Planting Seeds

There are few things worse than being trusted with a responsibility and then not seeing it through to completion. Whether it’s a paper for school, a project for work, or something we have been tasked with by someone we care about. When we fail to follow through on something we have committed to, it reflects poorly on our character.

Too often in my spiritual life, I have felt this way. I have felt like I have let God down in how much I share my faith and bring people to faith in Christ. Most of the time, the feelings of failure that come forward have been due to a poor understanding of myself and what God expects me to do in my life as a Christ-follower.

For years, I thought I was responsible for friends and family members who were not yet Christians to have faith and believe. It was up to me to convince them and to change their hearts toward Jesus. As this began to take root in my life, it slowly began to crush me as those in my life I was trying to reach were not choosing Christ. They stayed where they were, content with life how it was.

Look at what it says in 1 Corinthians 3:4-7:

[quote] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another “I follow Apollos,” are you not merely being human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. [/quote]

Our responsibility: Plant and Water

Have you ever planted flowers or fruit and vegetables in your garden? You can buy the best seeds, you can plant them in the richest soil, you can water them meticulously. Those are great things to do to give the seeds the best opportunity to grow and produce.

Our faith lives are the same way. We use wisdom and take opportunities to develop relationships with people, to share the Gospel, and to be open with our joys and our struggles. We trust in the Scriptures and pray for those who do not yet know Jesus and what He has done for them on the Cross. We seek opportunities to love and serve those around us, in and out of the church.

But all of this, ultimately, will not change the hearts of people. Only God can do that.

God’s responsibility: Give the growth

Whenever we plant seeds we anticipate a great crop. We used the best seeds and soil, we have watered every day, and now we wait. But sometimes nothing comes up. With all the work we put in, there is no visible evidence that the seeds have grown. What’s going on?

We must remember that while we plant seeds of the Gospel and water them, we are not responsible for changing people’s hearts. Yes, we love people, we build relationships and use wisdom in how we share the message of Christ, but that is where our responsibility ends and we trust God.

Why would God do it this way?

God alone gets the glory

As Christians, we have our old, sinful flesh that desires to get glory for everything we do. We want glory for our paycheck, our house, our job, our kids. We want glory for someone we know coming to Christ and experiencing new life in Him. What this desire ultimately shows is that we think we deserve praise and honor for what we have accomplished.

God doesn’t let us fall into that trap when it comes to people turning to Jesus. God reserves all of the glory for Himself. Even though God doesn’t need us, He chooses to include us in reconciling people to Himself. Like a loving Father, He lets His children share in the work that He could do Himself. In doing this, His children get to experience the joy of being on mission and the opportunity to see lives changed by the Gospel.