The Pain Of Pruning

The Pain of Pruning

I have four bougainvillea plants on my back deck. I first saw the bougainvillea when I went to San Jose, California, to speak at a leadership conference. I stayed at a hotel that had trained their bougainvillea beautifully, and they were in full bloom. I thought, I wonder if I could grow that at home.

I don’t have a green thumb. I am good with a lawn mower, but tending to a growing plant isn’t my strength. I’m excited that my bougainvillea are still growing and blooming, but they are nowhere near what I saw in San Jose. I know that I need to prune them, but a part of me doesn’t want to cut off what is growing, because I am not confident in the result. At least I have some blooms now, and I don’t want to go through the pain of losing them if I do the pruning and training wrong.

I can draw some parallels in my own life and leadership journey when I sense there is a season of pruning that needs to take place. On a personal level, there are times when I’ve got to get some things under control at home that I may have neglected. On a professional level, sometimes it’s just time to move on from an employee who is preventing progress.

Change can be difficult if you think about it for too long. Sometimes, though painful, the best course for all involved is to cut off a branch so that the resources will be redirected to what is most fruitful. In John 15:1-2, Jesus says, “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” Remember, pruning is painful, but its intended purpose is to help what is bearing fruit to be even more fruitful.

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

John 15:1-2