By Pastor Ryan Stockstrom Harvest Church, Frazee

I’ve always believed that our spiritual lives are much like a garden. God plants the seed of new life in us when we begin to follow Jesus, but growth isn’t automatic. It takes tending, watering, patience—and yes, weeding.

This past Sunday, we continued our series “Signs of Life” by looking at the spiritual principle of pulling the weeds. 

If you do a simple search about what weeds do in a garden, or a field trying to produce a crop, it’ll tell you that weeds will compete for resources, reduce light and space, have significant yield losses, and increase costs all around.  If we compare that to our spiritual lives; sin does the exact same thing:  it competes for our emotional and mental energy, it competes with the light shining from our lives, it reduces the amount of spiritual fruit we enjoy and produce, and there’s always a higher cost than what you’d expect.  

Weeds are anything that choke out God’s life in us. They hinder our growth, steal nutrients from our spiritual soil, and keep us from thriving. Hebrews 12:1-3 says it plainly:

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles… and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Some weeds are obvious—sins of the flesh like anger, lust, or selfishness. Others are more subtle—bitterness, comparison, pride. And some weeds aren’t bad things at all. In fact, they can be good things that aren’t God things. A career, a relationship, a hobby—even serving in ministry—can become a weed if it distracts us from God.

Still other weeds are planted by the enemy. Lies like “you’re not enough” or “God isn’t good because ‘this’ happened” take root in our minds and slowly erode our trust in the Father. That’s why Scripture urges us to guard our minds and submit our thoughts to Christ.

So how do we pull the weeds?

First, we have to recognize them. This requires honesty with ourselves and openness to the Holy Spirit. I often ask myself: Is this helping or hindering my walk with Jesus? If it’s the latter, it needs to go.

Second, we need to stop watering them. Weeds thrive when we feed them. Whether it’s giving in to temptation, dwelling on lies, or surrounding ourselves with unhealthy influences, we must cut off their supply. That might mean deleting an app, setting new boundaries, or confessing sin to a trusted friend.

Third, we must remember who we are. Galatians 5 reminds us that we have the Spirit of God living in us, producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits flourish when we live by the Spirit and crucify the flesh.

We also need each other. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to one another and pray for each other so we can be healed. The weeds lose their power when we bring them into the light.

At the end of the day, we all have weeds. The enemy would love to use them to discourage us or make us feel disqualified. But here’s the good news: God’s grace is stronger. His mercy is new every morning. And He is far more committed to our growth than we often realize.

So let’s be people who fight—not out of guilt, but out of identity. We’re sons and daughters of the King. Let’s cultivate our gardens with intention, grace, and perseverance. Let’s pull the weeds, trust the Gardener, and watch the signs of life spring up again.

Want to hear more?  Go to harvestfrazee.org/video-recordings.html