Are You Planting What You Want to Harvest?

Hey, my friend. A couple of weeks ago, my husband and kids planted a garden in our backyard. Actually, we turned our sandbox into a garden. It felt like the perfect solution—we wanted to get rid of the sandbox, but we also wanted raised beds for planting vegetables.

Now, I’m not much of a gardener, and honestly, I don’t love getting my hands dirty the way the rest of my family does. So I sat outside with our black lab and watched them work.

And while I sat there, this thought struck me: I like the idea of a garden . . . but I only want the harvest.

I don’t want to plant. I don’t want to water. I don’t want to weed.

In other words, I don’t really want to do any of the work. I just want to enjoy the results!

And as I held that thought before the Lord in prayer, God was kind enough to reveal some things in my heart.

You Reap What You Sow

In Galatians 6:7 (CSB), Scripture says: “Whatever a person sows he will also reap.” The Phillips translation says it this way: “A man’s harvest in life will depend entirely on what he sows.”

What grows in our lives is connected to what we plant. But first, we actually have to sow something, don’t we? We can’t expect a harvest if we never plant the seeds in the first place.

It feels obvious when we talk about gardening, but somehow we forget this spiritually. Imagine standing in front of an empty garden bed, waiting for peppers to grow when you never planted peppers to begin with. It sounds ridiculous, right?

And yet sometimes we do the same thing in our spiritual lives. We want peace without pursuing the God of peace. We want closeness with God without making space for Him. We want spiritual growth without the slow work of surrender and obedience.

Planting Seeds in Real Life

So what does planting spiritual seeds actually look like in everyday life? If we stay in the context of Galatians, Paul is talking about the fruit of the Spirit versus the fruit of the flesh.

Let’s use peace as an example. If I want to experience the fruit of peace in my life, then I need to engage in practices that make room for that peace to grow. Things like reading God’s Word, praying throughout the day, listening to music that honors Him, obeying Him, and actively pursuing peace in my relationships.

But just like planting a real garden, we can’t force growth. We can plant the seed. We can water it. We can tend the soil and pull weeds. But we cannot make the seed grow.

In the same way, I can read Scripture, pray, worship, and practice obedience—but ultimately, the Holy Spirit is the One who produces His fruit in me.

And honestly, I find that incredibly comforting. God is at work within us. We are not left to transform ourselves alone.

Unwanted Seeds

But here’s the harder part of this conversation: Sometimes we plant things we never wanted to grow. Seeds of bitterness. Anger. Jealousy. Selfishness. Resentment.

And then when those things begin showing up in our lives, we’re surprised by them. Like, Where did that come from?

But usually those things didn’t appear overnight. Something was planted and nurtured along the way.

Hebrews 12:15 warns us not to let a root of bitterness spring up. Sometimes that bitterness grows because we replay offenses over and over in our minds. Sometimes we constantly rehearse our frustrations. Sometimes we cling tightly to resentment instead of moving toward healing and forgiveness.

And Galatians 5:19–21 gives us even more examples in what Scripture calls the fruit of the flesh: hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, and more. Can you think of ways we unintentionally plant those kinds of seeds in our own lives?

When we notice those things growing, we don’t have to stay stuck there. But we do need to uproot them.

That often looks like confession. Repentance. Turning in a different direction. Asking God to help us think differently, respond differently, and live differently.

Journal Prompts

If this idea of sowing and reaping is resonating with you, here are a few journal prompts you might want to sit with sometime this week. You can answer one or two, or spend time working through all of them.

1. What are you actively planting right now? What does that look like in your daily life?
2. What might you be planting without fully realizing it? (And that could be something good . . . or something unhealthy.)
3. Is there fruit from an unwanted seed that needs to be uprooted? Go ahead and honestly name that before God.
4. Is there something you are hoping to harvest in this season of your life? What is it? Bring that before God, too.

And if you’d like, maybe create something artistic to represent the seeds you want to intentionally plant and nurture.

Planting Seeds in Others

And one more thought before we close. I think we also plant seeds in other people. Our words matter. Our reactions matter. The way we love people—or fail to love them—matters.

So maybe this is also an invitation to pay attention to what your life might be planting in the hearts of those around you. Maybe we’ll talk more about that another day.

Prayer

Since I used peace as my example earlier, let me end with a prayer for peace from the blog at YouVersion:

“Father God, I often find myself overwhelmed by circumstances that are beyond my control, and I am easily distracted by things that don’t matter. Please forgive me for not consistently placing my trust in You. Even when I am faced with intense situations, You are still with me. You are the Creator of peace, and I can have access to Your peace-filled presence whenever I draw near to You. So instead of silencing Your Holy Spirit when I start to feel anxious or discouraged, help me to make room in my heart and mind to experience the peace You freely give. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

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