Weeding Your Spiritual Life
Spontaneous Ponderings
It’s that time of year when the gardener in me comes out. My husband and I work to prepare the soil, then I plant the seeds and water them. And inevitably, the weeds start to grow. Weeding is definitely not one of my favorite gardening tasks, but it is a necessary one. So over the past couple weeks, I set myself the task of weeding the garden and putting down some weed barrier.
Coincidentally (or not), I’m also working through a decluttering challenge at the same time, and I got to thinking about how weeding a garden is similar to decluttering. I’ve learned that decluttering can be not only about physical space but also about mental space, emotional baggage, and full schedules. So weeding a garden parallels decluttering in several ways:
It allows you to clear out the things that don’t matter (weeds / stuff) so you can see the things you enjoy and want to focus on (veggie plants / favorite possessions, relationships). If you have so much stuff everywhere, you can’t even see the things that really hold the most meaning for you.
It allows you to focus your energy on the things that matter rather than the things that don’t, similar to how I can now easily water just the plants I want to grow rather than the entire garden. This saves me time and water resources.
It gives you easy access to the things that nurture you, just like plants have easier access to nutrition and resources because they aren’t fighting with the weeds for those resources. This gives you time to focus on the things that give you joy and contentment and meaning in life.
Removing the weeds allows me to lay down a weed barrier so that I don’t have to keep weeding over and over again. This helps my plants be more healthy and saves me time and physical pain. This is similar to how decluttering allows me to have a new mindset about how I see my possessions and what I allow to take up precious space in my home.
I’m sure I could draw other parallels, but those are the ones that jump out to me.
Then I got to thinking…how is weeding a garden similar to weeding out my spiritual life? Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13 about a man who went to plant seeds, and the seeds fell on various types of soil. This is what it says about the seeds that fell among the thorns (or weeds), and Jesus’s interpretation of that.
Matthew 13:7: Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
Matthew 13:22: The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
These verses show us that we can have weeds in our spiritual lives just like weeds can grow in the garden. And those weeds in our spiritual life will make us unfruitful, which is the last thing you want if you are planting a garden! So what are some weeds that could be “decluttered” in your spiritual life?
Lies about yourself and who God is
A cultural focus on money and success
Worries about things like finances, health, jobs, etc.
A schedule that is so busy that you can’t take time for God
Prioritizing temporary things above eternal things
You may have other weeds that you can think of that divert your attention away from God. So how can we use the concepts of weeding or decluttering to allow us to prioritize the things in our life that really matter, including spending time deepening our relationship with God?
It allows me to weed out the lies I’ve believed and focus on the truth of God’s word.
It allows me to focus my energy on things that matter for eternity rather than things that are temporary.
It allows me to have the space to lay down a barrier of protection in my mind and heart so that spiritual weeds don’t grow back.
It allows me to place my trust in God’s provision rather than having to do it all on my own.
It allows me to rest in the peace of Christ rather than worrying about the things of this world.
It allows me to free up some time to spend with God rather than on busyness.
I’m sure there’s many more, but I’ll leave some room for you to think about this for yourself. What are the weeds in your spiritual life that you need to declutter? How will this change your life for the better?
For me, one of the greatest benefits of clearing the weeds out of my spiritual life is that it allows me to focus on growing my relationship with Christ a little more every day, as Peter writes about in 2 Peter:
2 Peter 3:18: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
I’ll be praying that you will be able to identify the weeds in your life that need to be uprooted so you can grow deeper roots in the true source of life: Jesus.