Prune and Grow

​Have you ever noticed that almost everything beautiful in life grows from failure?

Nothing has taught me that lesson better than running. Most recently I finished a race, the Georgia Jewel, that had tripped me up more than once the last couple of years. But this year, on the other side of repeated failures, I crossed the finish line.

If I had to pinpoint one thing that helped me most in getting there, it was pruning away all the negative thoughts I had about that race. This pruning created room for a more helpful way of thinking to take over. Because if running has taught me anything, it's there isn't room for both.

That seems to be the lifecycle of almost anything that grows: prune and grow, prune and grow.

Did you know before we hit puberty our brains actually prune away all our useless brain wires to allow room for more meaningful wires to grow and connect? This process helps guide us through a challenging yet important period of growth in our lives.

Like, our bodies are literally wired to prune and grow.

There's a biblical passage that supports this idea:

In John chapter 15 Jesus says:

“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken."

Jesus is sharing with us this idea that if we'll prune away the dead things and thoughts in our lives that aren't working, more fruitful things in our life are going to come from that.

We are heading into a winter of pruning and death. Yet, we know on the other side of it will be the spring of new life and growth.

Even our seasons remind us, prune and grow.

This cycle of prune and grow is obvious, I think. We've all walked through and witnessed this cycle enough to know it's so. Yet, too often, I - and maybe we - cling to the fear of failure. We cling to things that rob us of life instead of pruning them with the faith there is something beautiful on the other side.

I mean, the underlying principal of my Christian faith is this idea that Jesus wasn't afraid to have pruned away the thing most of us value most - life - in order to reveal on the other side of pruning is something beautiful.

If you're holding back today in fear of the pruning - take a look at life and be reminded, almost everything beautiful grows from failure.

Prune and grow.