where have you seen some fruits of the Lord? Perhaps fruits of the spirit that didn’t used come as easily to you in the past? What fruit of the spirit might you need to work on today?