Pulling weeds in the garden of the soul

 Galatians 5:19-23 (NCV) The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, feeling envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not inherit God’s kingdom. But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong. 

I spent the better part of the morning int he back yard weeding and cleaning dead leaves out of the flower beds. I'm so  amazed at how fast weeds can grow. I'm also convinced that like laundry, dead leaves have a tendency to reproduce themselves month after month.

As I raked away old mulch, leaves and gum balls, I thought about how Christ works in our lives. When we first come to Jesus we are like the un-kept flower bed, covered in leaves (our sin) and weeds (alcohol, drugs, depression, adultery, pride, anger) with roots that run deep. We ask Jesus to come into our hearts and forgive us of our sin. In an instant, the sin is gone, just like leaves are removed with one pull of the rake. But just because the leaves are gone, doesn't mean the entire flower bed is clean. There is still work to do. The same is true with our Christian walk.

Yes! Christ forgives our sin and remembers them no more, but  the garden of our soul must be "weeded" so we look more like Jesus and less like the world. As I knelt down to begin working in the flower bed, I thought about the weeds Christ has pulled in my life. Weeds of insecurity, jealousy, anger and bitterness have all been replaced with beautiful flowers of security, confidence, peace, and joy. 

So what weeds does Christ need to pull in the garden of your soul? Perhaps you’re struggling with an addiction, or maybe you have allowed pride to rear its ugly head. No matter what is planted, our Master Gardener is at work, cleaning out weeds and replacing them with spiritual fruit that will last an eternity.