The Problem of the Weeds

Today, I looked out my window and was horrified by how many weeds had sprung up in my lawn. Overnight, it seems, they have taken over.

I became weary when I realized the amount of work ahead of me to rid my grass of these poky pests. I started to pull them, grabbing them at the root. After about twenty minutes, I had filled my Lowe's bucket a quarter of the way. I realized I had a few options.

I could keep at this slow pace and still not feel like I had made any progress after an hour or two. Or, I could just do a little bit every day, slowly chipping away at the infestation. I could pay our friend's teenage son to pull the weeds—that would get it done faster. If I used weed killer at this point, it would destroy the grass with it. I could just start all over. No matter what method of weed removal I used, I would have to be more diligent next time so that the weeds wouldn't get out of control. Because, unfortunately, they thrive when ignored.

It occurred to me that this was an allegory for my life. There have been spiritual weeds taking root, and yesterday I realized how significant they had become. Weeds that had seemed sparse and of little consequence had propagated and begun to affect my relationships with my family and with God.

So, today I decided to do something about it. While it's not in my budget to do a lawn makeover, I am doing a bit of a life makeover. A reset—removing the weeds and replacing them with the beautiful foliage and fruit of leaning into God.

Some takeaways as you examine your life for spiritual weeds:

• Start small

• Start now

• Enlist the help of others

• Give it the time it deserves to address the issue

• Do a total reset if you need to

• Keep up with the maintenance—replace the weeds with something better

Photo by Kate Cullen on Unsplash