Tools to Weed

Winter is approaching here in Australia. We’ve had only two dry days in Sydney since May 17th. That’s a lot of rain. On the weekend my husband and I enjoyed a morning of sunlight (before it rained again). We went into the garden only to discover the weeds had taken over – again.

I’m not a huge fan of weeding. I prefer to do the job when there isn’t a lot to do, when the garden isn’t completely overrun. It’s easier and the sense of satisfaction is rewarding rather than just exhausting.

Weeding is much like maintaining our faith. We need to weed the sin out of our lives. It’s easier when we do it on a regular basis before sin takes hold and overruns us.

And it’s easier when we use the right tools:

God’s word equips us with the protection we need, like gloves that protect us from the thorns.

God’s truth lets us recognise the weeds in our lives so we can pull them out the moment they appear.

God’s salvation gives us the power to change. We are no longer slaves to the weeds.

God’s strength helps us to persevere. Weeding is not a thing that is ever finished. They try to take root in even the best maintained garden.

God’s love is our motivation. Because of God’s love for us we are able to love Him and because of this we want to glorify God with everything we do.

What do most like and/or dislike about weeding?

On Lying

Lying is bad, right? It’s a sin because it’s a deception and it breaks trust. But is all lying bad?

We lie to build people up. When a friend asks if they look good, then our reply is generally yes. It’s only cruel to point out they are looking a little tired. It’s only mean to highlight their weight gain. It’s insensitive to suggest they would benefit from visiting a hairdresser they can’t afford. All those things are irrelevant anyway. And so we lie.

We lie to preserve the peace. A friend of mine claimed she paid only $200 for a ring. I was with her when she bought it and so I knew it cost her triple the amount. She needed me to agree with her. I knew an argument would follow if I reminded her of the truth, so I claimed I couldn’t remember. It was an easy way out.

We lie to protect our loved ones. We lie to protect ourselves. We lie to save someone’s feelings. We lie to support our friends. We lie to cover embarrassment.

It’s easy to justify lying. But it doesn’t make it right. These white lies are part of the “little” sins I spoke of yesterday.

God will never lie to us. We can completely trust Him 100% of the time. God doesn’t have moods to pander to. He doesn’t need to make himself look better than He is and He is able to protect us without deception.

There are ways of saving someone’s feelings, protecting someone’s safety, avoiding arguments without lying and without being so brutally honest that we end up hurting someone.

When Jesus said, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin,” he wasn’t lying. (John 8:34)

So, walk away from the chains Jesus broke and strive to be more like him.

100 steps

Mathematical truth: if you have 100 steps in a process and each step has a 99% success rate, then the chance of gaining a successful completion is only 37%.

I’m not a mathematician so these numbers boggled my mind. I had expected a higher percentage of success.

This led me to thinking about Christianity in the community. When we accept just a small amount of sin in our lives, then we represent the 1% of failure. Failure to trust God. Failure to glorify God. Failure to be living examples of Christ. We might think it’s a little sin. We might think it’s inconsequential, but sin – all sin – is abhorrent to God. And sin impacts the community in ways that can be devastating.

When we feel all warm and fuzzy over the 99% of good Christian living we are able to achieve though trusting our Lord, we are ignoring that 1%. But when we combine all of us together, as we must since we are one community, then that minor 1% on a personal level becomes a magnified failure in the community.

No wonder everything seems so broken in our society. No wonder we struggle and we suffer. It’s because we too often accept those “little” sins. We think they don’t have much of an impact. We don’t even notice them eating away at our peace.

So, the next time you feel that spark of pride begin to rule your thoughts and your actions, give it instantly to the Lord. And if it’s not pride, then ask Him to show you where your 1% of weakness lies. Ask the Lord to show you where you may have relaxed your vigil.

What are some of the things to keep you alert against sin in your life?