Gardens are for Growing.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Pe1.8

The other day, someone very dear to me, wrote to share something they have recently learned about the Christian life: “I must move forward...because there is no such thing as standing still....if I am not moving forward then its only a matter of time before I am going backwards.”
We are told in these verses, not only to possess certain qualities but to possess them in such a manner that they are increasing. Growth is essential to life. Dead things do not grow. Jesus likened our relationship with Him to a living vine. He explained that His Father is the gardener and that He not only tends His vine but is seeking fruit from it. I can relate. Right now my garden is a flurry of Spring growth. Everyday I witness something new is bursting out of the ground. Fresh buds are appearing and the fragrance of Spring flowers is filling the air. I too am active in my garden, daily planting and pruning, always looking for some new growth. After all, gardens are for growing.
God who is overflowing and abundant goodness, cannot help but desire for us to be effective and fruitful. The qualities mentioned above are the fruit of His life in us. He works in the garden of our soul, to will and do His good pleasure. We respond to His tender care by working out all the He is working in us. All the while we are experiencing the cultivation of a mature inner life. It is true then, that growth is an essential of life. If we are not growing, we are dying. Let us then respond to His energies by making every effort to add to our faith. 3/14/07 ts