Pruning roses. For anyone who hasn’t done this, it can be a challenge. When I saw this image on one of the sites I use for stock images, I actually laughed. Only the brave or foolish will prune roses without gloves! But of all the free images on the site, it was the only picture which showed the base of the rose bush.

Last night, our church had the latest monthly dinner using a program offered through the Salvation Army called the Embrace Dinner. The materials are geared towards women’s meetings but are flexible. Our congregation uses it as a theme for a monthly dinner to encourage discussion. Last night’s theme was spiritual challenges. And believe me, this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I listened as others shared their spiritual challenges and the Lord reminded me it was time to prune my roses.

Pruning roses: what it does

I live in an apartment and do not have the ability to have a rose garden. Instead, I have a rose bush in a large flower pot outside and a miniature rose on the kitchen window sill. Both roses need pruning to keep them healthy and growing. When I prune the rose bushes, I look for the dead branches. I look for the branches were leaves look unhealthy, and I also look for the long branches that are growing in a direction I don’t want them to grow. All three of those types of branches are removed.

As anyone who loves roses knows, pruning doesn’t hurt the roses when it is done correctly. Pruning roses encourages new growth. Removing the dead branches allows more room for healthy growth. Cutting away the sick branches allows the rose to redirect those nutrients needed for the healthier branches and new growth. Removing the runners allows the gardener the ability to shape the rose bush. And as I was thinking about rose bush care, it hit me: this is how the Lord works in our lives.

The dead branches…

What causes dead branches? Within a rose bush, a number of things such as disease, bugs, and weak or broken spots. If left untreated, these imperfections can impact the health of the rest of the rose bush. As I sat in the dinner last night, listening to everyone share their spiritual challenges, I began to see things a bit more clearly. Just as there are dead branches that jeopardize the health and growth of rose bushes, there are branches that hinder Christian growth. And each of those branches are sins.

The sin in my life…

The apostle Paul spent a lot of his time warning early Christians about sin. In Romans, he writes this strong warning, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). We all apply this verse to the spiritual death those who have rejected Christ will experience. But for Christians, sin can bring about physical death. Yes, we may be forgiven for sinning as a Christian. But that forgiveness does not stop the consequences of our sin.

There’s a trend among some Christians to think that a little sin in life here is to be expected. But again, Paul warns us of this kind of thinking. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, he is addressing an area of concern. He has heard rumors of how the church is defending the sin of one of its members. Paul rebukes the members of the church. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 1 Corinthians 5:6. Just as a dead branch in a rose bush can impede its growth, tolerating sin in our lives has the same spiritual effects – we cannot grow in our faith. We’ve grown deaf to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit for us to avoid this sin.

Pruning out sin…

Just as the dead branches are cut out and removed from a rose bush, the Lord leads us to see these sins within our own life. He understands we are imperfect beings, but He still calls us to a life of holiness. Within the Old Testament, there ae several places where this is taught: Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 20:7). Yes, we are forgiven for our sins when we repent of them, but it is our willingness to yield to sin which cannot be overlooked. This willingness to sin must be pruned out of us. And this only happens as we seek closeness and fellowship with the Lord and other Christians.

No gardener expects a rose bush to remove its own dead branches. Those dead branches will stay attached to the bush and will block new growth from happening. When we begin to allow the Holy Spirit to remove the temptations to sin, we begin to grow, just as a rose bush will send out new growth. David wrote, Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously (Psalms 119:29). David is asking the Lord to prune him, to remove the sin of lying from him. It is such a yielding to the will of the Lord which allows Him to remove our dead branches.

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