“Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad.” Song of Solomon 4:16

I know Solomon was speaking of a love for a woman but as I was reading it I thought about my own garden. Me being the garden! Does my garden have the sweet smelling fragrances that draws others to Christ or am I allowing a few weeds to take over it?

So what is a weed? Weeds are plants that are growing where they do not belong destroying the beautiful or fruitful plants.

One weed, for example, can be our words. Do our words bring sweetness, encourage- ment, and comfort or are they hurtful and cutting? I know people who have allowed the sting of words to be devastating to them for years, just like weeds are to a garden. I have used this before, but I loved what Thumper said from the movie Bambi, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all”. If you are questioning in your mind “should I say this” then in all probability you should just keep it to yourself.

I loved what one of the instructors from MorningStar who was teaching at the Vine told us. In your discernment, if you see this person is not where they need to be with Christ or see something that is not good in their life, don’t pass along negativity to them but pray until the Holy Spirit gives you something positive to say to them. Let your words be encouraging. In our world today we need encouragement; there is already plenty of tearing down. 1 Corinthians 14:3 tells us, “But he that prophesies speaketh unto men edification, and exhortation, and comfort”.

So I pray our gardens (US) will give off the wonderful fragrance of edification, exhortation and comfort.

Shelia Bishop