Tilling the Soil of My Heart
There’s a moment in Genesis, before the animals, before Adam and Eve were naming lizards and trying to make fig leaves work as fashion, where Scripture gives us a glimpse into what was missing.
“When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to till the ground.”
—Genesis 2:4–5
Read that again. Nothing was growing, not because the seeds weren’t there, but because the ground hadn’t been watered or tilled yet.
No rain.
No people to work the soil.
So the potential stayed buried.
I think some of us are walking around like that verse. Seed in us. Calling on us. Potential under us. But dry. Untilled. Untouched.
And here’s the thing: Jesus talked about this all the time. In Matthew 13, He told a story about a farmer throwing seed out and getting very different results, not because the seed was bad, but because the soil wasn’t ready.
So this isn’t just about speaking truth or praying louder. This is about letting the Holy Spirit work the soil of your heart, because breakthrough doesn’t grow on autopilot.
It starts with tilling.
? What Does Tilling Look Like?
This isn’t farm life cosplay. We’re not buying overalls or naming our soul “Old MacDonald.” But we are going to ask the Holy Spirit to go beneath the surface. Not just the parts you post. The parts that ache. The parts that shut down. The parts where lies have taken root.
Let’s talk practically because if it can’t work on a Tuesday in traffic or in the middle of bedtime chaos, it’s not the kind of Jesus I want to follow.
1. Invite the Holy Spirit to Search You
David didn’t say, “Help me chill out.” He said:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” —Psalm 139:23
This is how tilling starts. It’s not deep breath vibes or positive mantras. It’s vulnerability.
Ask:
- What have I been guarding?
- What lie did I believe that You didn’t say? - What’s growing that You never planted?
This part hurts. It’s not for the faint of heart. But the Spirit doesn’t do drive-bys. He digs to heal, not to humiliate.
2. Name the Lie and Plant Truth Instead
Every rotten tree in your life started with a lie. What was spoken over you that you let stay?
What did you say over yourself and start watering?
This is the time to get honest and say: “This root has been here too long.”
Then go to war with the Word:
- “I’m too broken” → Psalm 147:3
- “I’ll never be enough” → 2 Corinthians 12:9
- “I can’t change” → 2 Corinthians 5:17
Rip out the lie. Plant something better.
3. Practice Forgiveness — Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
You don’t have to “feel” like forgiving someone to do it. But if you don’t forgive, your soil’s going to stay tangled up in weeds. That bitterness spreads like Florida kudzu on steroids.
Ephesians 4:31–32 says to “get rid of all bitterness... forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
This isn’t denying what happened. This is declaring:
“You don’t get to control what God grows in me anymore.”
4. Bring the Real You into Prayer
Hard soil isn’t stubborn it’s usually sad.
It got that way because something dried it out.
A loss. A betrayal. A burnout moment you never came back from.
But God doesn’t need polished prayers. He wants your real voice.
Yell. Ugly cry. Sit in silence. Do the thing that lets your heart come out of hiding.
Dry ground doesn’t get tilled until it gets watered—and tears are some of the most spiritual water you’ve got.
5. Stay in the Word, Even if It Feels Like a Slow Soak
You ever try to till dry ground? It’s like trying to cut steak with a plastic spoon. That’s why farmers soak the soil first and that’s what the Word does in you.
Don’t read just for dopamine. Read for drip. Let it soak.
Even if it feels slow.
Even if nothing “hits.”
It’s softening you beneath the surface.
6. Confess, Repent, Repeat
Sometimes it’s not what they did. It’s what we let grow.
Sin doesn’t always scream. Sometimes it whispers until it becomes a tree in the middle of your yard.
Tilling means saying:
- “I planted that with my pride.”
- “I watered that with comparison.”
- “I ignored that because it was easier than change.”
But Proverbs 28:13 reminds us:
“The one who confesses and renounces their sin finds mercy.”
And God’s mercy? It’s like Miracle-Gro on fresh tilled soil.
7. Surround Yourself with People Who Help You Grow
Don’t till the ground and then let people with spiritual steel-toed boots stomp through it.
This season requires wise voices.
- People who speak truth, not just sympathy.
- Friends who water you with prayer, not gossip.
- Environments that nourish you, not drain you.
Your garden needs a gate of good people. Don’t apologize for being intentional with one.
? Let Me End With This
You are not what others did to you.
You are not the lie you believed.
You are not your worst moment.
You are not too far gone.
You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).
You are soil He wants to grow something eternal in. And the tilling? That’s not punishment.
It’s preparation.
So till the ground this summer. Not to destroy but to grow something that’ll outlast the season. ?
“When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to till the ground.”
—Genesis 2:4–5
Read that again. Nothing was growing, not because the seeds weren’t there, but because the ground hadn’t been watered or tilled yet.
No rain.
No people to work the soil.
So the potential stayed buried.
I think some of us are walking around like that verse. Seed in us. Calling on us. Potential under us. But dry. Untilled. Untouched.
And here’s the thing: Jesus talked about this all the time. In Matthew 13, He told a story about a farmer throwing seed out and getting very different results, not because the seed was bad, but because the soil wasn’t ready.
So this isn’t just about speaking truth or praying louder. This is about letting the Holy Spirit work the soil of your heart, because breakthrough doesn’t grow on autopilot.
It starts with tilling.
? What Does Tilling Look Like?
This isn’t farm life cosplay. We’re not buying overalls or naming our soul “Old MacDonald.” But we are going to ask the Holy Spirit to go beneath the surface. Not just the parts you post. The parts that ache. The parts that shut down. The parts where lies have taken root.
Let’s talk practically because if it can’t work on a Tuesday in traffic or in the middle of bedtime chaos, it’s not the kind of Jesus I want to follow.
1. Invite the Holy Spirit to Search You
David didn’t say, “Help me chill out.” He said:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” —Psalm 139:23
This is how tilling starts. It’s not deep breath vibes or positive mantras. It’s vulnerability.
Ask:
- What have I been guarding?
- What lie did I believe that You didn’t say? - What’s growing that You never planted?
This part hurts. It’s not for the faint of heart. But the Spirit doesn’t do drive-bys. He digs to heal, not to humiliate.
2. Name the Lie and Plant Truth Instead
Every rotten tree in your life started with a lie. What was spoken over you that you let stay?
What did you say over yourself and start watering?
This is the time to get honest and say: “This root has been here too long.”
Then go to war with the Word:
- “I’m too broken” → Psalm 147:3
- “I’ll never be enough” → 2 Corinthians 12:9
- “I can’t change” → 2 Corinthians 5:17
Rip out the lie. Plant something better.
3. Practice Forgiveness — Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
You don’t have to “feel” like forgiving someone to do it. But if you don’t forgive, your soil’s going to stay tangled up in weeds. That bitterness spreads like Florida kudzu on steroids.
Ephesians 4:31–32 says to “get rid of all bitterness... forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
This isn’t denying what happened. This is declaring:
“You don’t get to control what God grows in me anymore.”
4. Bring the Real You into Prayer
Hard soil isn’t stubborn it’s usually sad.
It got that way because something dried it out.
A loss. A betrayal. A burnout moment you never came back from.
But God doesn’t need polished prayers. He wants your real voice.
Yell. Ugly cry. Sit in silence. Do the thing that lets your heart come out of hiding.
Dry ground doesn’t get tilled until it gets watered—and tears are some of the most spiritual water you’ve got.
5. Stay in the Word, Even if It Feels Like a Slow Soak
You ever try to till dry ground? It’s like trying to cut steak with a plastic spoon. That’s why farmers soak the soil first and that’s what the Word does in you.
Don’t read just for dopamine. Read for drip. Let it soak.
Even if it feels slow.
Even if nothing “hits.”
It’s softening you beneath the surface.
6. Confess, Repent, Repeat
Sometimes it’s not what they did. It’s what we let grow.
Sin doesn’t always scream. Sometimes it whispers until it becomes a tree in the middle of your yard.
Tilling means saying:
- “I planted that with my pride.”
- “I watered that with comparison.”
- “I ignored that because it was easier than change.”
But Proverbs 28:13 reminds us:
“The one who confesses and renounces their sin finds mercy.”
And God’s mercy? It’s like Miracle-Gro on fresh tilled soil.
7. Surround Yourself with People Who Help You Grow
Don’t till the ground and then let people with spiritual steel-toed boots stomp through it.
This season requires wise voices.
- People who speak truth, not just sympathy.
- Friends who water you with prayer, not gossip.
- Environments that nourish you, not drain you.
Your garden needs a gate of good people. Don’t apologize for being intentional with one.
? Let Me End With This
You are not what others did to you.
You are not the lie you believed.
You are not your worst moment.
You are not too far gone.
You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).
You are soil He wants to grow something eternal in. And the tilling? That’s not punishment.
It’s preparation.
So till the ground this summer. Not to destroy but to grow something that’ll outlast the season. ?
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