What's Growing in Your Garden?

"Every seed will produce more of its own kind." Genesis 1:11b

Seeds and plants need nutrients in order to grow. Whether it is a vegetable, flower or bush, to mature all require water, sun and food to develop. What differs between plants is just how much they need to prosper.   

The yard at our prior home consisted of a rich, healthy soil. Anything we put in the ground grew well. Yet, my hybrid tea roses still needed additives to reach perfection. The soil at our current home is heavy with clay so it takes a low maintenance plant to survive. When we first planted a garden we had to add a special soil mixture to the bed to help nurture the developing seeds.

Weeds, however, can grow just about anywhere. Though unwanted they find a way to establish themselves in even the most inhospitable conditions. They have even been known to grow through concrete. Unlike other plants, the weed needs little to thrive.

What is true for the plant world is true for human emotions and, in turn, thoughts and behaviors. Only those that receive nourishment grow. However, the less desirable ones thrive readily like the weeds where the more desirable ones—like my roses—require great attention and care to flourish.   

Negative emotions—those like anger, impatience, fear, and doubt—begin with  hardy seeds that grow quickly any time and any where they are given an opportunity. Healthy emotions—like forgiveness, patience, kindness, and confidence—require more diligence from the gardener to become established and prosper.

The best way to tend our mental and emotional garden is through the application of a combination weed and feed fertilizer. God has provided us with a tool perfect for this. Scripture has both the power to kill the weeds of unhealthy thoughts and to feed desirable ones. When we apply it regularly to our lives, meditating on it often, we gain a bountiful harvest from our garden. But when we fail to use it, we often end up with nothing more than a bed of weeds.

Message for the Journey:

The seed that is nourished is the one that grows. Be it a seed of doubt or a seed of faith, a seed of fear or a seed of courage, a seed of aggression or a seed of peace, whichever one is fed is the one that reproduces in our lives.

                                                                                                       ©Ann Wilds

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."

 Phil. 4:8