Get Rid of Your Weeds: How to Remove Spiritual Weeds
By Stephanie Smith, Guest Contributor
What’s your favorite season of the year? Living in the South, for me, it’s a toss-up between Spring and Fall. But for the timing of this post, I’ll go with Fall.
Who doesn’t love cooler temperatures, beautiful autumn foliage, cozy throws, and all things “pumpkiny”? Whether you’re a fan of pumpkin or not… it all sounds so good after a blistering hot summer!
I especially look forward to the short reprieve from yard work. I absolutely love the satisfaction and results from working in the yard and would rather toil in the dirt any day than try to capture every speck of dust that invades my home. But when fall comes, I receive a little reprieve from the endless challenge of keeping grass at an acceptable height and step away from the daily torment of doing battle with my constant nemesis– WEEDS!
Weeds Need No Help to Grow
Have you noticed that weeds seem to be the only living thing that requires absolutely no help to grow? You don’t have to plant them, and they sprout quite healthily regardless of location, hydration, or fertilization. Their superpower has to be multiplication! To keep them from taking over, part of my daily exercise routine is pulling out batches of new weeds at the roots.
Pesky weeds show up uninvited and take root in yards and gardens, trying to take up permanent residency. In the same manner “spiritual weeds” are the uninvited attacks of the enemy that invade the garden of your mind. Have you noticed they appear after you’ve had an especially wonderful soak in God’s presence? It never fails.
Combatting Spiritual Weeds in Your Garden
Spiritual weeds are not seasonal or solo attackers, but unlike the grass and weeds in our gardens, they never remain dormant. In fact, they constantly attempt to creep in during every season of life and bring all their accomplices: impatience, busyness, laziness, selfishness, bitterness, unforgiveness, stress, procrastination, insincerity, gossip, envy, untruth, unkindness, and idols of all types.
But there’s good news – we don’t have to accept the enemy’s weeds. We can instead become master gardeners with a foolproof weed control program. It starts by recognizing that we all have weeds, and then properly identifying them. In Psalms 139:23-24, King David pleads: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Daily time with our Heavenly Father in prayer and Bible reading is essential. Spiritual weeds will have a tough time taking root in a heart immersed in God’s Word and prayer. Quite simply, if we’re not growing with God, we’re growing with weeds. You can’t live a changed life with a closed Bible!
Let’s Do It Together
Effective weed management is also a team effort. Let’s face it, many of the weeds in our life sprout from unhealthy relational seeds. Family and friends disappoint us; bosses boss us; co-workers test us; and social media…need I say more? The point is that Scripture is clear that we need one another. But we must be intentional and especially diligent in building a community with loving, fellow believers. Many authors and speakers share the belief that, “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your relationships.” So, pick good friends wisely. As many sage people remind us, “To have a friend you have to be a friend.”
The book of Proverbs provides much time-proven advice, “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice,” (Proverbs 27:9) and the often-quoted Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
When we’re engaged in faithful community, we continually encourage one another, help each other identify weeds we don’t or can’t see clearly, and work together to build a plan of attack. And yes, it takes time, commitment, courage, and trust, but the accountability that is inherent in a strong community is crucial to keeping us on a successful “weed management” track. Another benefit? Once uprooted, our struggles and failures can enrich the soil of who we become.
The Fruit that Flourishes
As the saying goes, the “proof is in the pudding.” Spiritually speaking, the proof is in the “fruit.” Galatians 5:22-23, teaches us basic fruit testing: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” When was the last time you tested your fruit? Is it good? Could it be better? If you don’t like the results, is time with the Father and your faith community lacking?
So, this fall, take a moment to look around and see where the weeds in your life are hiding. What fruit in your life has the enemy been “stealing, killing, and destroying”? (John 10:10) If you feel like you have a garden full of weeds, don’t be overwhelmed. Weeds can only take over when left neglected. Start pulling them up one at a time. And, just like nature’s weeds, once you start making way for the grass, flowers, and vegetables to grow, the weeds eventually get choked out and there’s space for new life.
Friends, let’s be confident and steadfast as this beautiful new season takes life. God is so good, His promises are true, and He is faithful. I love the reminder in 1Peter 1:24-25, “…the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
