Pruning increases fruitfulness.
I have a white currant bush I inherited from one of my parent’s neighbors. I don’t know if it had ever been pruned. I know it hadn’t in the three or four years I had it, well except by the moose. They keep it short.
As I researched how to prune I learned that the older the branch gets the less fruit it produces. That didn’t surprise me. The hard part for me was the amount of the bush I needed to remove to get it to the greatest potential for fruitfulness. I needed to leave only 4 to 6 branches for fruit this year and some shoots for fruit next year and the year after. I cut out well over 2/3 of the bush!
God began speaking to me about pruning for fruitfulness in my life. There are things that may be bearing fruit but not as much as they could. Putting energy into too many things means nothing is as fruitful as it could be.
Reduce to Thrive
The area I’m starting my pruning is my business. I love to work, study, and serve. Too much. Like my unpruned currant bush, it takes up too much space in my head. I’m always thinking of new ways to serve, things to teach, or something more to learn. I need to trust God to make it more fruitful when I do less.
Being obsessed with my coaching business is not how I want to live. I don’t want to raise my youngest daughter with Childhood Emotional Neglect the way I did her older siblings. I want to be mentally and emotionally present, not just physically. So I need to prune.
I’m dreaming with the Lord about what pruning looks like. For every idea I cut out 5 more spring up. I know I need to prune back to the stage of my bush. It looks bare, thin, and not very promising of a great harvest. That’s part of trust. I won’t see the fruit right away.
As I am in this process of pruning for fruitfulness I would love to hear what makes the most impact for you. I have been:
- doing a weekly live video
- writing a weekly blog
- writing a weekly email with thoughts I don’t share elsewhere
- sharing encouragement and asking questions on Facebook
- praying for you
- coaching individuals and groups
Comment and let me know.
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Is God calling you to a season of pruning for fruitfulness? I can help with that! Schedule a call.
