When Self-Improvement Becomes Self-Destruction

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

John 15:1 NIV

I love self-improvement.

Or rather, I love *reading* about self-improvement… doing it isn’t usually the fun part, is it?! 😁

The problem is I can get so sucked into finding places to “improve” that I forget to ask God where he’s looking for growth.

What if a branch thought it knew where to find life better than the vine?

• Imagine that branch stretching toward the ground, rather than the sun…
• Imagine that branch getting tangled in nearby distractions, hiding from the Vine Dresser…
• Imagine a branch that ignored pruning because it knew best what it needed…

This branch will wither.

Personal growth is a good thing. But there is a point where self-improvement because self-destruction when we ignore the Gardener’s guidance.

Instead…
→ Pause.
→ Listen.
→ Respond.
→ Repeat.

The branch cannot prune itself.

Self-development literature, podcasts, and motivational YouTube videos cannot replace our Vine Dresser.

Here’s the wild thing…

God is better at challenging, growing, and stretching us than we could ever hope to be.

If you don’t believe me, consider this: can you impact the world like Jesus in your own power?

Do you really know what’s headed your way in the next year, month, or day?

God does—and he’s really good at preparing us for it.

He wants us to BEAR FRUIT!

This won’t mean sitting on the sidelines, motionless, and enjoying the soothing stagnation of entertainment, lost time, and wasted potential.

It will mean the opposite.

We were created to flourish—but we don’t define what flourishing means.

Make sure your pursuit of self-improvement is guided by the one who knows who he created you to become.