The Garden of Your Heart

I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not have a green thumb. If it wasn’t for Creeping Charlie, Crab Grass and Clover I wouldn’t have a green yard at all. However, I can grow Hostas, because they seem to take care of themselves. My father, on the other hand, was a master gardener. He spent a great deal of time preparing the soil, planting the seeds at just the right time, watering, and feeding the plants. Plus, you’d never find a weed in his lawn or garden and flower beds. If he would have entered his fruits, vegetables and flowers at a state fair I’m sure he would have won gold ribbons or even Best of Show.

This is the time of year we think about planting our flowers and vegetable gardens. I so admire all who have plants on their balconies, and the lawn services which plant flowering shrubs. Life is much more beautiful with the colors of the flowers around us. We need the beauty of nature to add peacefulness to our lives.

My father also grew peach trees, apple trees and pear trees. But just as he tended to his gardens so meticulously, he tended to another kind of garden: the garden of his heart. When we read the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the church in the ancient city of Galatia, we find more beautiful fruit unique to our lives, the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” – from Galatians 5.

My father lived a gentle, loving, forgiving, patient life. He lived the fruits of the Spirit each and every day. How do we tend to this garden of the heart? Well, just as my father prepared the soil for his plants he also prepared his heart with thankfulness and the truth that God is good and when we walk with God our lives will soon develop those beautiful fruits of the Spirit. So, I encourage each of us to start each day with thankfulness and anticipate enjoying the fruits of the Spirit in your lives. It will add beauty and sweetness to your lives and to the lives of the people around you.

Written by Chaplain Lane Skoglund-Anderson