John 15:2 How To Bear Fruit

“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 15:2

Jesus begins to talk to the disciples about how He is the true vine and His Father is the gardener. God goes through the vine and removes any branches that do not bear fruit, and then prunes the rest to bear even more fruit.

Good gardeners do more than just plant fruit trees and harvest the fruit. If he does only those things, the level of fruit harvested will not be very much. As the plant grows, he will take notice of any branches that are not producing any fruit. Those branches will be cut off, since it is pulling away nutrients from the rest of the plant and yet is not producing anything.

The other branches that are producing will be carefully pruned back to produce even more fruit. Some good branches will be cut off, in order to keep them from getting to heavy and breaking and to allow for larger better branches to keep growing.

Jesus said that because He is the vine and all believers are the branches, there is a process of pruning that is going on. If a believer is not producing any fruit for the kingdom of God, God will remove him. If a believer is producing good fruit, then God will prune him in order to get more fruit.

The process of pruning is when God is removing sinful habits from the person’s life. It can also be changing the person’s heart to love better, forgive more, and be more merciful. Every believer needs to be pruned in order to be the best that he can be. Just like a fruit tree needs to be pruned.

While this sounds good, the process can be painful. It is not always easy to give up habits or to forgive and be merciful. Yet, when a believer learns these things, he can be a better witness and build God’s kingdom even more than ever before.

During times that are hard for you, you must see that as a time when God may be doing a pruning job on you. He is trying to build you up to be an even greater witness than before.

Allow God to take time to prune you. Be the best producer for God.

I pray today that you will allow God to prune you; that you will grow in Christ Jesus to be a great witness; and that your life will produce fruit for the kingdom of God.