Gardening is a hobby we admire when it is done skillfully and artfully producing a bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables. I’ve tried and I am only modestly successful at producing some tomatoes and hardy peas. It takes a lot of skill, knowledge and upkeep from the beginning of Spring through late Fall. John Maxwell in Winning with People, illustrates this idea in developing relationships, The Gardening Principle – all relationships need cultivation to grow.
It takes a lot of attention and work to maintain a healthy, vibrant garden: weeding, preparing, watering, weeding, seeding, planting, weeding, feeding, weeding, harvesting. Some plants require more skill and attention than other hardy, “leave them alone” varieties. It takes attention and skill to nurture healthy, vibrant friendships, but not all friendships are equal.
Some friendships are for very short and specific reasons: acquaintances, visits to the doctor, your hair stylist, etc. Some people come into our lives for a season, for a period of a few weeks to a few years: our kid’s teachers and coaches, coworkers, business associates, and most friends. Then there are those who come into our lives for a lifetime with ongoing and permanent relationships: family members, your spouse, and close friends.
Peter identifies a specific relationship and gardening principle in 1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
As believers and those obedient to the Truth (Jesus Christ), we are joined in a new relationship with other believers, and the gardening principle is love. In this passage in Greek, Philadelphia, is the love of those united in Christian Brotherhood, or brotherly love. The relationships we have with our brothers and sisters in Christ, are set apart and special from all others, and with it we enjoy unique blessings and hold specific responsibilities.
To cultivate friendships with this gardening principle of Brotherly Love is one that will compel me to garden with sincerity, and deep love from the heart. It will compel me to move beyond my comfort zone of relationships with people that the only thing I have in common is our bond in Christ. I will cultivate relationships with more compassion, with gentleness, joy, peace, hope, perseverance, patience, kindness and many other Christ like tools.
Nurturing healthy, thriving relationships is not easy, and yet if we purposefully garden with Brotherly Love, we will reap a bountiful harvest of lasting, lifelong friendships that will continue through eternity.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
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