Good morning! Hot off the press – I cut three inches off of my beard! Don’t look too closely, or you may see the imperfections as a result of my amateur barber skills. One thing you may not know about me is that I absolutely despise hair! Which is why it doesn’t make sense that I have (or should I say – had) such a long beard LOL! I used to get so annoyed anytime I found a piece of my wife’s hair on my clothes or in my food, but now I have to check if it’s my hair first before I start complaining!
Many times when we are out in public, my beard somehow becomes a topic of conversation. Little kids will look and point, grown men will look and stare until they get over the awkwardness of saying something about it – there is even one CRAZY lady that always wants to touch it (but for real she is crazy)!
When other guys say something about it, they either say their wives would never let them grow it – which reminds me of how wonderful my wife is for putting up with me – or they ask for pointers; what products do you use, how long did it take to grow. The beard life is definitely a fun one, however it does come with constant grooming, care, and patience.
I’ve noticed that when my beard gets to a certain length, it tends to get into a stall phase – a period where it seems like the growth has stopped. The beard is long at this length, but it seems like it doesn’t have the same health and volume that it once had. I will normally go for a trim at this point, but recently I have been trying to do the trim on my own to save a little money.
The first time I trimmed it, I knocked it out of the park in about 15 seconds. This time, it took me a little bit longer to get the angles to be symmetrical. I’m thankful for Mer and Josh because they always tell me the truth and help point out the areas that just don’t look right.
This reminds me of the scripture that talks about the vine and the branches. Most people are probably familiar with this story, but Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. He is the source of life for us! There is one verse that talks about pruning, similar to the beard trim.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
John 15:1-2
Every branch that bears no fruit is cut off. This is done to ensure the overall health of the vine. But the branches that DO bear fruit are pruned for the removal of unnecessary parts to promote growth and fruitfulness. This is difficult to walk through at times because you have to face the ugly truths about yourself that you would rather just forget about. But in order to grow, we have to allow God to do the work that is necessary to make us more like Him!
Just yesterday, after becoming frustrated with my son over one of the dumbest reasons ever, I had to sit down and ask for his forgiveness and talk through what had just happened. I hate that these moments happen, but I love the result – we are honest with each other about how we made each other feel, explain why we felt that way, and apologize if necessary.
Yes, we want to get past the disagreement, but more importantly we want to GROW through the disagreement. It’s important for us to walk away from interactions like this and ask God to help TRANSFORM your life to be more like His! What are those things that need to be “pruned” from our lives so that we can experience even more growth and bear fruit that will make a positive difference in this world?
Things like this are going to happen, we are human – but how we respond will make all the difference! If we want to be a vessel for God to work through, we need to consistently allow Him to remove stuff that doesn’t belong. It will not always be the most pleasant experience, but the outcome will be worth it!
“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things [which are dishonorable—disobedient, sinful], he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified [set apart for a special purpose and], useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
2 Timothy 2:21 AMP
With the recent trim, my beard is ready to experience new growth! You will see, in the next month or so it will be back to where it was, but it will be healthier, stronger, and more full! This is the same thing that happens in our lives when we allow God to trim the things that do not belong – we will experience growth and become stronger as we rely more on Him and less of us!
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your constant care and love for us! We are thankful this morning that You care enough about us to point out the things that are not of You, even if it hurts us in the moment. You see the BIG picture and view us in the light of eternity. Help us to constantly examine ourselves and allow You to trim off the parts that we are holding on to that are not producing life! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 