My recent life experiences have shown me plainly the need to say no, the need to prune my life, the need to say goodbye and move on.

Frozen’s iconic song has taken on a new meaning for me. It stood for forgiveness, for rejecting someone else’s expectations on your life, and ceasing to wear a mask – at least that was my take on Elsa’s performance the first time I heard it.

It means more than that to me now. I am face to face with the fact that you must “give up to go up” as John Maxwell says. I have to let go of ok things, even things that were good at one time, to grab hold of the best things.

It’s painful to say goodbye to sunk costs. It’s humbling to walk away from a bad investment. It’s scary to cut something off from our life.

Jesus told us, as written in John 15, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Bear more fruit. Yes spiritually, and also at work.

Isn’t that what I truly desire?

Pruning must be a regular part of my life for me to bear more fruit. I don’t look forward to the pruning, but I rejoice in what it will bring forth through me.