Have you ever tried to raise a small vegetable garden from seeds? Ultimately, the fruitfulness of a plant is dependent upon the condition of the seeds. However, the environment can mean life or death to the plant, even with the best of seeds. We can throw a handful of seeds on the ground. They may take root and grow. Then again, they may not. But there are things we can do to make a more conducive environment to help the seeds grow. Similar principles can be found in our own spiritual growth; the way we transform into Christ-likeness.
Till The Ground
We can till the ground. This will loosen the soil so the plant can freely sprout. Tilling also aerates the ground, making for a better flow of air and water. This alone does wonders for the environment. The looser dirt allows for the seed’s eventual roots to grow and expand. Tilling the ground is the first active thing we can do to an environment to help our seeds grow.
In our own hearts, we can see a parallel to tilling the ground. Just like tilling loosens the dirt around the seed, if we are to loosen the dirt in our spiritual lives, we would need to have our thoughts, ideas, and attitudes more open and receptive. When we close our thoughts, ideas, and attitudes, we are making the soil of our souls hardened. It hinders the seeds’ ability to take root, grow, and flourish. Tilling the dirt doesn’t change the nature of the dirt, it simply rearranges it to make space for the seeds’ to grow. Likewise, tilling our thoughts, ideas, and attitudes doesn’t change the nature of who we are, it simply allows for the growth of God’s truth and life to grow inside us.
Fertilization
Fertilization is another thing we can do to help the growth of our plants. In our day in age, the organic movement has caused a great deal of confusion. Yet for centuries, farmers have known that the best way to increase a yield of crops is to fertilize. Fertilization means adding new elements to the plant’s environment that is known to increase its growing potential. So how do we fertilize the life of God in us?
When we partake in the spiritual disciplines, we begin to add habits, routines, and information to our spiritual growth. We pray, we read scripture and spiritual writings, we join faith communities, we listen to teachings and worship songs. We do the teachings of Jesus with our actions. These help create an environment to help our spiritual growth excel.
Pruning
One of the most difficult and counter-intuitive things we do with plants is pruning. Why would we cut off healthy looking branches from a plant we want to grow? The answer is in examination. As the plant grows, it will begin to bud. The buds are where the vegetables will sprout. A regular examination of the plant will show you that not all branches will have buds. If we leave all the branches in tact, then the ones that aren’t budding will begin to take the much needed nutrients from the branches that are budding, thus leaving a meager harvest. To increase the fruitfulness of the plant, pruning is a must. That is why Jesus said that the branches that don’t bear fruit will be pruned.
Our spiritual lives are the same. If we are to bear fruit for the kingdom of God, pruning is a must. This starts with examination. Regular self-examination and having others speak into our lives will reveal which part of our lives are budding and fruit-bearing. It will also reveal which areas are not fruitful. Our attitudes, thoughts, ideas, actions, and words that don’t bear fruit need to be pruned. We stop saying fruitless words (or social media posts for that matter), we train ourselves to rethink our thoughts to be in line with the kingdom of Heaven. The same goes with our ideas and actions. Pruning is a constant process that is endemic to bearing good fruit in plants and in our relationship with Jesus.
Those are the gardening principles that parallel our spiritual journey. Tilling the land, adding fertilizer, and pruning are all necessary for good fruit bearing. So it is with our spiritual growth. However, from the time of planting the seeds to the harvesting of the fruit, there is a great deal of fruitless silence. Plants don’t bear fruit overnight. Christian character doesn’t happen overnight either. Yet, it is in the fruitless silence that the real growth happens. It is unglorious, painful, difficult, and laborious. The thankless time of silence is often unbearble. However, without the silent growth, there is no fruit. It is necessary. Those who invest well into the silent growth will yield the greatest harvests of Christian character, charity, love, and peace.