How does growing a physical garden relate to our spiritual lives? Surely you didn’t think I’d leave you hanging!
Remember the things we need in order to grow a productive garden?
- Sow the right seeds or plants. In our lives, that means we should sow healthy things like associating with other believers and listening to worship music. Ephesians 5:18b-20 says that we should “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Talk about planting the right seeds!
This will help us grow spiritual fruit. If we only sow entertainment or business instead of saturating our minds with things that draw us toward God, they act like bindweed and steal emotional and mental space and important spiritual nutrients that we need.
- Water regularly. Making an effort to read the Bible daily is essential. This is an important way to regenerate our minds. If you don’t feel like you get much from it, don’t worry. For a long time I didn’t either, but putting the Word into your spirit and soul is never wasted. It’s like watering your garden: for awhile it might just look soggy, but eventually, it will reach the roots and help the plants grow strong.
I found if I read the daily entries from a “One Year Bible” during breakfast, it helped me set the pattern for a regular effort.
- Sunshine is imperative. In this case, we should spell it “SONshine”. I can always tell when I haven’t been spending enough time or effort communing with my Lord. Life in general gets harder. My mind isn’t as nimble and my attitude can really stink. I just want to be left alone. But I am not called to be left alone, even as an introvert.
I am called to be a minister of reconciliation. We all are, according to II Corinthians 5:19.
God’s love is our light, the Light that grows good fruit.
- Fertilize your spiritual garden. All right, that can sound a little weird. Let’s just call it nutrition. Nothing grows without the proper food, and that includes spiritual fruit. We have to feed our souls a steady diet of worship.
I really don’t do well with only worshiping Him on Sundays. It’s simply not enough! I always play worship music as I drive, and I have an MP3 player with praise music playing in my ear buds when I exercise. I hardly ever listen to anything else because this kind of music keeps my soul fed with God’s love and truth.
It keeps my mind focused on His goodness. It also helps keep me prepared to minister when the need arises.
Not to mention that when I have something on my mind, it helps me drift peacefully off to sleep.
part 2 of an 11 part series on the fruit of the spirit
Next time: Love
Part 1| Fruit-Tastic!
Part 3| But I Can’t Even Love Myself!
Illustrations courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net