I’ve always thought mistletoe was a funny name for something people would want to kiss under. Now I think it’s disgusting, thanks to a friend who is blessed enough to live in the mountains of Austria as he and his wife serve God at Haus Edelweiss. He posted this photo on Facebook:

Are you ready for his caption?

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows on (or into, actually)  the branch of a tree after a bird eats the berries and, er, deposits them on the branch (mist is the German word for “dung” or manure). The plant then takes root in the branch and derives its nutrients directly from the host plant.

And someone thought it would be a good plant to kiss under because…?! 

I recently blogged on the benefits of fertilizer, so let’s take a drive in another direction today, starting with a simple question for you to consider:

What is in your life right now that looks beautiful and even seems to have a fun purpose, but if you were to reveal the reality behind it, you’d be surprised and perhaps even disgusted?

What’s sucking the life out of you?

Are you willing to kiss under the mistletoe of your life?

We might rationalize the mistletoe in our lives as “not really hurting anything,” “serving a fun purpose,” “giving us beauty.” But rationalization is attributing rational where there isn’t substantial reason for the rational. It’s trying to fit the glass slipper on the wrong girl. It’s cramming a square peg into a round hole. It’s calling an apple an orange because they’re both fruits.

Whatever is false in your life needs to be weeded out, because it’s drawing away from truth. You need to stop rationalizing those habits, relationships, and beliefs aren’t so bad after all, that the good outweighs the bad, and that you and your life are “good enough.” God doesn’t call us into “good enough.” He calls us into “best.” And the best can only be determined by God. After Jesus fed the multitudes, he sent his disciples ahead, and he went to spend time with his Father. There are many things that would have been considered good things for him to have done: healing, teaching, feeding to name a few. All things he had done and would continue to do – when the time was right. For that particular moment, only one thing was right: solitude. It was what was essential for spiritual renewal.

In order to grow spiritually, you must (1) prune anything pulling you away from God. These are the mistletoes of your life. No matter how used to them you’ve become, no matter how pretty or fun you think they are, they are what they are: parasites. They’re sucking the life out of you. They’re stealing your nourishment and stunting your growth. (2) After choosing between the good and bad of life, you must take it one step farther and choose the best of the good over just the good. There’s a difference.

Here’s another fact my friend shared about mistletoe:

Normally it is pretty hard to get very close to the mistletoe, because it is fairly high in the trees.

The same can be said for the parasites in your life. Whatever is sucking away your spiritual nourishment often goes unoticed because it’s difficult to reach. It blends in. It looks like it’s an integral part of your life.

It’s not. It needs to be pruned.

You’re probably taking inventory of yourself right now. This is a popular time of the year for reflection and goal-setting. Perhaps you want to lose a few pounds or get a new job. You want to read more or spend more time with friends and family.

Where does pruning fit into your goals?

It better be one of the first goals you set. Without it, you won’t grow.

Stop rationalizing, and pick up the pruning shears. It’s time to cut the mistletoe.

“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)