This week, I pulled into my driveway and noticed something new growing in my front yard.
With some extra heat and the thinning of the good grass, my yard revealed something I was not excited to see. A strange grass-looking weed had been growing, and I didn’t even see it coming. This new weed also brought friends; one looks like a type of clover, and the other is something I can’t identify yet.
Sin is like those weeds that surprised me this week.
Sin often begins unnoticed, growing beneath the surface, and then with the right conditions it shows up in force.
Healthy lawns and healthy hearts need ongoing care. We should not be surprised when our lawns and our hearts remind us that we live in a broken world.
God graciously cares for us by exposing the sin growing in our hearts. The Holy Spirit doesn’t reveal sin to shame us but to invite us into deeper fellowship with the Father through Jesus.
John writes these familiar words:
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ” (1 John 1:8–9)
One memory that often pops into my head is that of a mentor inviting me to pray that the things grown in the dark would be brought into the healing power of the light of Jesus. David prayed in Psalm 139: “Search me, O God, and know my heart… See if there is any offensive way in me.”
Healthy Christians practice the regular rhythms of confession and repentance. As we walk with Jesus, we should expect the Holy Spirit to reveal to us places where we have fallen short. These moments are not an invitation to despair but a gift of grace for us to turn to the finished work of Jesus.
Mature Christians aren’t those with weed-free hearts but those who keep bringing their weeds into the light of Christ.
As God graciously reveals the sin weeds growing in our hearts, may we be quick to confess them, turn from them, and rest again in the forgiveness and cleansing that Christ freely gives.
May our confidence rest more in Christ, knowing that he is “faithful and just” even when we are not.
With joyful hope,
Pastor Jonas
PS. Our Kindred Campus is excited to join Fargo for worship, lunch, and the congregational meeting this Sunday. It will be good to all be together!