You don’t have to be an expert gardener to know what makes things grow. It’s fairly straight forward. If you give a plant water, food, and sunlight it should flourish. Simple! But sometimes you can be doing all the seemingly correct things and still your garden looks anything but healthy.
It’s frustrating and confusing when the effort you’re putting in isn’t yielding the result you expect but following a standard formula doesn’t mean you’re doing it right. Too much water, the wrong food, or even too much or too little sun and your input won’t be beneficial and could be damaging. Good intentions mean very little if you don’t really know what is needed to promote growth.
How does your garden grow?
Much like a garden, our lives need to be tended and nurtured to get the most out of them. We need to be sowing the right seeds, feeding the good things, removing the bad stuff, and making sure all the areas work together to create a wonderful and healthy environment. There are times where we can be putting in major effort to promote good growth in our lives but for some reason the growth we expect never really materialises. It can be hard to pinpoint exactly where the problem lies but here are a few things that might be working against your efforts and keeping you from growing the way you would like:
1. The company you keep
You can tell a lot about someone by the people they spend their time with. Choosing to be around people who are moving in a different direction, have different goals or want to keep you exactly the same as you currently are will limit your growth. Find people who will encourage you, cheer you on, and challenge you to grow and develop. The Bible warns us to choose our company wisely because wicked friends will lead us down the wrong path.
2. The things you ‘feed’ on
What we read, see and hear has the ability to feed our minds and souls. You will never grow and promote health in your life if all you “eat” is gossip and negativity. Instead seek out things that feed your spirit, educate your mind, and provide you with tools that help you become all that God made you to be. The Bible tells us that we shouldn’t try and fit in with the world but that we should allow the Word of God to change and grow us into the people God created us to be.
3. The voices you listen to
What you believe about yourself and what is possible in your life largely depends on who you are listening to. There are many voices that may seek to tell you that you are no good, have no value, and will never be more than you are. If you only listen to those voices, you will never grow beyond your current state. God says that you are a chosen person with a role to play and that you belong to His family. Jesus taught that his children know how to listen to his voice and the Bible tells us that when God speaks we should believe Him and not be swayed or distracted by what others may tell us. If you are struggling to see growth, look at who you are allowing to speak into your life.
In the Bible, Jesus spoke about how to see real growth and health in our lives. He said:
I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing… if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.
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