Have you heard of the Preacher Charles Spurgeon?
He gave a very compelling sermon titled Contentment, and I encourage you to go to You Tube and listen to the entire sermon.
He said that the precious things of the earth must be cultivated.
We must cultivate grace into our earthly relationships.
In context, the sermon was on cultivating contentment, but his words ring true for what we have been discussing in our Garden series.
It helps to solidify that cultivation in the life of the believer is vital to bearing healthy fruit.
We will keep the garden account in Genesis 3 in mind as we continue to move through our series.
Remembering that the enemy’s tactics have not changed. He is not capable of creation.
He is only capable of imitation. His power in our life depends on the ground we give him.
There are times when the enemy is permitted for a season and purpose by the Lord.
However, now we see that Eve gave the enemy ground by entertaining a conversation with him.
We must never believe the lie that we can safely converse with the enemy.
Do not entertain him.
Use the spoken Word of God to cast him out.
We can get so caught up in ministering to others and helping them process life through a biblical lens that we can neglect the cultivation of our own hearts.
We continue to draw from the well without replenishment to the well and then are surprised when we perceive the well has run dry.
This is why starting with our own life is important to living out what we are called to teach.
In the next two blogs we will look at flesh fruit vs. spiritual fruit and how it depends on what we sow.
The more seasoned a mentor becomes the more of a temptation it is to draw from our knowledge rather than allow the Spirit to lead and teach through us.
What is harvested depends on what was sown!
Galatians 6:8 says:
“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
If we sow and invest in the disciple’s life in order to win accolades or look like mentor of the year, then that is not going to bear good and lasting fruit.
If we sow and invest in the disciple’s life so that they might be won to the kingdom and so they will be brought up to bring others to Jesus, then we sow to the Spirt and the fruit will last eternally.
Lord Jesus, show us anywhere that our motives or agendas do not align with yours. Give us courage to do the hard things and the strength to live out what we teach. We surrender all to you and trust the consequences to you. Thank you for those whom you place in our earthly care. May we steward them well. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!