Pulling Weeds

One of the things I always hated about gardening or landscaping is pulling or killing weeds. Weeds in the garden beds, weeds in the mulch around the landscaping, weeds in the yard. I remember, at one point, I just resolved to the fact that I didn't care if my lawn was full of healthy grass or weeds, so long as they were green! Like so many other areas in life, the problem is that while weeds truly can be ugly on the surface, the real damage is underneath. They choke the good plants by attacking their roots and stealing their nourishment. You can't have healthy plants without healthy soil, and for healthy soil, you need to pull the weeds. Pull them from the roots, not just cut them back and pretend they aren't there. 

The Bible talks about a farmer who scattered seeds across his fields. Some landed on the path and were gobbled up by birds flying by, some fell on shallow, rocky soil and withered in the hot sun as the roots could not grow deep enough, other seeds were choked out by nasty weeds. Thankfully, however, some seeds fell on fertile soil, grew beautifully, and produced an abundant crop. 

We plant seeds every day. We feed our minds, choose our friends, choose our inputs, and we influence others. The more time we spend preparing our soil and being intentional with what we plant, the richer our lives will be. Weeds are sneaky; at first, they may just pop up a little or hardly be seen at all, but over time they torment below the surface, and soon the good things are not nearly as abundant as they otherwise could be. Focus on planting good seeds in good soil. 

Philippians says to fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. In other words, be intentional about the seeds you plant in your mind, in your life, and in others' lives. Also, be a disciplined gardener, consistently pulling weeds. 

For strong teams to flourish, we need to eliminate the members who drag the team down so that the rest can grow. For our families to grow stronger, we must learn to put aside those weeds in our past that have caused pain, learn to forgive, and allow our relationships to flourish. And for our lives to be more abundant, we must make intentional choices about what we put in and allow in and weed out those things that hold us back. 

What weeds do you need to pull today?