Growing means becoming like a child again.

Growing In Faith Through Every Day…

Weeding and Planting

James 1:21-25
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted
word, which is able to save your souls. (22)But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves. (23)For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural
face in a mirror; (24)for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he
was. (25)But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer
but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

I. Weeding

αποθεμενοι – 2nd aorist, mid., participle, nom., mas. – having laid aside
from: ἀποτίθημι – put away, lay aside
from: ἀπο (away from) + τίθημι (put, set, lay)

 The word put away, as a participle, technically means “having put away” or “having set aside.”
 It means, as Christians, it is expected of us to “have laid aside” our sinful nature, not as a
response to a commandment but a natural result of God’s redemption.
 God saved us not only to regulate our wicked tendencies but to put them away, get rid of them,
and live a life separated and distinct from the old self.
 Controlling our evil tendencies, suppressing our sinful instincts are not yet the fulfilment of a
transformed life but the power to “put away” and put to death the sinful nature.

What do we need to weed out?

ῥυπαρία – dirtiness, filthiness

 Filthiness refer to the actions which are morally unacceptable.

 These are external manifestations and expressions of man’s sinful desires.
 In today’s contextual application, not all filthiness is sin and not all sin is “morally filthy.”
 Tattoo, liquor, loud music, are few examples of morally condemnable issues.
 However, lack of commitment in the ministry, passionless worship, and slandering our
neighbors, children, parents, friends and family members are only a few things that appear to be
acceptable but are expressly condemned in God’s word.
 Filthiness, as stated in the Bible refers to the outflow of wickedness.

περισσειαν – abounding, overflowing

κακιας – wickedness, badness, evil

 Wickedness refers to the internal condition of man’s evil heart.

 Immoral actions are not necessary to prove the internal state of wickedness.
 Evil can independently exist in man’s heart even without evident manifestations.

Matthew 12:33-35
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is
known by its fruit. (34) Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (35) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings
forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

 It is when someone’s heart is consumed by evil that his actions begin to display acts of iniquity.
 To name a few, we steal because of greed, sexual immorality results from lust and slander is an
outflow of malice.

Why is weeding necessary?

 So that the soil will be ready and fertile enough to be planted.

 Filthiness and dirtiness is not too much of a problem because humans have the capacity to
mimic both bad and good in their actions altogether.
 However, it is the heart that cannot accommodate both good and evil at the same time. Evil
must be extracted before the good can be planted.
II. Planting

πραυτ́ ης – meekness, mildness

δεξασθε – aor., mid., dep., imperative, 2nd, pl. – receive

 A heart redeemed by God is a soft soil, ready to receive the seed, which is the Word of God.
 A heart that “receives” the teachings of God but with much struggle and resistance is a hard soil
where the seed cannot flourish.

εμφυτον – implanted, engrafted

 Unlike the Law, the Word of God no longer operates as an external set of rules in the life of a
Christian.
 A redeemed life becomes one with the Word, engrafted in a Christian’s life.
 Out from it springs the power that guides the steps of a redeemed person, not with letters but
with Spirit.
 A religious man without the spirit treats God’s Word as an external guiding principle which
makes obedience optional.
 God’s word, for a genuine Christian, is more than a set of laws to follow, but rather the only
available path which he can tread upon.