“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2)
Jesus speaks to His disciples in a parable. He uses the image of a vine.
When the vine grows, many new branches appear on the stem. Once the leaves sprout, you soon see mini bunches of grapes among the leaves.
If these branches keep growing, the growth goes into the branches and not the grapes.
The vinedresser or gardener prunes the branches so that the grapes grow bigger.
Jesus says to His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
When we follow Jesus, we come to the realization that we need cleansing.
There are branches that need to be pruned so that pride, self-love and other sins are removed.
Pruning is a painful process. But it produces fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control.
Have you experienced a spiritual pruning process in your life?
Then you, too, will bear much fruit!