Weeds In Your Garden?

E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E has weeds. All kinds of weeds. Some are in the garden between rows of beans. Others in the lawn, or the flowerbed.

And then there are the “weeds” that are NOT plants. The “weeds” of life. The stuff that gets in the way of a fabulous life. What can you do about the weeds? The answers are directly ahead.

INTRO

Yes, everyone has weeds. It is the stuff that just doesn’t belong. They are in direct competition with the good stuff, and can keep the good stuff from being productive. Just like these weeds in between rows of green beans.

Weeds could be the pride we have of our kids, or our school, or our favorite sports team.

It could be that our love of money is our “weed”. God warned us. 1 Timothy 6:10  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Our desires for sex outside of marriage can take over like weeds.

Lying is a “weed” that just keeps popping back up, again and again.

Talking bad about others is a competitive weed.

Prescription drugs is another “weed” that takes over.

And oxycondone, fentanyl, cocaine, hash, crank, and on and on the list of “weeds” can go.

These weeds destroy the good things we all want. We want our kids to do well in school. The need for lots of money causes us to work more, and spend less time with the family. Lying and deceit also competes with trust and often wins. Alcohol causes health issues, lose lips that tells secrets, and abuse of family members. Many mind-altering drugs change their victims into selfish monsters.

Matthew 15:19-20  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  (20)  These are what defile a person. ….”

What can we do about these weeds?

These answers are what you are listening for. Well, like the weeds themselves, some cause more problems than they fix. But they are answers, just not good ones.

One of those “no-so-good answers” is to “mow” them with a lawn mower. Mowing makes everything LOOK good, like EVERYTHING in our lives is under COMPLETE control. Don’t worry. No one will see through it.

Do you really believe that?

This is nothing more than hypocrisy. Everyone sees through the hypocrite. Jesus said, “Matthew 23:27  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which OUTWARDLY APPEAR BEAUTIFUL, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.

So “mowing” won’t work.

Now, the second answer. Again, one of those no-o-good” answers.

We could use chemicals. They are called Herbicides. We can take anti-depressants to make everything better. As long as I have the medication, life is great. But what about when the chemicals are gone? Or Jack Daniels, or Jim Bean? When ever the chemical wears off you not only have the same weeds growing actively, but you may have given those weeds some fertilizer.  This doesn’t work either. The Bible writer Paul condemned sorcery in Galatians 5:19-21. The very word comes from the Greek word Pharm-a-su-kA. We get our word “Pharmacy” from it.

So, chemicals are not a good choice.

A third less-than-great method of “weed” removal is the power of positive thinking. Like the little train, just keep saying, “I think I can. I think I can.” Many of the weeds we have mentions can control the body. And no amount of positive reinforcement is going to make the “weed” get out of your life. The root problem is still there. And the problems often return. And the fragile home is shattered.

As you have been watching, pulling up the weeds one at a time is painful, slow, and methodical. BUT IT WORKS.

Why does it work so much better? Because it removes the growth-producing root. You are removing it at its source. It can’t continue to grow. It will die. It will not come back.

This is Jesus’ way, to eliminate the root of the problem. To get the help that is needed in the right place in the right conditions.

People who are learning to obey Jesus will find repentance a key element. They are going to take the weeds out of their lives, kill the weeds, and immediately replace them with Jesus’ practices. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:8-14  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  (9)  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices  (10)  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  

Later, Paul added, “(12)  Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,  (13)  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  (14)  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

This is the answer. Kill the weeds. Replace them with Jesus’ qualities.

Thanks for watching. We will see you tomorrow. Until then, Goodbye for now.