In this verse from John, Jesus reveals a principle that runs through life as a whole.

Growing.

However, growth only begins when you take steps. Steps to discover, to develop, and to walk. It does not happen by holding on.

Sometimes you can hold on to things, pains from the past for example, or hold on to the “safe,” to comfort and the familiar. But we may experience that growth only truly begins when we let go. Just as a seed has great potential in itself to grow into, for example, a beautiful tree, but it will never become what it is meant to be unless it is planted first.

That process could sometimes seem more like loss or stagnation than progress. It seems as if something is being taken away from you. But in reality, it is the beginning of multiplication!

Many of us struggle with this, including myself. We want God to let something new grow in our lives, yet we are still so inclined to cling desperately to what is comfortable. We want discipline but resist giving up the habits that make us weak. Likewise, we want a goal but avoid the costs that come with it.

But both cannot exist at the same time. It is one or the other. There are things in every season that must be let go of to allow something greater to take root. Not because God is taking away from you, but because He is preparing you.

What you give up today in obedience becomes the fruit in which you walk tomorrow.

Reflection: What is it that you are still clinging to that prevents you from growing? Is it fear of the unknown? Is it the comfort of the familiar? Or is it painful experiences from the past? Whatever it is, try to lay everything before God and step out into what He asks of you, for only then will you grow and flourish in that for which He has called you.