The same is true in our souls and in our relationships. We need to nurture, allow time for change, and then trust God to do the work of a Master Gardener. We cannot work hard enough to produce peace. Peace comes as a by-product of yielding our lives fully to the Holy Spirit. The same is true of joy, patience, gentleness, goodness, and all the other fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The key to the Christian’s growth is recognizing and accepting the control of the Holy Spirit.

We accept the Spirit’s control over our lives by faith. We neither wait nor plead for some great emotional experience. Having confessed our sins and asked for His control, we simply believe that He is working within us, and we journey along through life, trusting our marriages through candor, confession, and sacrifice. We believe that He is at work in us, pruning and nurturing our souls and our relationships so that we, like the slow-blooming fig tree, will bear much fruit.

Take some time to pray, asking God…

To help you be patient with yourself and with your relationship as you wait to see growth;

To show you how you can nurture your relationships.

To give you faith to believe that He is at work in you and in your relationships – even when you cannot yet see it.

Take time to reflect…

As you look back over the years of your following Christ, what are some specific ways you can see He has grown you?

Reflect bac on your marriage. What are some specific ways you can see He has been working in your marriage?

What are some areas of your marriage you’d like to see God nurture?

Consider these passages for further study on Growth:

John 15:1-8

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Galatians 5:16-26

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[a] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Devotional thoughts of Gary Chapman. It makes me see how we are always seeking ways to grow and help others.