I always forget the part in John 15 where Jesus prunes fruitful parts of the vine so they become more fruitful. I only remember the part where Jesus cuts off the parts of the vine that don’t bear fruit. That’s the kind of pruning I think about: chopping off all the dead, unproductive parts.
But there’s another kind of pruning regarding fruitful parts of life. Those parts of your life that bear fruit and flourish often undergo a pruning (a cleansing, a distilling, a streamlining) to become even better.
It might seem painful or strange, especially when we think things are going so well. It might seem counterintuitive or a kind of sabotaging of some fruitful activity, but really, it’s a pruning to make that thing better.