Wounded in Love

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
- John 15:1-2 NIV


prune v. "To cut off that which is not wanted or not necessary" (Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus, p. 199).


These two verses from John are so fascinating to me for several reasons. First, are they not so very true? Do they resonate so painfully deep within you as they do me? God has been doing a work within me ever since He saved me, and I have seen Him take objects, thought-patterns, and people out of my life so that I can be even more fruitful, displaying the greatness of the Vine. That in itself is such a fascinating reality: God is active in my life, and He is the one removing things. There is an initial temptation to be angry with him for these upheavals, but I need to fight to see His work for what it is - to cause me to shine brighter.

My eyes were opened the other day to the word "prune" in John 15:2. This word should be important to all who are in Christ, for we are the branches in these verses (John 15:5). We are the branches and we are being pruned by God. This reality is what prompted me to look up the word "prune" in Webster's Dictionary: "To cut off that which is not wanted or not necessary." I don't know about you, but that word "cut" does not pass by me with ease. When God prunes us, he is cutting us deeply; he wounds us in love to make us more beautiful. If He did not, we would not produce more fruit. We would not be all that we are intended to be.

In the book The Hidden Smile of God by John Piper, Piper outlines the lives of three extraordinary saints: John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd. In it is a quote from John Bunyan that I think is beautiful and highlights well what I am trying to say. It reads,

"Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think....It is wounding work, of course, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving....Where there is grafting there is cutting, the scion must be let in with a wound; to stick it on to the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. Heart must be set to heart and back to back, or there will be no sap from root to branch, and this I say, must be done by a wound" (p.65).

What a beautiful passage, one in which may have inspired this entry. Are you being pruned? Or perhaps a better question would be, can you feel the pruning work of the Lord? It hurts. It is sad work that sometimes brings tears. Know that your heavenly Father is pruning you. Know that He loves you. Know that He is a perfect "gardener," and His pruning work always produces the best of fruit.





Works Cited

Piper, John. The Hidden Smile of God. Crossway Books. Wheaton, Illinois: 2001.

Webster's Two In One Dictionary And Thesaurus. Nichols Publishing Group. U.S.A.: 1999.