Creating A Spiritual Garden

Gardening seems like a menial task, but it is so much more. Gardening is a relaxing activity. A garden can provide food for the home, beautify your yard, and remind us about the fragility of life. 

It’s also a powerful tool that teaches us about cultivating a spiritual garden. Gardening teaches us how to plant and care for a seed that flourishes and grows into something beautiful. 

Cultivating A Spiritual Garden 

To create a spiritual garden, we must examine what plants need to survive. There are a few things that plants need, but these are the basic ingredients for growth. Plants need water, time, and space to grow, light and soil to survive. 

Water

Water is essential to all life. Most of your body consists of water. Most of the earth consists of water. It is a signal of life that serves many purposes.

In plants, water acts as a transportation system. It distributes nutrients in the soil to the tissues in the plant. It also helps plants stand by making the cell walls expand. Without water, the plant loses the ability to stand and starts to wilt. 

Physically water serves many purposes, including keeping the body hydrated, maintaining our body temperature, warding off diseases, and removing impurities from the body. Water also helps our bodies absorb the nutrients it needs to survive.

Spiritually water purifies and delivers. Ezekiel 36:25-27 tells us that God sprinkles clean water on us to cleanse our souls. Water removes the impurities from our souls. Water is a gift that sanctifies the body and spirit. 

Light

Light is essential to photosynthesis. Plants absorb light from the sun. The light gives way to glucose which creates a source of energy. 

The word of God is our sunlight. The Bible is a guide. It illuminates our path when we are confused. It does not matter what kind of situation you are going through. The Bible helps us gravitate toward Christ, who is a friend, a source of comfort in times of trouble, and so much more. 

John 1:5 tells us that darkness cannot overcome the light. Light will always shine in the darkness. Even if plants are in darkness, they can sense light through geotaxis. They will only grow out of the soil where there is light. This serves as a reminder that even on your darkest day, you will get through. Light will always win. 

Space To Grow 

Growth requires space. The plant’s leaves grow upward to expose them to sunlight. In contrast, the roots grow downwards to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. If you want to grow spiritually, you need to create the space to do so. Sometimes our lives become so busy, and we become focused on distractions that there is no space left for God. We are so busy that we forget that God took the seventh day to rest. Setting aside time for God every day will help you advance on your spiritual journey. 

Time To Grow 

Ephesians 3 shows us that there is a time for everything. There is a time to plant seeds and a time to reap. Yes, if you plant a seed, there will be something to reap. However, the seed needs time to grow. 

Nothing happens overnight. The seed has to go through several developmental stages that take about 90 days before it is ready to be harvested. Your spiritual journey is no different. You need time to grow. As 1 Timothy 4:15 instructs us, we need time to put things into practice. We have to dedicate ourselves to the journey before we see progress.   

Soil

Soil serves an important purpose in your garden. Soil provides a solid foundation for plants to grow. It houses nutrients and water essential to the plant’s survival. 

Our faith is like soil. It is our foundation. It gives us the space to plant our roots and absorb the essential ingredients we need to survive in this world. 

A seed planted on good soil will grow to its full potential. The parable of the sower of the seed is the perfect example of this. The individual who sowed his seed on good soil understood the word. 

Understanding the word is essential to spiritual growth. It is the principle on which we stand. A spiritual seed grown on bad soil is like a house built on sand. It lacks the foundation to stand. Without a solid foundation built on Christ, our faith is as fickle as a grain of salt that easily dissolves in a glass of water. 

Getting Rid Of Weeds 

Getting rid of weeds is a part of caring for a plant and tending to your garden. Weeds steal water and nutrients from the plants around them. Sometimes weeds can even release chemicals into the soil that prevent other plants from growing. 

In the same way, there are also weeds in your life that strangle growth. They are the things that sneak up on us and steal the life out of the things most important to us. Weeds can cause the solid foundation we built to crumble. Therefore, you must be intentional about finding the weeds in your life that could inhibit growth.

Gardening is about so much more than planting a physical seed. It offers us lessons that help us survive the spiritual journey. A garden offers us comfort in the time of darkness, access to the living water, and helps us build a solid foundation.