All I had to do was pinch off the growing tip. Just the top few leaves. Should I do it? I looked carefully at my newly transplanted jalapeno plant.  I could see it had the beginnings of tiny blossoms at the very top. I didn’t want to pinch it, but it was clear the spindly, barely six-inch tall plant was not strong enough to start properly producing peppers. Once it blossomed, my jalapeno plant would put the majority of its’ energy into growing fruit, thus reducing its’ chances of becoming a bushy, sturdy-stemmed plant. My plant needed to become stronger so that it could successfully produce fruit. With that thought in mind, I quickly pinched off the growing tip.

      My jalapeno plant may have suffered a day or two from the shock of being pinched. But within a few days, I could see the positive results of my work. Two weeks later, my jalapeno plant is noticeably bushier and has doubled in girth. I look forward to a pepper plant full of jalapenos!

      God looks over my heart-garden and sees ‘plants’ that need pinching as well. God’s desire is for me to live up to my potential, making the most of the talents He has given me. The pinching and pruning that God does in my life causes me shock just like my pepper plant, but the end result is a richer, fuller walk with Christ and a more Christ-like character.

      “The human mind is represented by the rich soil of a garden. Unless it shall receive proper cultivation, it will be overgrown with the weeds and briers of ignorance. The mind and heart need culture daily, and neglect will be productive of evil…The mind must not remain dormant. If it is not exercised in the acquisition of knowledge, there will be a sinking into ignorance, superstition, and fancy. If the intellectual faculties are not cultivated as they should be to glorify God, they will become powerful aids in leading to perdition. ” ~ Gospel Workers, 135.

      I want to bear fruit for Christ. I want to be the wife, homeschooling mother and woman that God intends for me to be. I want to be a strong, sturdy-stemmed plant in God’s garden. Because of that desire, I MUST let Christ pinch off what does not represent Him.