May 26. Do You Have The Courage To Prune?

As an entrepreneur or leader, many of us are part of a team. With teams, there often comes a chain of command of department heads, managers, or supervisors. Those in the chain of command are normally those who are respected people. We respect their talents, skills and capabilities and have given them responsibilities.

Sometimes our actions can be inconsistent with our vision and the chain of command are people that will likely witness it when it happens. This can be true even though we are the ones with the most to lose.

Before acting inconsistently, it might be as easy as asking the chain of command their perspective on the moves that we are considering. I suspect that not everyone's perspective might be needed, but there are those that we have a strong enough relationship with to trust and ask.

In fact, just the thought of asking them about a situation might provide us an answer. This may be especially true when we are operating outside of the scope of the established vision. Where might you be considering making a move that is inconsistent with your vision?

If there is someone on your team with knowledge or valid insights to the move, you might ask yourself what they might think. Will you consider asking them in person, not by email, text, or phone? This provides a level of accountability that leaders sometimes ignore.

What is the first thing you can do in the next seven days to bring clarity of vision to your move?

Jesus referred to himself as the vine, his followers the branches, and God the gardener. You can find that in John:15. As brothers and sisters in Christ, as branches in the vine, our branches need pruned occasionally. We grow best when we are focused on the right areas of growth.

No extra shoots or suckers are needed to waste our energy, resources, or time. But often we are too close to see them as such. We can be in relationship with each other to see where God might desire us to be pruned. David needed pruned when he sinned towards Uriah and his wife, Bathsheba.

I would like to think that had David asked his general, Joab, about the action of moving Uriah to be positioned to be killed, Joab would have objected. Uriah is described as nothing less than a man with a strong character. Why did David not ask? I want to believe that he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he did it anyway.

We often do not prune ourselves. I am not sure that we even can, but It is obvious to me that our understanding of someone else's perception might just be enough to help to prune us. Do you have relationships you trust enough to ask their viewpoint?

No judgment is to be cast onto them. Can they find a way to support your viewpoint and an opposing viewpoint as well? Who is the first person you would trust in their ability to share two viewpoints with you? Do you have an area where you would appreciate two viewpoints right now?

What is the first thing you can do to get them in the next seven days?

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, you have the ultimate viewpoint. You have cast a vision for us and we continue to follow and to stray as well. You have also given us grace and provided forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

As we grow in relationship with you, we know that we need pruning just as the plants need pruning for the best harvest. May our viewpoints be clear but not judgmental. May other viewpoints be shared in a loving manner and used by us in a way to honor you.

May the pruned pieces be discarded and soon be forgotten in the sight of the Gardener. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,