Be Cut Back Or Be Cut Off

Be Cut Back or Be Cut Off

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. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

John 15:1-3

He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.

Isaiah 42:3

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Hebrews 12:11

Is there a set of pruning shears in your garage that are used for pruning the trees and shrubs in your yard? Pruning is when someone removes diseased, useless, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant to shape it, keep it healthy, and increase its leaves, flowers, or fruits.

Just as trees and shrubs need the careful cutting of a gardener, our lives need the attention of our Father, the Gardener, if we want to be productive and healthy. God’s strategy for coaxing a greater harvest out of his branches is to prune us—to cut away the things that hold us back.

It isn’t easy getting pruned, is it? But it’s what our Father does. And it isn’t punishment. It isn’t for fruitless people but for “the branches that do bear fruit.” When the Father trims away things we like or things we’re used to, he removes only what is keeping us from a fuller life in him. He might prune away relationships, beliefs, commitments, ambitions—anything that keeps us from going deeper with Jesus.

If you have ever asked God to make you more like him and to use you in a significant way, then his pruning is his answer to your prayers. The fact that he is cutting away things in your life reveals that he is carefully getting you ready to grow.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Have you ever pruned a plant or seen one pruned? How did it help the plant?

What’s the difference between being cut off and being pruned?

Have you ever experienced spiritual pruning before? What was that process like?