There are a few things we can take from gardening that apply to how you can “weed” our mindset! As an infant, we start out on a clean slate. Think of it as an empty field ready for planting. Garden soil if kept bare will erode. It is planted with the hope and joy of parents, family, and friends. As a child grows events influence what is planted. What I want you to think about today is what happens when weeds start to invade the garden of your mind. Ponder on these 3 areas to prevent crop failure!
GARDENING 101
Penn State now has data that
1. No-till production farmers can cut herbicide use and control weeds. (No-till is where the soil is never or rarely plowed or disturbed (psu.edu)
It is also common practice to rotate crops.
2. Multiple crops are to be planted in a rotation to break weed, insect, and disease cycles. Rotations produce healthy and productive crops. Rotations are planned to produce residue cover for erosion control and moisture conservation. Rotations with hay or cover crops can reduce fertilizer and pesticide usage (nrcs.usda.gov)
Everything that gardeners/farmers do is to have a vigorous healthy crop. Weeds challenge a healthy crop.
3. Weeding is necessary because weeds compete with the main crop plant for different factors such as water, sunlight, nutrients, and space and hence affect plant growth. Due to unwanted plants, there is a reduction in yield …. Weeds transmit diseases and pests. That’s why it is necessary to control weeds in time. (digitrac.in/agricare-blog)
WEEDING YOUR MINDSET!
For some reason in mental torment weeds have taken root. Your thoughts may need a thorough weeding to get back on track . What might we be able to learn from the information above in the gardening 101 section
- If you keep tilling your thoughts. You keep bringing to the surface that which is undesirable. Those old “weed seeds” are again activated by seeing the light of day.
- Crop rotation brings about healthier plants. Planting the same crops repeatedly in the same soil deplete nutrients. The process of continuously thinking about the same thoughts, which tend to be sad or dark, is called rumination. A habit of rumination can be dangerous to your mental health, as it can prolong or intensify depression as well as impair your ability to think and process emotions. healthline.com is one of the co-occurring symptoms found in anxiety, panic, depression, OCD…
- WEEDING Just as herbicides may be used to help with allowing the main crop to thrive, weeding out negative thoughts and influences is necessary for mental health.
Why we must control the weeds in our thought patterns
Weeds do NOT produce fruit! This makes them invaluable as a crop. This is why they grow faster. All their energy is put into producing more weed seeds that crowd out the cash crop.
YOUR CASH CROP IS A LIFE LIVED IN PEACE AND JOY
Weeds rob the soil of nutrients from fruit-producing plants. When the soil of your mind becomes overrun with the weeds of negativity, it is is void of nutrients. Your life will be void of the joy of living.
JUST LIKE #1,2 & 3 above
Those with mental health issues need to 1.keep buried that which causes torment, 2.stop ruminating that which is not desirerable, 3.weed out negative thoughts,
These comparisons may help some understand how your mind/mindset is like a crop that must be tended to in much the same fashion.
To change your behavior you must change the way you think…
Be responsible for your mind – your garden.
Don’t allow well-meaning people to dump their garbage in your garden.
Don’t allow what was harmful to those in the past, to plant seeds in your garden.
Don’t be ruled by tradition. Don’t allow things to be planted in your garden just because they were deemed to be acceptable by others.
Don’t allow what was harmful to those in the past and other generations to put their junk in your garden.
Don’t rent out space in your garden.
Don’t give people who don’t know the promises of God, access to that which is planted in your garden.
Be responsible. Keep a close eye on your garden. Constantly investigate. Find where stuff came from and why it is there.
You reap what you sow. If you are reaping junk, check your garden. Don’t allow junk to go to seed and to spread and to take over your garden.
PS
Don’t allow the enemy to plant seeds that war against the promises of God. You have to check out every thought and see if it is congruent with these promises.
Don’t entertain thoughts that could hinder your relationship with God.
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