2026 Reading Plan Reflections - Day 155

A rose bush left alone will eventually grow inward on itself. Branches become tangled. Energy is spent in the wrong places. Instead of producing a smaller number of healthy, beautiful blooms, it produces an abundance of weaker ones.

I'm not a gardener, but I've seen this happen with rose bushes. And N.T. Wright affirms this in his commentary on today's passage: a gardener prunes away the inward growth and encourages the shoots reaching toward the light. The pruning isn’t punishment. It’s an act of care. The rose is being helped to become what it was created to be.

Jesus uses a similar image in John 15. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vineyard keeper” (John 15:1). The disciples would have immediately recognized the significance of the image.

Throughout the Old Testament, Israel was often described as God’s vine. Yet, again and again, the vine failed to produce the fruit God desired. Now Jesus declares that He is the true vine. God’s purposes are being fulfilled through Him, and those who remain connected to Him become part of that life-giving vine.

Branches don’t produce fruit by trying harder. They bear fruit because they remain connected to the vine. Their life comes from the vine itself. We know this, but remaining in Christ also means submitting to the Father’s pruning work... That’s the part many of us would rather avoid.

We naturally drift inward. We become consumed with our own ambitions, comforts, preferences, hurts, and distractions. We spend energy on things that don’t produce lasting fruit. We can even become so focused on ourselves that we block the very light we were meant to grow toward. Yet, the Father lovingly cuts away whatever keeps us from becoming who He created us to be.

Sometimes that pruning comes through conviction. Sometimes through hardship. Sometimes through the difficult lessons that expose attitudes, habits, or priorities that need to change. This is part of God’s sanctifying work. God's grace transforms us. God is continually shaping us into the likeness of Christ.

But the fruit Jesus describes is not merely personal holiness. The next section of the chapter makes that clear.

“Love each other just as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

The evidence that we remain in Christ is seen in how we love. Jesus doesn’t command something He hasn’t already demonstrated. He is about to lay down His life for His friends. His love becomes both our example and our source.

The Father’s pruning is meant to remove whatever prevents us from loving like Jesus. Pride. Self-centeredness. Bitterness. Fear. The need to always be right. The desire to protect ourselves at the expense of others. All of these can keep us from bearing the fruit of Christlike love.

And that love is not meant to stay within the walls of the church. The final section of the chapter reminds us that the world will not always welcome the witness of Christ. Jesus warns His disciples that just as the world rejected Him, it may reject them as well. Yet they are not left alone. The Holy Spirit—the Helper, the Spirit of Truth—will empower their witness. This is where the whole chapter comes together...

The Father prunes us so we can bear fruit.

The fruit is Christlike love.

And that love becomes our witness to the world.

Too often, we think of witness as having the right words. Jesus begins somewhere deeper. A life connected to the vine. A heart transformed by grace. A community marked by love. A people growing toward the light... That kind of witness is difficult to ignore.

Take a few moments today to ask the Lord: “What in my life is growing inward instead of toward Your light?”

Be honest about what comes to mind. Then ask God to prune whatever is keeping you from loving others more fully and bearing fruit that lasts. Look for one practical way to demonstrate Christlike love to someone today.