Faith Love ForgivenessSample

Cultivating Faith

Have you ever felt like God literally stopped you dead in your tracks while reading Scripture, and then you heard Him whisper in your ear something like “I want you to chew on what you just read”? A gentle yet clear assignment you knew you either must surrender to or miss out on something God was wanting to teach you. That happened to me one morning when I was reading in Psalms and got to Psalm 37:3 (nasb1995): “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” And just like that, I felt God turn my complete attention to one phrase: cultivate faithfulness.

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “cultivate”? Is it a garden? Or digging in the soil? Or maybe planting seeds under the watchful eye of a patient gardener who meticulously cultivates his harvest? Whatever “cultivate” means to you, we can all agree that it is a laborious process. In fact, Merriam Webster defines it as (1) to foster the growth of; (2) further, encourage; and (3) refine: to improve by labor, care, or study.

Are you a plant lover? Those who genuinely love to garden are usually extremely patient, very watchful, and particularly detailed. They feel protective over their seedlings, feeding and watching and fostering their growth.

In the context of Psalm 37:3, those surrounding David were complaining that others who did not love God were prospering, while they, who did love God, were suffering. This was not fair, and they were letting David know about it! David replied, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness (Nasb1995).”

What I know therapeutically is that unless you are buying something and need to compare prices, comparison breeds discontentment almost 100 percent of the time. And in this case, those surrounding David were cultivating discontentment by comparing themselves to others. I can’t help but think that’s what David was trying to teach his companions—and what God was trying to teach me that morning.

We are cultivating something literally all the time. Have you ever thought about it that way? At times, we can even cultivate negative things like bitterness—and just like a seed that is watered, bitterness also grows. Likewise, kindness and joy can be cultivated and can grow exponentially when nurtured and cared for. And just like a master gardener cultivating plants, we can cultivate faithfulness by digging into God’s Word, and we can water it by spending time with the Lord. Our roots then become planted deep in the soil of our faith so that when storms come—and they do come—we will not be washed away. It can be a laborious process but one that God desires to walk with us every step, hand in hand.

Whatever we cultivate can draw us closer to God or can become a distraction from Him.

SUSAN GOSS