Good food for the garden of the mind
There are so many little analogies to make with reference to a garden. Children, like seeds, need to be nourished to grow, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. A marriage needs to be watered and fed in order to stay strong and healthy. A book is an idea planted in the author's mind and heart, and it grows and develops into something that can be enjoyed. All involve the planting of seeds, feeding, and nurturing, in order for growth and development to occur.
Life is a garden. It doesn't stop when childhood meets adulthood. Growth, or lack thereof, continues on till the end of life. What is so important is how our lives are fed. What have we been taught in childhood that molded us into who we become as adults? What have we listened to as adults that impacts how we view others? What we are fed by others and what we feed ourselves is so huge a thing, that many of us don't realize the power of the food. What we harvest in our life is so dependent on what we've allowed to nourish or malnourish us.
Never has this been more evident to me as in the past few months. Anxiety decided to attack in full force one day. Fed by years of poor nourishment, which led to roots of bitterness and frustration, a panic seized me, which I have never known before. And never do I want it to return. For now, I've been doing some weeding in my life, and that is making room for the good food to enter in and do its work in me. And the sun is shining a new light on my spirit and mind now. Although it may take a bit of struggling to put all the weed roots out completely, they are being thinned, and in time, they will be gone. My mind and my heart are being renewed, refreshed, and refined into something wonderful, something where growth is occuring. It is good.
The weeding process is tedious, and not so much fun at times, but worth the work that it takes.
I'm learning about how I think, and how my thoughts can have such power over me. But I am comforted by this : that if I allow the Holy Spirit to control my thoughts, my thoughts will be pleasing to the Spirit. And the mind controlled by the Spirit, is a mind of life and peace. (See Romans 8:5-6) Hmmmm. Good stuff.
Life is a garden. It doesn't stop when childhood meets adulthood. Growth, or lack thereof, continues on till the end of life. What is so important is how our lives are fed. What have we been taught in childhood that molded us into who we become as adults? What have we listened to as adults that impacts how we view others? What we are fed by others and what we feed ourselves is so huge a thing, that many of us don't realize the power of the food. What we harvest in our life is so dependent on what we've allowed to nourish or malnourish us.
Never has this been more evident to me as in the past few months. Anxiety decided to attack in full force one day. Fed by years of poor nourishment, which led to roots of bitterness and frustration, a panic seized me, which I have never known before. And never do I want it to return. For now, I've been doing some weeding in my life, and that is making room for the good food to enter in and do its work in me. And the sun is shining a new light on my spirit and mind now. Although it may take a bit of struggling to put all the weed roots out completely, they are being thinned, and in time, they will be gone. My mind and my heart are being renewed, refreshed, and refined into something wonderful, something where growth is occuring. It is good.
The weeding process is tedious, and not so much fun at times, but worth the work that it takes.
I'm learning about how I think, and how my thoughts can have such power over me. But I am comforted by this : that if I allow the Holy Spirit to control my thoughts, my thoughts will be pleasing to the Spirit. And the mind controlled by the Spirit, is a mind of life and peace. (See Romans 8:5-6) Hmmmm. Good stuff.
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