Nurture Your Lawn

Sneak Peak: The grass isn’t greener on the other side. It only grows where you nurture it.

As the holidays come up, I feel like I’m in a season of stillness. Things are quiet in my life right now. Sometimes, quiet is a good thing because it gives me time to focus on my lawn. What do I mean by this? Our culture is always looking for things that are convenient for short-term satisfaction.

We love to see what else is out there. What if I can get even a better job—with better money? What if I can get a better-looking man who compliments me a lot more? What if I can move to another city, state, or country because it’s cooler than where I’m at? You see what I mean. It seems like we’re always on the move for something better. The grass is greener on the other side, right? Instead, why can’t we just stay on our own lawns, take care of them, and let God bless us with new opportunities?

The Tale of Two Neighbors

Let me explain. Let’s say you live in a suburban neighborhood. You know, white fences. Brick houses that look the same. If you haven’t lived in the suburbs, one thing suburbanites take pride in (most of the time) are their lawns. It’s a way to get appeal to outsiders. That’s why most suburban division have a Home Owners Association (HOAs). The HOA gives parameters about your home. Don’t cut your grass too short. Don’t let your grass turn into a jungle. Keep your house color painted. Don’t have trash laying out.

There are two neighbors—Cain and Abel (you’ll understand why I chose those names shortly), who both own a lawn in this subdivision. Cain cut his grass once every two weeks. He doesn’t keep trash off his lawn, so you see chip wrappers on his grass. He may water his grass once a month. As a result, his lawn isn’t meeting the parameters set by the HOA.

Then, there’s Abel. Abel cuts his grass once a week. He even has a ruler to measure the exact dimensions. Abel also waters his grass regularly to keep it lively. He keeps trash inside of the bin. In addition, Abel even began planting flowers to make his lawn more appealing. The HOA president stops by, for their rounds, and the HOA notices Cain’s lackluster lawn first.

“Uhm, Cain, you do realize your lawn is looking bad, right?”

“Yeah, but you still see some grass, right?”

“Right, but it doesn’t meet the HOA parameters.”

The HOA president notices Abel’s yard and rushes over. They’re amazed with the beauty of it. Abel and the HOA president shakes hands and he passes the inspection. Now, Cain could’ve taken notes from Abel, asked Abel what tools he uses. Instead, Cain became bitter.

One day, while Abel is at work, Cain goes into Abel’s yard, and destroys it. I know this may seem insane to you, but many of us are Cain. Instead of improving ourselves, we focus on what others have. We chase opportunities, things, or even people, that may not be what’s best for us. Cain could’ve fixed his lawn, and been more productive with his time in doing so. Instead, he wasted time by destroying what someone else had. How ridiculous is that?

Two Brothers: Cain and Abel

Why Cain and Abel? Well, Cain and Abel were two brothers in the Bible. Cain and Abel gave sacrifices to God. Cain decided to give God a sacrifice of fruits. Abel gave the first of his fatstock to God. Who did God bless? Abel. Why? Abel gave his first to God. Cain thought about God afterwards. In other words, Cain was showing he didn’t put God first in his life. What did God say to Cain?

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6)

Since Cain didn’t focus on his own flaws (putting God second and disobedience), he got jealous of Abel’s offering, and killed him. You can check out this story in Genesis 4. If we translate this today, God is telling us to obey Him, put Him first, do what He tells you to do, and He will bless you. “Hey, if you do what I tell you, that’s clearly outlined for you, wouldn’t I not bless you?”

Nurture Your Lawn

In other words, God is telling us to focus on doing what’s right for ourselves and in return, we will be blessed and favored by Him. The problem is, many of us struggle with contentment. We struggle with being still, and improving ourselves. We chase quick solutions, maybe not killing a sibling, but maybe, we kill time, other people’s spirits, our talents, and our bodies.

How many of us have killed our finances by not tithing, saving, planning ahead, and investing? Instead, we blew our paychecks on going out every weekend, buying that new designer bag, or even taking vacations we know we couldn’t afford.

How many of us have killed our own bodies by not practicing virtue, monitoring who goes in and out of us? Instead, we gave ourselves sexually to the wrong men just for short-term pleasure and are left with soul ties.

How many of us have killed our talents by not learning what skills we’ve been blessed with and exercising them? Instead, we hid our gifts to please others, or to avoid being mocked.

How many of us have killed our health by not eating a balanced diet and exercising? Instead, we turned to junk food, eating out, excessive drinking, and slowly decreased our life on this earth.

How many of us have killed our relationship with Christ by not praying, seeking Him, reading our Bibles, attending church, and showing His love to others? Instead, we decided to become undercover in our faith, more focused on pleasing the world, instead of God.

There are many ways to nurture yourself. What I’m saying is there’s no need to step out of your lawn. If you obey what God tells you to work on, have faith that he will supply you with what you need (not want), then you can be content (Philippians 4:19, Philippians 4:11-13). It may be easier to chase other lawns, but when you do this, you will neglect the grass in yours.

What are some ways to nurture your lawn? Let me know in the comments. Keep things peaceful, positive, and true.

Also…follow me on my Insta @authenticallybrittany!