If you have tried to maintain a vegetable garden, flower garden, lawn, cropland, pasture or park, you know about weeds. You didn't plant them—they just showed up!

Weeds have been a universal problem since Adam and Eve rebelled and God cursed the ground with "thorns and thistles" (Genesis 3:17-19). And there is a parallel problem. Just as soil left bare quickly becomes infested with weeds, mankind's spiritual nakedness has been dominated by noxious and obnoxious "weeds"—the many selfish and sinful traits of human nature.

Problems with "noxious weeds" (plants, shrubs and trees that are destructive, competitive and/or difficult to control) help us understand our sinful actions and attitudes. Weeds aggressively displace and crowd out desirable plants. Their roots rob neighboring plants of vital water and nutrients. Their foliage blocks out needed sunshine. Many are poisonous to wildlife and livestock. And weeds often spread invasively and rapidly.

A garden that is neglected will produce weeds rather than fruits and vegetables. Likewise, human nature has a tendency to produce weeds of evil rather than good fruit. And those weeds are a continuing threat to our spiritual survival!

So God's Word tells us to aggressively fight our human nature and to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Corinthians 7:1, emphasis added throughout). In other words, God tells us to weed the garden!

But nature abhors a vacuum. We must replace bad habits with good habits or the bad habits will return, like weeds returning when soil is left bare. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). We must replace "sin leading to death" with "obedience leading to righteousness" (Romans 6:16).

Replace sins of the flesh with fruit of the Spirit!

The sinful traits of human nature are what Paul called "the works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19, or "the acts of the sinful nature" in the New International Version). Like a farmer fighting weeds, we need to make war on all of them (verses 16-18).

Here is Paul's list in the New Living Translation: "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21).

Human nature must be replaced by God's nature, which is defined by love, which is further defined by God's commandments (1 John 4:8; 5:3). That replacement begins when we receive the gift of God's Spirit. With God's Spirit, we can rip out the toxic weeds of sin and in their place cultivate the beautiful "fruit of the Spirit . . . love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

Take note that even just one sinful habit you're aware of that you refuse to strive to root out of your life will keep you out of the Kingdom of God. And God doesn't accept excuses. But God will forgive you when He sees sincere repentance. Be aware that true repentance has two ingredients: being truly sorry and making a complete change of direction from disobedience to obedience (2 Corinthians 7:9-10; 2 Chronicles 7:14).

Needed: God's grace and God's Spirit

The only power that can effectively overcome evil is the power of the Holy Spirit. Only when "the Spirit of God dwells in you" and you "are led by the Spirit of God" are you able to "put to death the deeds of the body [actions motivated by human nature]" (Romans 8:9, 13-14). Notice Paul said "put to death." The goal is to permanently eliminate sin.

So "what shall we do" to obtain God's Spirit? Peter answered that by saying, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:37-38).

Peter here spoke of two of God's great gifts: 1) the forgiveness of sins and 2) the gift of His Holy Spirit. These are aspects of God's grace or favor towards us.

By grace God will make you one of His gardens or orchards. Then, by His Spirit, you must "tend and keep it," fight the weeds and "bear much fruit" (Genesis 2:15; John 15:8).

Beware: Evil comes in many forms

Often people don't recognize sin as sin because they aren't familiar with God's laws. Sin is defined as "lawlessness"—the breaking of God's laws (1 John 3:4). "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). So we need to read the Book! It not only reveals God's laws but also gives us lists of sins that help us understand the shocking variety of sin.

Consider what Jesus said about the many sins originating inside us: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark 7:21-22).

Paul referred to even more such sins, describing the coming "last days" as especially evil: "For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:1-5; see also Romans 1:28-31).

Because there are countless kinds of sin, it's very easy to become self-righteous. Consider that if we are shunning a thousand kinds of sins, we're tempted to feel proud and self-satisfied because we are only indulging in three or four sins. But to God, every sin is an abominable, festering wound and a vile affront to His holiness. Every sin deserves the death penalty, and no amount of good behavior can make up for that. The good in our lives may seem to outweigh the bad on our scales, but that is not how God looks at it.

God does not want us to condone or tolerate even one sin. This is what James was explaining in James 2:8-12.

When Paul referred to "all kinds of evil," he said to "flee these things"—meaning all of them (1 Timothy 6:10-11).

Some reasons why every sin is evil and destructive

Another problem is people excusing certain sins they consider to be minor. As Paul learned, we must think of all sin as "exceedingly sinful" (Romans 7:13). Sin is poison. If you put a drop of poison in a glass of water, the water will not neutralize the poison. The one drop poisons the whole glass.

Sin is the way of Satan, the ultimate instigator of sin—the one who is continually sowing the seeds of temptations and deceptions (Revelation 12:9, 17). Sinning, whether intentionally or not, is choosing to follow the devil—on a path away from God. Every temptation is a test of our loyalty to God.

And one sin leads to another. It spreads like an infection. One bad apple spoils the bunch. A diseased tree limb must be pruned before the disease creeps to other limbs. Weeds multiply and spread.

Paul compared sin to baker's yeast, because a little yeast rapidly multiplies and spreads throughout a batch of dough. "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven [of sin]" (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Beware also of "weeds" that are not inherently sinful

Jesus' parable of the sower teaches several vital lessons (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23).

The preaching of the gospel is likened to sowing seeds. People who listen, believe, obey and grow are compared with "good ground" or fertile soil. In them, the seeds germinate, take root, sprout, grow and eventually bear much fruit (Matthew 13:23).

Although many people listen for a little while, the parable gives three major reasons most people don't persevere and bear fruit. One reason is the presence of too many weeds—activities, desires and worries that consume one's time, thoughts and energy so that God gets crowded out.

"Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22). Mark's account adds another thorn: "and the desires for other things" (Mark 4:19).

And compare Luke's account: "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity" (Luke 8:14).

These verses point to several distractions. One is materialism and covetousness. Another is being too busy—having too many irons in the fire. Another is a complicated life that needs to be simplified. Another is worries that need to be replaced by trust in God. Another is too much pleasure-seeking.

The main lesson? Even things that are not sins in themselves can be likened to weeds when they interfere with spiritual growth and bearing fruit. In fact, we're guilty of idolatry whenever God is not our top priority. Jesus told us to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [the necessities of life] shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

Killing weeds, roots and all

The battle between the flesh and the Spirit is lifelong—we must never stop fighting. And when we fight sin, we fight to kill. As Paul admonishes us, "put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5, NIV).

With many weeds, cutting them down won't kill them. When a root is left in the ground, the weed grows back. A spiritual example is when a person hides a "root of bitterness" (Hebrews 12:15). Usually it eventually erupts into full-blown bitterness.

The word eradicate comes from two Latin words—radix, meaning "root," and ex, meaning "out." Eradicate means "root out" or "tear out by the roots."

If you want to bear good fruit and much fruit, by God's grace and power, you must keep eradicating one sin after another—roots and all. And if the same type of sin pops up again, attack it again! Eradicate! May God help you to succeed. GN