From Melissa Purcell

Abundant Hydrangeas

WHERE ARE YOU PLANTED?

For years, I’ve loved growing hydrangeas. They’re one of my favourite plants because my grandmother had them in her garden. Each year, I would marvel at the beautiful, bright colours she always managed to get on them. Eventually, I decided to start my own hydrangea garden, but early on, every attempt I made to grow them failed. I kept planting them in spots that got full sun, thinking they’d thrive, but they burned, wilted, and died instead.

It wasn’t until I learned what hydrangeas actually needed that things changed. They needed rich soil, regular watering, and a position with morning sun and afternoon shade. Once I moved them to the right environment with the right conditions, everything was different. They didn’t just survive; they flourished, just like my grandmother’s.

Now, every year, I have more than enough hydrangeas to fill our home with fresh flowers. They grow abundantly, beautifully — all because they’ve been planted in the right place.

Our spiritual lives work much the same way.

Paul writes in Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT):

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.”

These qualities, also known as ‘the fruit of the Spirit’, don’t come from trying harder or striving. They grow when our lives are rooted in the right environment: a life shaped by the Holy Spirit, nourished by God’s presence, and surrounded by discipleship and community. When the soil is right, the fruit comes.

Hydrangeas don’t produce vibrant flowers by accident. They grow because they are planted where they can receive what they need. The same is true in our journey with Jesus. Spiritual fruit doesn’t appear in our lives because we grit our teeth and force ourselves to be more loving or patient. It grows because the Holy Spirit is at work in us and because we’re planted in the right conditions.

When we spend time with Jesus, engage in meaningful community, regularly reflect on Scripture, and allow others to disciple us, we create the spiritual “soil” where the fruit of the Spirit can flourish. Likewise, when we invest in discipling others, encouraging them, walking with them, and helping them grow, we help create that environment for someone else.

But when we place ourselves in environments that exhaust us spiritually, isolate us, or pull us away from God’s presence, it’s harder for this fruit to grow. Just like my hydrangeas in the hot sun, we can wither.

The good news is this: God delights in helping us thrive. The Holy Spirit is constantly forming us, reshaping us, and cultivating fruit that reflects the heart of Jesus. When we choose the right rhythms, relationships, and environments, the fruit will come. And like a garden overflowing with blooms, that fruit isn’t just for us. It blesses everyone around us.

Reflection

• What spiritual environment are you currently planted in? Is it helping you grow?
• Which fruit of the Spirit do you sense God wants to cultivate more deeply in you?
• What is one change you can make this week to improve the ‘discipleship soil’ you are planted in?

Prayer

Holy Spirit, thank you for the way you grow your fruit within me. Help me to plant my life in the right soil - to nurture rhythms and relationships that will help me thrive in you. Cultivate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in my heart. Teach me to nurture this same environment in others as I disciple them. Make my life a garden that reflects Jesus. Amen.