Fruitfulness Matters.

If you have even a basic understanding of gardening, you know that it is vital to the overall health of your plants to know you must prune them from time to time. We have some beautiful rose bushes around our home we planted several years ago, I seem to like them a little more than others, but they are beautiful. For a while just after we planted them, they began to look hideous, quit producing flowers, and many of the branches seemed to be dying. It was then I learned they needed to be pruned. Since then, we cut them back each year and remove the dead limbs. Now these rose bushes following their regular pruning seem to be thriving, growing, and producing tons of beautiful flowers for everyone to enjoy.

I had to come to the understanding that pruning isn’t about our comfort as much as it is about productivity.

Jesus gives us a warning in Matthew 7 saying, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (NKJV).

There are many scriptures about “bearing fruit” I will list a few of these below for reference. We know that to grow great apples a farmer must nurture great trees. And to nurture great trees the farmer will have to cut off every branch that does not produce good fruit.

I believe this is a great reminder for us in our Christian lives. Far too many times as we try to grow in our relationship with Christ, toxic people will be present in our lives and churches and hinder us, distract us, and attempt to damage us.

Your life is like a tree and people are the branches. Learning to handle toxic people is learning that, sadly, some branches (relationships) need to be cut off! 

For some of you particularly sensitive people (and I love you for this!), it may seem harsh to prune someone out of your life. It may not sound very “Christian.” But consider the words of Jesus: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.” (John 15:1-2).  We must understand that God Himself does this! And He is teaching us a valuable life lesson.

Our relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship we will ever have. Some people will keep you from your full potential. These can be old friends or new friends, they can have a fake façade and appear sweet and innocent, or they can even appear well established and well-seasoned. However, the Bible says you will know them by their fruit. If we truly value fruitfulness as much as Jesus does, then all of us—literally, all of us—will need to be more intentional about cutting some less than fruitful encounters and relationships out of our lives from time to time. Doing so isn’t an act of cruelty; it’s an act of discipleship and service.

Another way of putting this, as shocking as it may sound, is that worshipping God may mean walking away from certain people so that you can walk toward the people he has prepared just for you. Gods got a purpose and a plan for you. And truly there is a lost and dying world that is in need of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As true believers, we do not have time to waste on toxic people. We must learn to remove ourselves from these people and remove them from our lives so we can focus on what God desires from us in our lives. Pruning is uncomfortable but it is essential…

I don’t know about you, but I intend on pleasing God, praising God, and fulfilling the will of God.
Anyone who is intentionally hindering that is in the way.

Blessings!
Pastor Jonathan W. Pannell III    

Here are a few passages for reference, there are many more but this will get you started.

John 15:5 – “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (NKJV).

John 15:8 – “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (NKJV).

John 15:16 – “ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (NKJV).

Jeremiah 17:7-8 – “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit” (NKJV).