January- a time to evaluate.  

The gardening year begins in the winter with a period of evaluating what already exists in your garden. So, gardening your heart also begins with an evaluation - not a physical one but a spiritual evaluation.  What is the condition of your heart?  What is  my heart’s Way of Being?- something which is invisible and not always logical. (Your intentions,desires, joys and sorrows.  What delights you?  What saddens you? Etc.) .  This annual process of gardening my heart follows the same steps as I do in my earthly garden,   and it seems to help me to try to align my heart with God’s will.   I knew how to make a barren piece of land into a more beautiful space with God’s plants and so, I tried to make a barren heart more and more beautiful with God as the gardener.  I discovered  that  Goodness could flourish  more and more as love grows with God’s spiritual power.

Ps 4:18 “ The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.” 

Ps 27:8  “My heart has heard you say come and talk with me and my heart responds- Lord, I am coming.”

   Here is a path which  helped me- while  watching, listening, waiting, praying, planning, doing things(-sow and harvest) God  plants and  grows  in your heart - his spiritual gifts  of Love, Peace, Faith    And -you will be forever grateful.   It will be your treasure. 

The Bible says two things lead to nothing   - haste (Ps 21:5) and   - mere talk (Ps 14:23) So, slowly, with patience, do something.  No one else can tell you the direction to go but your own heart with the Holy Spirit and the Bible’s truths, God’s word.

Micah 6:8  “He has shown you O mortal, what is good.  To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”.  What is He saying about my life? 

Isa 55:8  “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine”. 

  Just like a physical garden, all gardens will be unique, made beautiful by God.   Human perfection is a fantasy.  Just move in the direction you believe in your heart  is good ( if unsure, use Jesus as your “inspiration photo” Let Him set the mood of your heart).  Listen, wait, watch for the fruit.  If the fruit is good, then continue in this direction.  If the fruit is not good, try something else- plan good.  Enjoy the process .   The fragrance of gratefulness, abundance and truth will attract the Divine to your heart. 

Every Heart Has a Garden of Love

These are some of  the good  plants that grow well in the light in your heart-  patience, helpfulness, honesty, forgiveness, humility, nonjudgmentalness, openness to correction, kindness, compassion, cooperation, gratefulness, generosity , self- sacrifice.    These are Ways of Being which God’s Word tells us to be.  Do not trust my list- create your own from reading the Bible ( not books about the Bible). 

These “plants” make up spiritual beauty – Love.  When your garden is made more and more beautiful, you will find peace and joy in your heart.  The center  point in your garden is a tree of Faith in God.  Under this tree , you will find peace, rest  and joy.  At first this tree may be small or God may have not even planted it yet, but He will as you seek Him  and let Him into your garden.

 Love is like water to a garden – it is essential to have a source of it  for life.   Love is the blood or life force.  It is purifying, nourishing, protecting, uplifting, cleansing.    So this is the first thing to seek if you are starting to garden. Where are your sources of love? 

These are the plants that  grow well in the dark-in your heart’s garden.  - hurtfulness, impatience, judgmentalness, competitiveness, dishonesty, anger, fear, criticalness, worry, pride, unsympatheticness, meanness, unforgiveness, greed.  Again, create your own list from God’s lips to your heart.  Listen to His words.

These “plants” are weeds.  They may seem good at the moment but are traps.  Beware.  These weeds can be shaded out as the  good , loving plants of the light grow.  With God as the gardener, He changes the darkness into light (2 Sam 22:29)- as you turn from evil and do good, the weeds  are  reduced with Love, ignored or tied up and thrown into the compost heap as a weed. Also, God will build walls for protection against weeds  and predators in your heart – the building materials are scripture.    He’ll  create paths for you to follow  as you listen to  what  His words say about what to do and where to go as the world’s problems and troubles present themselves to you in this life.  Follow (what human knows where to lead?)

Ps 66:21  “ I cried out to him for help, praising him while I spoke.  If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”  But God did listen.” 

To begin this first month of evaluation, you need to find quiet periods to be alone.   Humbly, ask God to come and sit with you.  You need His Love and Wisdom.   ( Where else will you find help?)   Be thankful to Him  for the quiet time and the energy you have  to think and to talk with Him.  Have a pen and paper with you to capture thoughts  so you will remember. ( For God’s own reason He made us to forget things easily  and He made us to have to work hard to remember things – even the things you really want to remember)

Ps 26:2  “Put me on trial Lord and cross examine me.  Test my motives and my heart.” 

Ps 43:5  Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God”

The gardening year begins in the winter with a period of evaluating what already exists in your garden. 

Prov 14:10  “ Each heart knows its own bitterness and no one else can fully share its joy”

If a kind, wise person saw your life, what would she say positively about it?  What would she say you might  consider changing?  Listen     Prov 18:13  “He who answers before listening- that is his folly and shame”

Imagine sitting with an all knowing God, what might He say about your life?  What about it pleases Him?  What about it displeases Him? (Check all your thoughts with scripture.)  Your motives?  Your thoughts?  (If you have no idea what God wants - a good place to start would be the Bible.  Read John and see what  your heart says about ways you might  improve your life just a bit. What would God want you to keep and grow?   

Decide on a few spiritual topics  to work on this year as you evaluate. 

 Do not try to change the whole garden in your heart  at once.  It would feel overwhelming  ( we humans did not create ourselves so we do not understand  many  things of God)- every new garden  seems  like an impossible task  until you’ve gardened it for years….just divide what you want to do into small bits. ….. start small and come up with a few  spiritual things- ways of being -you would like more  of in your life. –( to  try to grow) and  a few spiritual things- ways of being  you wish were not in your garden- to try to diminish.  Let your heart tell you what it wants to work on. Match your will to God’s will.  (  Not sure what He wants?  Start with what He commands- Love Him with all your heart .   Find out what that might mean in your life.    Do not listen to other people, just your heart.  .  The few things you decide to work on  will be the focus of your  plans for your  heart’s garden this year.  If the task seems overwhelming- cut back –these should be  fun , joyful  tasks.  ( this is  being kind-giving love- to yourself).  God does not garden as you want, but as He wants.  His garden in your heart will be always better  than what you can imagine.  You’ll see the fruits of the labor by the end of the year at harvest time.     So, just list 3-4 of your heart’s desires to work on this year and watch Him work in the garden of your heart!  You will not understand His ways but you will see the new “sprouts “  after you have  planned, prepared and sown seeds in April.  

Ps 107:20  “ He sent out his word and healed them”

Luke 6:45  “  A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart”.

P.S.-

There are “givens” to every garden

- The soil in the garden -stony? Clay?  Or soft?  Balanced?  Whatever exists cannot always  easily be changed- rather use it for good  and learn to love it.  Just because your heart is one way does not mean God cannot change it or even give you a new one!  (Ezek 36:26) 

The history of the garden – was there good fertilizing in the past or not? Who did it belong to?  What has been in the past may shape your heart, but God knows the challenges you face and He will help in his gentle ways as you give Him your heart.

  The environment of the garden- what are the influences of others? Etc.  Does the garden need fences?  Or high stone walls?   We are never isolated, but must interact with others and the time and place in history  when we are living.  Again, trust God’s Wisdom to create a safe environment to grow His garden of  Love.

 All gardens need a compost pile – a place to throw away the unwanted plants  ( enemies  )to be reused -forgotten.   I sit here with God and He decides the next steps…what to keep and what to throw into the firepit.

   Gardens need places of rest (a bench under the tree of Faith to contemplate the focal point – Jesus ), places of shelter ( a cave in a rock), a place for joy ( the top of a hill )- to give thanks , a place for sorrow  ( dry well to curl up and cry out to God)  a fountain, a firepit….fruit trees  to give away the fruit, save the seeds for next season or store for your use later….  

No matter what exists now, a  beautiful garden can come out of the desert! (with God’s love).  A garden can get better and better- more beautiful and useful over time.   Gardening  my  heart helps  me to remember God – His ways, his word,  in my everyday life since I carry it with me wherever I go.   (Acquinas- love perfects nature)

Save this evaluation to review next year!  You’ll see the growth….and praise God.

At the end of the month, just stop- it’s time to go to the next step.   Gardening on earth  is never complete.  There is no “right” or “wrong’ way of gardening  your heart! 

In case this helps, these were the things I came up with for myself – everyone’s goals will be different- it is comforting to have a scriptural basis for the direction you are taking- You’ll be speaking the same language as the gardener.

• Increase the peace I feel when interacting with others    (Do not Judge/ forgive)
• Learn more about God and how a person relates to a spirit  (Love God)
• Reduce my prideful  thoughts  
• Become kinder to others    (Love others as self)