“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life” Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)
I live in a rural area of Virginia. I love to watch the tractors in the field and smell the freshly tilled earth. Seeing them in the fields this time of year lends itself to thinking about how much we have in common with those who plant and sow. Like farmers and gardeners, we plant and reap every day, all throughout our day.
When a gardener is planting she knows that some of her seeds are healthy and—when they fall on the good soil she’s prepared—she will experience a good harvest. But she’s also aware that some of her seeds (and/or some of the soil) are simply bad from the very beginning, and this will result in barren places throughout her garden.
With each passing season she learns a little bit more about what it takes to cultivate a successful harvest. With time she begins to understand how to prepare the soil, choose the right seed, and tenderly plant it so that it can deliver the optimum result.
We’re a lot like a gardener or farmer with regard to the words we speak. Words are the seeds of life, and our heart is the soil that receives, absorbs, and reproduces the type of harvest according to that which was planted. Each word we speak is an investment that is guaranteed to give you double in return.
Children have hearts of fertile soil and eagerly take in everything spread upon it. Unable to discern good seed from bad, their hearts simply accept the seed as fact. These seeds give life with regard to how they define themselves and that definition (the plant) will grow very deep root systems. If the root system entangles the heart with a definition that was/is not defined by God then it’s a weed (lie). The good news is, through Christ and the power of His discernment we can identify the lie and pull up the whole weed, root system and all.
What type of seeds have you received, nurtured, and reproduced? Were/are they encouraging or discouraging? One way to tell is to look at the result of your own personal talk—how do you talk to yourself or others?
How are you received/perceived based on the way you talk? Do you use profanity to get your point across? Do you say please and thank you to young and old alike? Can you respond to people for who they are and not get hung up on who they’re not? Or do you use name calling to keep your fears in check?
Sometimes I get it right when my actions and speech reflect the heart of God, and sometimes I get it wrong completely. One minute I’m knocking it out of the park in the Jesus zone and the next minute I’m doing the tango with Satan.
My biggest challenge is my self-talk. I still deal with things that were said to me as early as I can remember right up to the day I left home shortly after graduation and for quite some time afterward. I have since realized those childhood seeds I received, nurtured and that produced a harvest of heartache were not planted in truth and love. But, if I’m honest, I’ll admit they still have a way of popping back up in my life right in the middle of my weaker moments.
I’m living proof you’re never too old to learn new things and I like that! I hate the thought of running out of things to learn or being an actual know-it-all … and then what? There’s nothing left to experience, see, hear, or learn. Nothing. How boring would that be? The simple act of meeting a new person can teach you something new about the world they have knowledge of.
Here’s what I’m doing when those thoughts pop back into my thought life. I stop the thought from finishing. and I immediately replace that lie with a truth about how much God loves me. Here recently I’m using this one to replace any overwhelming thoughts that threaten depression: “I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.”—Hosea 2:19
I rewrite my past as well as my future with the truth of who God says I am. I override the lies that threaten to rob, steal or destroy me be it physically, emotionally or spiritually. Despite how convincing this liar can be–wanting me to think and feel that those deeply entangled roots are still there–I call his bluff with the truth of who God says I am.
Satan has no authority in my life and I do not have to agree with him. I have the power and the authority to send the evil one running with the truth of the One True God.
I do not have to receive everything I hear but what I do receive I will nurture it and it will produce a harvest in my life. I’m encouraged that even if I make a good choice or a bad choice God’s love for me will never waiver.
When we let God rewrite our story with his story He’ll set us up to make history!
Now LIVE LOVED and THRIVE!
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take what you discover and hold it up to the Light to evaluate it against who God says you are.
- Would you agree that words are like seeds that are planted in the heart? If so, how?
- When you think about your immediate family, what type of seeds were planted in your heart?
- What is a lie that keeps coming around and messing with your head?
- What is a truth (scripture) that you can use to rewrite your past and set you up for a brighter tomorrow?
- What seeds are you planting in the fertile hearts around you?
- Gather 2 or 3 Bible verses that speak to your heart and use them to defeat the voice of the enemy when he wants to play head games with you.
Use God’s word to take control over traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts, take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises found in His word.
Print, then cut and carry this Scripture with you and/or post it in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
Here is what God’s word says to encourage you and to give you an example of His unfailing, relentless, unending love for you:
“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life” Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)
When you read God’s word say to yourself: The way I talk to myself and to others has the ability to bring life or death. What I plant in others is what I will receive from them in return.
Now LIVE LOVED and THRIVE!
