Weeding

I have a flower bed in my backyard which I tend to neglect. It is not visible to outsiders, since it can only be seen from the inside of my home. Last year I spent hours weeding it, but the weeds were all back in a week. So, this year when my husband suggested that we tackle that project again, I was less than enthusiastic. However, we spent several afternoons weeding, culling, pruning, and clearing that space. We also put down a chemical that prevents new weeds from germinating, then covered the clear space with landscape fabric, and then topped it off with mulch. Hopefully, all our work will keep this flower bed in some semblance of order.

While we were working on this flower bed, I wondered about the many weeds which pop up in my day-to-day life. Weeds can be anything that is not meant to grow in a certain space—any habit, attitude, or choice. These unintentional seedlings take root and suck up the nutrients which are meant for what God intentionally planted in our lives. Now, during certain seasons we go through and prune, cull, and clean out some of these weeds. Yet, they pop right back up if we don’t pay attention. 

How can we prevent new weeds from taking root after we have cleaned out our lives? What kind of barriers can we put down?