Matt  15:13  “ Jesus replied,  “ Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them.” 

July is a good  time to  weed  the garden.   The garden in your heart needs to be weeded just like the garden in your backyard.  Weeds grow everywhere and, whenever I see a weed   (a plant in the “wrong” place),  I want to pull it up!   Weeding can be a never ending task.  You can choose  to spend all your time and energy  working against the weeds  or, you can choose to turn from the weeds, ignoring many of them  (listen to Jesus’ Word above and really try to follow His wise words in your life).    This month , (after a month of fertilizing the good plants of Love- those that grow in His Light),   we’ll spend  time,  our thoughts and activities,  in  the weed patches –  learning to carefully  recognize spiritual  weeds , showing  them to God , listening to His Voice which teaches about the weeds and  then letting the weeds go as directed - ignoring them  with faith  they will be uprooted by God. 

God’s ways of keeping the weeds under control  is gentle  and easy .  He  puts  weeds into His compost pile as  He judges each weed teaching us to discern what is a weed and what is not a weed…. His way of weeding is easier than man’s ways of weeding .   We humans  can be harsh (unloving) , unfair  and tiresome in the ways we fight  with weeds.….Many gardeners , unless they understand  weeds as part of God’s plan, may consider weeding a thankless chore…   I find that when I  show God my weeds  and let Him judge the weed and  teach me  His Way to handle them , the weeding can be  useful ,  peaceful and even a joyful activity.   Let’s  weed our hearts this month with His Love and Wise guidance…… He can show us the Way to peace and joy in our hearts even with the weeds.

(Warning:  my way of weeding with the Gardener will not be your way.  Our hearts are gardened individually by Him.   Listen to His Words about the weeds in your heart - spend time alone with Him.  Let Him teach you how to rid your  heart of  unwanted thoughts and desires.)

WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL WEEDS IN YOUR HEART?

The weeds in your heart are the ways of your heart, - the thoughts and beliefs and desires- which do not appear beautiful  or useful  in your eyes.  . Here is a partial list of ways which  may be  a spiritual weed-  fear, anger , bitterness ( a self centered anger), pride, meanness, greed, criticalness, envy, impatience, dishonesty, hurtfulness, closed mindedness, competitiveness,  unforgiveness,  doubt …  These weeds are “not right” from our perspective- weeds make us uncomfortable, they disrupt our peace and joy.   yet we all have them!  Paul describes our human situation  with these words-

Romans 7:15 “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but don’t do it.  Instead I do what I hate.”  ( All dieters know this human condition)

 Spiritual weeds are ways we do not want to be  but, ( God’s mystery) , we often act in ways  we do not want !  Everyone’s heart has weeds.  Everyone has  a unique combination of different weeds and everyone has many of the same weeds.- just like every yard has different amounts and types of  weeds.  If you tell a gardener which weeds you have in your yard, she can tell you a lot about the soil- if it’s dry or acid, soft or  has depth….So, each person’s spiritual weeds tells a lot about the soil of your heart.   As the soil in your heart changes, different weeds can grow.  Be on the lookout for new weeds and old weeds as God gardens your heart.

Do not apologize for having weeds.  Do not condemn yourself.  This is the way things are in the world. Accept the weeds  even though the fruit of weeds is the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit-(No peace, no love, no joy….no blessings) . Deut 29:29  “ The Lord our God has secrets known to no one.  We are not accountable for them…”

Do not try to have a weed-free garden in your heart.  This is a fantasy- ask any gardener…. God created all of us and loves us even with the weeds in our hearts.  He knows .   He loves the wicked ( younger son )and the ungrateful (older son) in Jesus’ parable of the lost son ( Luke 15:11).  He loves all of us just as we are.  Believe He loves us with our weeds.  Try to see the weeds as He does.  Try to learn to love your enemies,  to love yourself and others with our weeds…

“Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”  (Romans 12:21)

After you let go of the weeds  and look the other way ( towards the Gardener’s face), you will be free to gaze on His Loving garden and think about how to “Love your enemies”, how to do good to them.   Learn.   How can you use the energy in your anger at injustices to raise the oppressed ?  Rather than  wasting your time  on being angry or “against”  the oppressor? ( This is the turning –letting God handle evil.)    Learn how to say  something true and kind about a person you were going to gossip about-  look for the good, not the bad (both are there).  Turn from evil (the imperfections of our” selves” and others  –we cannot escape from our selfish ways but can turn)  and do good ( which you know is  really His Love  doing good.  You know , in truth, you really are always concerned about yourself, more than others.)   He knows that also.  He smiles-He made us the way we are.   Double hearted for His good reasons.  Any goodness must be from His gardening of your Heart- growing His plants of Love for you to use whenever you call for His help…..how amazing.

 God’s gardening is gentle.  He wants to make your heart’s soil just a little softer and gently remove the weeds….  He doesn’t force you to accept His plants of love- generosity or compassion,etc.   He shows you His plants of Love can overcome the weeds, the greed and anger, etc. in your heart.  Trust His gardening- you’ll  begin to want His gardening  after  you try His ways.  They are ways of peace.    Read what He says to do and  act on it .  Wait before acting on your own initial feelings, your own limited viewpoint.  And get input from God ‘s Word and the Holy Spirit to guide you with the weeds in your life.

WAYS TO COVER THE WEEDS WITH HIS LOVE-  What a  gardener knows about weeding 

A gardener knows there are different ways to keep different weeds under control.  Consider carefully with God each of your weeds.  Digging them out is only one option- a full scale war can be silly in every case.  It may work in the short run ( you may force yourself to be patient for a few days) but forcing yourself is not an effective long term way to keep the weeds under control. Growing your understanding of God’s Kingdom- His Rule, the Spirit  of Truth in our hearts.  His Love produces the fruit of the spirit – it grows naturally on it’s own like a natural fruit.  You become more patient , honest, peaceful and joyful as your knowledge of Him grows.  .    You’ll exhaust yourself trying to force perfection (weed-free) –God will let you but , in truth, you cannot be perfect…surrender!!!   War is exhausting.  Try to see the weed from His loving  perspective.      Here is what I’ve learned about weeds  from the garden-

•  A good groundcover plant will suppress weeds.   Cover the soil of your heart with good thoughts ( Phil 4:8 “…..Think on things which are excellent and worthy of praise”    ). The weed seeds cannot sprout.  Plant a good plant where the weeds are and  let the good shade out the bad.    May I suggest cheerfulness? Or kindness ?  humility?   as your groundcover plant. Choose a groundcover for your heart…(Prov 15:15  “ For the despondent, every day brings trouble.  For the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”

•  Do not  shake a ripe dandelion seedhead  around the garden – Do not go speaking unkind or false words against anything or anyone.  Plant what you want to grow.  Try to guard the  tongue against impatient or fearful words so you  don’t infect yourself or others.  Ps 141:3 “Take control of what I say O Lord and guard my lips.  Don’t let me drift towards evil…”

• Distract the eye from a weedy patch as  you plant a large, beautiful  plant  like a rhododendron or rose.    Distract yourself by adding volunteer activities.  Spend your time thinking about ways to help others in some way . Give your excess  to others- remembering  everything you have is only a gift borrowed for 80 or so  years from  God.   A smile of encouragement ?   Showing  others your peace from your solid  belief in God?…
• Starve the weeds.  Do not  fertilize  them  (by thinking  unhelpful  or unkind thoughts or by constantly meditating  on them).    Starve spiritual weeds by ignoring them.  Just  put  fearful or angry thoughts out of your mind.  Give them to God to handle since they are too much for you                  Ps 119:101  “I have refused to walk on any evil path….” (  P.S. Make sure as weeds die out and the soil of your heart is cleansed, that you plant good plants or else more weeds will grow back  in the cleared out places.)
• Ignore some of the weeds –the annual ones which last a season and do not take root.  Let them be.  They do no harm…. They die on their own after a season- Weeds like  a brief feeling of competitiveness can be ignored as you quickly remember  you are called to cooperate with others trying to do” good “ things.    Loving thoughts can replace the weeds with a simple effort to remember God’s rules using Wisdom and Love.…. Ps 112:4 and 10 “ Light shines in the darkness for the godly.”   “The wicked will see this and be infuriated…..they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.” 

LAST THOUGHTS ON WEEDING –

Luke 10:19  “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them.”

  By walking among the weeds while gazing at the Gardener  and His plants of love, you will crush the weeds in your heart  under your feet with Love  (no ill will on your part)  as you follow God in the garden….

Prov 15: 3  “The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.

Do not be overly concerned about the weeds in your heart.  Trust that God knows all about them.  Don’t uproot them .  Go to the Gardener and ask Him about each weed .  He will show you what they are in His Light.  Wait for God to handle them in His Way.  As He shows you more and more about the weeds and His Flowers of Love, you may find that you want to garden His way.  It is restful as Jesus promises.  You will not want to throw  weed seeds (daggers of criticism or anger)  at another person.  Sowing weed seeds  produces only weeds.      Let God sow His seeds of Love in your heart ( you are probably tired of me writing this- but read His Word.  That is the good seed.)

  Here is how Catherine of Sienna describes her learning to weed with God-

“As she began to pray, her ears were assaulted by blasphemous words, and she cried out to God, “Oh, look, Lord,  I came up here to give you my day.  Now look what is happening.”  And the Lord said, ”Does this please you, Catherine?”  “Oh, no, Lord”, she said.  And the Lord said, “It is because I indwell you that this displeases you so.”  These words brought instant understanding of my plight….I knew that the problem was not a state or condition of my mind or my heart, but it was harassment from without, from the accuser of my soul.  I knew beyond all shadow of a doubt that “Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.”  I then cried out to God, ”Take it away, Lord.  Send this filthy, horrible thing away.”  But the Lord said, “No, you do it.”  It was then that I learned spiritual authority.  Centered in God and He in me, I took authority over the evil spirit when it manifested itself and commanded it to leave.  After several months of this, a concentrated training in moving from the center where Christ dwells, I was utterly free of this harassment.

Ps 92:7  “Though the wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever”

NEXT MONTH   IS A TIME TO PRUNE  THE FRUITFUL PLANTS …Let’s leave the weed patches to the Gardener!