Weeds and Roses

            Yesterday afternoon I decided to tackle my rose garden (I inherited a love for roses from my English Mum). Although this past winter in Missouri was very mild, I failed to keep on top of the gardening. Other responsibilities and chores vied for my attention and, to my dismay, my flower bed grew more weeds than roses.

            In the same way, bad habits are prone to creep into our lives while we slumber or focus on other matters. Before we notice, a seed is planted and begins to take root. The devil is good at keeping us distracted so our attention is not so much on our spiritual lives, but on life in general. We get so busy, busy, busy running to and fro, working eight-hour days, then picking up the kids, taking our special needs child to doctor appointments, therapy sessions and counseling, running errands, cleaning house and finding time to just be a family that tending our hearts and minds gets bumped to the bottom of our ‘to do’ list.

            Are there weeds that have crept into your daily life and have begun to choke out the spiritual fruit that ought to be growing there? Our heart is the most important soil we can ever tend and requires regular clipping, trimming and watering for it to produce a harvest that is pleasing and honoring to God.

Here are three habits that may help you stay on top of it:

·         Spend time each morning with God. Daily devotions (reading the Bible, meditating on it and praying) is essential for spiritual growth.

·         Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what needs digging up or pruning; bad habits, questionable practices, customs that might be a stumbling-block to non-Christians or even other Christians.

·         Act on it. Identify the weeds in your life, remove them and don’t allow them to creep back in. Face it, life is hectic and it’s not easy to find the time to regularly assess our spiritual health. So if something or someplace is dubious, avoid it completely. Some parts of it may be okay, but is it really worth keeping around if the bad tends to outweigh the good?

God longs to see good fruit growing in our lives, fruit that will glorify His name and lead others to Christ. “… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23. Take some time this week to assess your heart. What is growing there?

            As for me, I am going to do some serious weeding this week. In my life and in my garden. I want people who pass by to see the roses, not the weeds.

About the author:

I am the daughter of TEAM missionaries (The Evangelical Alliance Mission). I was raised in France, attended French schools, obtained my French Baccalaureate then attended Emmaus Bible College in Switzerland where I graduated with a degree in Bible and Theology.

I now live in the Missouri Ozarks with my husband Len and my three sons, one of whom has been diagnosed with Asperger’s.

I am a member of the Ozarks’ Chapter of American Christian Writers and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild.