Change Your Soil
Fruit.
It's the evidence of a life rooted in Jesus.
It's the result of the Spirit's deep redemptive work in our souls.
It cannot be manufactured.
It cannot be faked (for long).
It's never produced by accident.
Here's what it is:
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control
(Galatians 5:22-23)
We don't "work" on these, they come by the soil we plant our lives in.
So if these aren't producing naturally, it's time to tend the soil.
Our "soil" is our thought life, our work, our schedules, our homes, our friendships, our phones.
The soil is the environment which shapes what we believe, what filters we have on the information we have available, how we feel, what our minds camp on most.
Our soil determines how we react when life doesn't go our way, who we give credit to for our victories, what we really care about, and what motivates us.
I'm going to make the bold argument that the soil we plant ourselves in is the most important responsibility of a follower of Jesus on this earth.
Everything else flows from it—our character, our spending, what jobs we take, who we marry, what we say yes to, what we enjoy, what we stand up for, and (perhaps most importantly) what we love.
I spent a healthy portion earlier this year meditating on the parable of the soils found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Find some time to read through one of these accounts:
Matthew 13:1-23
Mark 4:1-20
Luke 8:4-15
The scary part is, Jesus knows the majority of us will never live out a fully Kingdom-centered life because the soil we're in isn't suitable for health.
Some won't produce fruit at all because of how "hard" our soil is—belief in God at all is near impossible because we've either never heard of Him or closed our minds completely to believing in Him.
Some may show some superficial growth but won't produce fruit because our circumstances drive our beliefs more than the truth.
Some will start producing fruit but get held short of a full harvest because the illusion of wealth, comfort, and security pulls our dependence off of Jesus and onto themselves.
But some will produce a harvest because they've curated a soil that has carefully removed the impurities, the weeds, the competition and has enriched it with an environment where seeing the truth of the good news and responding to it is natural.
The great news is, whatever soil you find yourself in, Jesus says it isn't permanent.
We can change our soil.
In Luke 13:6-9 Jesus gives another parable of a fig tree that wasn't producing fruit. The sober reality is, it's expected to produce. But the grace is—if we're not producing, we have a chance to "fertilize" the soil for a season to be restored to health.
If the list of the fruits of the Spirit seems miles away, take heart—you can change.
But change may not come how you think.
Instead of "working" on love or "working" on patience, you look at the entirety of the lifestyle you're rooted in and you begin making intentional steps to enrich your soil.
It may mean saying no to the insane hustle you've let yourself fall into.
It may mean you delete your social media accounts.
It may mean you start and end your days much differently.
It may mean taking a different job.
It may mean cutting out what your eyes linger on.
It may mean slowing way down.
It may mean letting go of your need for more.
But as this “fertilizer” begins to enrich the soil, we find that fruit begins to take shape and our very character starts to shift to look more and more like Jesus.
The older I get, the more I believe this transformative process is actually the purest form of “worship” we can realize this side of Heaven. When we submit our lives to tending the soil, we are practicing what Jesus calls, “abiding”.
There’s simply nothing Jesus wants more from us than that.