Bloom Where You Are Planted
In any garden the hope of the gardener is to see the plants produce flowers and then eventually fruit. For flowering plants the soil where they grow must be of the proper composition in order for them to grow, mature,bloom and eventually produce a harvest.
Just like a in a garden, the church requires the right composition of people in order for all of us to grow, bloom, mature and produce fruit.
God desires that we lay down roots where He has planted us so that we can absorb what we need to grow from those around us.
The word of God allows us to grow and thrive but another vital component to the soil of the Christian's life is the community of God.
Titus 2:3-5 illustrates how women in the community of God are vitally important to our growth and maturity.
The community of God provides the opportunity for sanctification so that we are challenged to grow in our walk with God. It safeguards us from bringing shame on the word of God.
Often times people don't engage with the body but rather with people in the world, with the mindset that they will influence them and they will repent and believe in Jesus Christ. However, there is a danger in these relationships especially if the individual is not properly rooted in the community of God.
Like a plant whose roots don't have an opportunity to furrow down into the depths of a rich soil, so the Christian that avoids intimate community with the body of Christ will not thrive and flourish, eventually producing fruit through the maturity of that growth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 paints the reader a picture of this maturity:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful scheme. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from which the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
This scripture reveals that in order for us to grow, we must be integrated, held together by every joint in order to grow and mature. We need each other! Otherwise we have the propensity to be childish in our lives and allow our views of God and others to deceive us so that we are unstable and double- minded.
How often do people avoid getting intimately involved in the dirt of other's lives? When we choose to continually move our position, like a gardener continually transplanting a plant, we will not take root and have the opportunity to grow and thrive and reach full maturity in Christ if we are not allowing ourselves to be equipped for ministry by those around us.
God is serious about the sanctification of our lives. Our salvation is not a moment in history rather a continual process of repentance and growth.
We must choose to root ourselves in the community of God and stay put in order to grow properly.
God's will has never been for us to be on our own, independant and free from community but our culture screams that we are to be fiercley independent and that our strength is the most important thing to our existence.
If we choose to believe that we need to be "strong" instead of vulnerable,with those around us, we not only lose out on the great resource of God's people but we go against the very plan of God for our lives.
It is His will that we grow up together into a fruitful vine whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
Lord, let us not buy into the lie of autonomy that the world continually markets in our culture but rather stir in us a desire for intimate relationships in the community of God. Father, help us to see the importance and the necessary need of the body of Christ for our own growth and development so that we become a well watered, fruitful tree in the garden our lives.
Just like a in a garden, the church requires the right composition of people in order for all of us to grow, bloom, mature and produce fruit.
God desires that we lay down roots where He has planted us so that we can absorb what we need to grow from those around us.
The word of God allows us to grow and thrive but another vital component to the soil of the Christian's life is the community of God.
Titus 2:3-5 illustrates how women in the community of God are vitally important to our growth and maturity.
Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.
The community of God provides the opportunity for sanctification so that we are challenged to grow in our walk with God. It safeguards us from bringing shame on the word of God.
The company we keep can determine the course of our lives.
We are influenced by what others say and how they live. I Corinthians addresses just that.
Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals." Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
Often times people don't engage with the body but rather with people in the world, with the mindset that they will influence them and they will repent and believe in Jesus Christ. However, there is a danger in these relationships especially if the individual is not properly rooted in the community of God.
Like a plant whose roots don't have an opportunity to furrow down into the depths of a rich soil, so the Christian that avoids intimate community with the body of Christ will not thrive and flourish, eventually producing fruit through the maturity of that growth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 paints the reader a picture of this maturity:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful scheme. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from which the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
This scripture reveals that in order for us to grow, we must be integrated, held together by every joint in order to grow and mature. We need each other! Otherwise we have the propensity to be childish in our lives and allow our views of God and others to deceive us so that we are unstable and double- minded.
How often do people avoid getting intimately involved in the dirt of other's lives? When we choose to continually move our position, like a gardener continually transplanting a plant, we will not take root and have the opportunity to grow and thrive and reach full maturity in Christ if we are not allowing ourselves to be equipped for ministry by those around us.
God is serious about the sanctification of our lives. Our salvation is not a moment in history rather a continual process of repentance and growth.
We must choose to root ourselves in the community of God and stay put in order to grow properly.
God's will has never been for us to be on our own, independant and free from community but our culture screams that we are to be fiercley independent and that our strength is the most important thing to our existence.
If we choose to believe that we need to be "strong" instead of vulnerable,with those around us, we not only lose out on the great resource of God's people but we go against the very plan of God for our lives.
It is His will that we grow up together into a fruitful vine whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
Psalm 128:1-3
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in obedience to him.
2
You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
Lord, let us not buy into the lie of autonomy that the world continually markets in our culture but rather stir in us a desire for intimate relationships in the community of God. Father, help us to see the importance and the necessary need of the body of Christ for our own growth and development so that we become a well watered, fruitful tree in the garden our lives.
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