Intentional Gardeners

Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

-Proverbs 4:23

We are here to watch, guide, and prepare our hearts and the hearts around us to live this life well, and that takes intentional effort and work to nurture good soil, yielded hearts. The Word tells us to guard our hearts, for our life flows from it, and as parents and influencing adults, it is our job to guard our own hearts and those of our children. Even if some children are beyond our guardianship, we can still impact their hearts and minds.

Indifference to Stewardship

I passed by the field of the sluggard, and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense. And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.  When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,” Then your poverty will come as a robber, and your want like an armed man.

Proverbs 24:30-32

The verses in Proverbs 24 show the danger of being indifferent to our garden and the gardens around us, allowing them to lie waste. Scripture informs us that if we do this, we lack sense. God has given us the potential to flourish and bring forth great things. We should be intentional about caring for our hearts and the hearts of those around us. When we do not nurture our soil and guard it, weeds and creatures can overrun it, leaving it spoiled and desolate.  When we allow a part of our family or community to go to waste, unchallenged or unsupported, it eventually starts causing harm and discomfort not only to them, but to those who surround them. We have seen how an unkempt yard and house in a neighborhood can mark a decline in the rest of the neighborhood if left unaddressed over time. That's why we were given not only stewardship of ourselves but also gifts and abilities to support and encourage those around us (1 Peter 4:10).

Sometimes, when we see a garden, we see the time, effort, sweat, and resources poured into the ground, and we are discouraged by how much work it would take to have a lush, fruitful natural garden.  However, our children, our lives, and our hearts and minds that we have been given stewardship of will bear the fruit of the seeds that we have sown and give way to the blessing and promises we have planted into hearts. However, if we do not plant good seed and care for the soil, the land will be overtaken and ruined.

We can give the job over to farmers and proclaim, “Why do the work when the fruit can be purchased at the market?” However, we cannot turn the stewardship of our garden over to others when God has given it to us. We will have to give an account to God for what we do with the seed He has given us. And as we discussed last time, if we do not tend our garden, the world’s nature will take its course. And nature has a tendency; our fleshly nature has a tendency towards corruption and ruin. Without the tools and environment for fruitfulness and blessing, sinful nature devastates people's hearts and minds through its presence and consequences.

People Are a Blessing

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.

- Psalm 127:3-5

For some of us, the first step to being intentional gardeners is getting the right perspective on children and people in general. We must ask God to create clean hearts in us and renew us with the right spirit. Ideologies, traumas, opinions, and selfishness could lead us to view children and people in the wrong light. Seeing them as burdens, trouble, or an inconvenience can lead us to steward them poorly and miss the blessings and rewards they were meant to bring.

The Word of God not only gives us insight and guidance on how to be good children of God but also directs and empowers us to be good influences who raise up and give godly direction to the hearts of children and adults. In our efforts to tend to God’s garden, we must first see the land, the individual people, and children as the blessings that they are. Genesis (1:26, 5:1, and 9:6) reveals that we were made in the image of God, and Psalms (139:14) reminds us that we were fearfully and wonderfully made and should not be dishonored or abused by others.

Specifically for children, the gospels of Matthew (18:6), Mark (9:42), and Luke (17:2) all account of how harshly Jesus judges those who would cause a child to stumble. He admonishes us to tend to children with reverence for God’s purpose for them and care for the love God has for them. To guard the hearts of others, we must first see them as the rewards and blessings they were intended to be.

Nurturing Good Soil

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. You shall also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

- Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Nurturing good soil begins with allowing God’s Word to take root in our own hearts. From there, we teach, model, correct, encourage, and pray with consistency. Stewardship is not passive; it is faithful care repeated over time. As intentional gardeners, we partner with God in preparing hearts to receive truth, grow in righteousness, and bear fruit that brings Him glory.

We are called to be intentional gardeners, faithfully tending the hearts, minds, and lives God has entrusted to us. Just as a neglected field becomes overgrown with thorns and weeds, a neglected heart can become crowded with confusion, discouragement, and the patterns of the world. Proverbs remind us that neglect is not harmless; when we fail to steward what God has placed in our care, fruitfulness can slowly give way to disorder.

God has given us seed, soil, and responsibility. We cannot surrender the work of spiritual care simply because it is difficult, time-consuming, or inconvenient. Our children, families, and communities are not burdens to be overlooked; they are blessings made in the image of God. They deserve to be guarded, nurtured, honored, and guided with wisdom, patience, truth, and love.

Prayer

Father God, help us see the people You have placed in our care as blessings, not burdens. Give us clean hearts, renewed minds, and willing hands to steward well what You have entrusted to us. Teach us to guard our hearts and our children's hearts with wisdom, humility, and love. Plant Your Word deeply within us so that our lives, homes, and communities may become good soil that bears lasting fruit for Your glory, In Jesus' Name, Amen.