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Pruning



I just received a text from my daughter (via my wife’s phone) letting me know “Dad, mom cut a foot off my hair!” She is not happy about it. My wife, after getting her phone back, let me know it was just a few inches she cut off, but my daughter is “freaking out” a bit. My wife tried to explain to the 10-year-old that her hair wasn’t as healthy as it could be and cutting off that extra length – the splitting, unhealthy portion – would allow her hair to grow back longer and healthier than before, but it would take some time. I think all this fell on deaf ears.

My daughter is still not enthusiastic about the recent trim, but it’s a good life lesson. We often need pruning to eliminate the unhealthy, sometimes even harmful areas of our life so the resources can go to the more important things where they are necessary for proper development. While it’s never easy or convenient in the moment – and it often feels like a setback – the pruning is vital for long term growth. If we never allow the fruitless areas of our lives to regularly be trimmed back, those areas inevitably steal more and more resources, gradually decreasing our efficiency and effectiveness. We eventually stop producing fruit.

Whether it’s a task, a habit or even the people we spend time with, each one of us have areas of our life that need to be trimmed so we can produce healthy growth again. Be willing to embrace the temporary contraction for the long-term expansion. Embrace the pruning.

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