The Love That Prunes: Embracing the Seasons of Growth
As spring arrived, I stood on my front porch, trying to remember what my friend had taught me and overthinking how to prune the rose bushes around my home. I trimmed away dead branches and shaped them for new growth, a task that always makes me think of the cycles of life and growth. Pruning, though it may feel harsh, is necessary for healthy development. Without it, plants become tangled, stagnant, and unable to thrive. The process feels like loss, cutting away parts that once flourished, but it’s not just spring’s arrival that makes it necessary. The changing seasons, summer's season of growth and flourishing, fall’s shedding of leaves, and winter’s period of rest prepare the ground for new growth in the spring. Each season plays a vital role, setting the stage for the flourishing that’s to come. As I pruned, I reflected on how these seasons, and the pruning within them, mirrored deeper truths in my own life.
In today’s culture, we often equate love with comfort and acceptance. We hear, “God is love, so just accept everyone as they are.” But this definition of love feels incomplete. True love, especially the love of God, doesn’t leave us where we are. It refines and transforms us. It’s not always soft or easy. God’s love often comes in the form of pruning, cutting away what no longer serves us so we can grow into who He created us to be. It’s not about staying cozy; it’s about being shaped for something greater, something eternal.
The Seasons of Pruning
In John 15:1-2, Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” These verses offer a profound truth: pruning is an essential part of growth. It challenges our cultural understanding of love, which often focuses only on comfort and peace. But the love Jesus describes doesn’t shy away from what’s necessary for true growth, it engages in the refining work of pruning.
Pruning is not punishment, it’s preparation. As I cut away dead branches from my roses, I’m making space for new growth. God’s pruning works the same way in our lives. Sometimes, it means cutting away distractions, unhealthy relationships, or sinful patterns that may seem harmless but are ultimately hindering our growth. But how do we recognize what needs to be pruned? This is where God, in His wisdom, speaks to us—through Scripture, prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When we spend time in His Word, He reveals the areas in our lives that have become tangled, stagnant, or overgrown with distractions. Prayer becomes a space where we seek His discernment, asking Him to show us what is no longer serving His purpose. The Holy Spirit gently convicts and redirects us, illuminating unhealthy attachments, attitudes, beliefs, or misplaced priorities that we may not have noticed on our own.
Sometimes, the pruning is obvious, sinful habits or relationships that pull us away from Him. Other times, it’s more subtle, things that are good but not best. Like a rose bush with too many healthy branches crowding out new growth, we may hold onto commitments, identities, or desires that prevent us from stepping fully into His purpose. Recognizing these requires humility and trust, believing that even when God asks us to let go, it’s always for something greater.
Embracing the Necessary Seasons of Change
When I prune my roses, I sometimes question why I’m cutting away a healthy-looking branch. It seems perfectly fine to me. Yet, my friend reminds me that even healthy branches can steal energy, block sunlight, or crowd out new growth. This is where God’s timing becomes so important. There are times when what seems good in our lives can actually prevent us from flourishing. The process of pruning can feel like loss, but it’s God’s loving hand guiding us toward more, more life, more growth, more fruit.
The seasons of life can feel similarly unsettling. There are seasons when we’re asked to let go of things we hold close, such as certain beliefs, identities, relationships, habits, or even dreams that once defined us. In those seasons, it’s easy to resist, to wonder why a loving God would ask us to give up something that seems good. But like the rose bush, we need the pruning to make space for what’s better—what needs to be corrected, refined, and aligned with His will—what’s eternal. God’s love works through these changes, reshaping us to become more of what He intended all along.
Ephesians 4:22-24 says, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
A Season for Every Purpose
The changing of seasons is a natural, necessary part of life. As we walk through life’s seasons, we often encounter moments of growth, rest, pruning, and fruitfulness. These shifts remind us that God is always at work, actively shaping us according to His will. Philippians 1:6 offers encouragement in this truth: "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." God is not idle during the changing seasons. Every season has a purpose, whether we understand it at the time or not.
Pruning can often be the most painful when we don’t understand the purpose behind it. It takes faith to trust that God’s plan for us is unfolding, even when we can't yet see the full picture. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." In those moments of uncertainty, we may not immediately know why certain things are being removed or changed, but by faith, we trust that each season and each change is necessary for our growth. Just as winter prepares the earth to receive the renewal of spring, so too do the challenging seasons in our lives prepare us for the flourishing to come.
Are You Ready for the Pruning?
The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, grows in us when we allow God to prune what is not of Him. Just as my roses need cuts and nurturing soil to thrive, we need God's refining work to bear fruit in our lives. Pruning may be uncomfortable and often painful, but it’s necessary for the abundant life He promises.
What is God asking you to surrender today? Is there something that might be holding you back from the growth He desires for you? It's natural to want control over the things in our lives, especially those that are familiar or tied to our identity. We often cling to what feels safe or comfortable because it gives us a sense of stability. But sometimes, these things may prevent us from stepping into the full potential God has for us. In those moments, it can be a reminder to trust that God's plans, even when they require us to let go, are ultimately better than what we can see or understand in the present. Surrendering to His refining work may feel difficult, but it allows us to experience a deeper growth and freedom in Him.
When we resist God’s pruning, we limit what He can do in us. Surrendering control isn’t about losing something, it’s about gaining something far more valuable: a deeper relationship with God and the transformation He promises. The shears may feel sharp, but the fruit and blossoms that follow are worth it. Trusting God with the seasons of change is an act of faith, choosing to believe that He sees the bigger picture, even when we can’t fully understand it.
Are you willing to trust Him, even when it feels uncomfortable and unfamiliar? Are you ready to surrender and let Him prune you for the greater purpose He has planned?