Walking in the Spirit and blooming?

During the last few weeks, it’s been fun to watch as all of the plants in our backyard have been coming to life. Just a few months ago, as spring approached, I looked at some of them and thought that they were dead and didn’t stand a chance of coming back. In fact, while I was cleaning up some of the flower beds one day, I debated just getting rid of the plants because they looked so hopeless. But, as if to say to me, “You don’t know much about plant life,” the plants began blooming and coming back to life. I was out working in the yard yesterday afternoon and had to stop for a few moments to gaze at the beauty of those flowers and rejoice that I didn’t just rip them out of the ground and toss them into the trash.

There are areas in my life that I know with God’s help I can change. I do struggle with aspects of life, and at times I think I will never change so I should give up and just work on the aspects I can control. But here’s what we need to understand: when I accepted Christ into my life, the Holy Spirit was now God living inside of me. The Holy Spirit can help me separate the weeds (things I don’t need in my life) from the good things that are there but in a dormant stage. And if I allow the Holy Spirit to continue to work in my life, those things that may appear to be dead and impossible will start to bloom, and soon I will be able to see beautiful fruit being produced. That’s one of my greatest joys in being allowed to serve in full-time ministry—not only seeing lives come to accept Christ, but then watching as the Holy Spirit begins bringing life through the Fruit of the Spirit into those individuals’ daily journeys. Be sensitive and open to what God has promised to do in your life and the lives of those around you.