Growing a vegetable or flower garden has never been a successful venture to me. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a green thumb or better yet, I can’t tell the difference between a flower and a weed. Both have green stalks, both flower and both appear beautiful, at least for a while.
Then seemingly overnight, the weeds start sprouting up in places you never imagine, spreading into the flowers, chocking them out, spreading beyond your borders into everything, the flowers, the lawn, and even climbing into the trees if left unchecked ruining everything.
Our secret sins like flirting, wondering eyes, lust, sexting, or pornography are much like weeds. Appearing harmless and manageable at the beginning, but soon our secrets begin to manage us, demanding more of our mental, emotional, and spiritual energy to keep them in check. Secrets like weeds reveal their true destructive nature by infiltrating every area of our life. Given time, our secrets like weeds damage everything we hold dear, overwhelming us and undermining all the good we’ve done.
Be mindful that our masculine culture downplays the danger and damage these secret sins cause in our lives. A culture that daily sows seeds that become the weeds glorified in the latest media, music, or movie.
Fortunately, with work, we can clear the weeds from our lives, at least the ones we can see. But don’t be fooled, secret sins like weeds are tenacious, a dandelion seed can remain dormmate it the ground for eight years, and chickweed for up to thirty years.
Consequently, destroying harmful secret sins like lust, pornography, and wondering eyes may take just as much time. The enemy doesn’t give up easily. Fortunately, God has a remedy that Paul shared in his letter to the Philippians.
“Summiming it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:8-9 The Message (MSG)
Overcoming secret sins, like weeds takes diligence, and a renewed dependence upon the Master Gardener, to eliminate the weeds in our lives. We can’t accomplish this on our own. Only through abiding in Him are we able to bear fruit, not weeds.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15: 1-4 (NIV)
The choice is yours, keep on watering the weeds or live a life in Christ that bears fruit enabling your faith and family to flourish.
I hope that today’s blog was encouraging to you. Make sure you sign up to receive blogs every Tuesday and Thursday. transformingfamilies.org was created to enable you to discover and develop authentic, healthy intimacy in all your relationships.
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