Pruning or correction, which is it?

Last week we learnt that we need to allow God to prune us, which is to cleanse us and clean us up.

Hebrews 10:8-11 says, “We all should welcome God’s discipline as the validation of authentic sonship. For if we have never once endured his correction it only proves we are strangers and not sons.

And isn’t it true that we respect our earthly fathers even though they corrected and disciplined us? Then we should demonstrate an even greater respect for God, our spiritual Father, as we submit to his life-giving discipline.  Our parents corrected us for the short time of our childhood as it seemed good to them. But God corrects us throughout our lives for our own good, giving us an invitation to share his holiness. Now all discipline seems to be painful at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it.” 

What is the difference between pruning and discipline? Thought we’d talk about that this week. We sometimes think these two things are interchangeable but not quite. Pruning positions us to bear better quality and quantity fruit whereas discipline positions us in alignment with God’s word and produces godly character in us. Pruning means I am doing something good, discipline means I have been naughty. We all drop the ball from time to time.  

Taking the example of the grape vine, pruning is when branches are doing well and producing fruit, and the vinedresser comes and prunes or trims the branches to better position them to bear even more fruit. John 15:2 calls it richer and finer fruit. Sounds like sweet and mouthwatering fruit! Discipline, however, is when God sees something in us that He knows doesn’t align with His word, so He brings correction.

We have all experienced pruning at one stage or another. Where we feel as though God is pulling us back. We thought we would be progressing a certain way and God says, no actually in this season I need you to do less of that and more of this. It doesn’t make sense to us but God is masterfully using His garden sheers to trim the unnecessary so we can bear more fruit in the areas He wants it. It feels vulnerable. You may even feel exposed and a spiritually naked, yikes. Have you ever seen a rose bush after it has been pruned? It doesn’t look good! It don’t look right, but give it time and the flowers will be amazing.

Pruning is graduation to the next level of fruit bearing. When we have been faithful with what God has given us, God comes and cleanses us with His word and removes the outer layers that we hide under, and we see ourselves as in a mirror and we want nothing more than to be like Him. Pruning is an invitation, surrender to the process is our response. It does not feel good at the time, and it is uncomfortable, but it is necessary if we are to grow and bear more fruit.

Discipline, on the other hand, is God saying, “This behavior is not good. It is not reflective of who I am in you, let’s fix it.” Repentance is our response. We need to see that what we have done is wrong otherwise if we do not see it, we will repeat it and wonder why we keep facing the same problem, over and over and over again. So, we need to recognise that yep, this is where I went wrong and repent. If we don’t, guess what, it multiplies in our children and it keeps getting worse with each coming generation.

Say, if you have a problem with taking things that are not yours, i.e. stealing, allow God to nip it in the bud because if you don’t stop it with you, your kids or your grandbabies are going to take it to the next level and end up career criminals. There are generational spirits working through family lines to bring destruction. So it may seem like a small thing to you, but there are spiritual realities at play that God sees that we sometimes don’t see. Our role is to trust God and believe that whatever He is doing is for our good. If He says this thing, whatever it may be, is not good for you. Believe Him and believe that He has your best interests at heart.

Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches. Why would the Vinedresser do something that will destroy the Vine? It’s counterproductive. God is here to help us not destroy us or hurt us.

So whether you are in a pruning season or in a season of being disciplined, how you respond determines how you end up. You surrender during pruning, you will bear richer and finer fruit. You repent and submit to God when disciplined and it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace.

So, pruning and discipline, both are good and both are needed. If we are going to stay close to Jesus and keep walking with Him and abiding in Him as John 15 says, we will experience both and it is good to know that both are a sign of God’s unending love for us.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.