{"id":991,"date":"2018-10-29T18:23:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T18:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=991"},"modified":"2018-10-29T18:23:04","modified_gmt":"2018-10-29T18:23:04","slug":"kind-seeds-planting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/10\/kind-seeds-planting.html","title":{"rendered":"What Kind of Seeds Are You Planting?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"agriculture-close-up-cultivation-1002703\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of the mustard seed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. \u00a0<\/sup>Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.\u201d Matthew 13: 31-32 (NIV)<\/p>\n

The point Jesus is making in this parable is that the creation of the kingdom of heaven on earth will start with something small, like a mustard seed. Specifically, it will start with a young carpenter who preaches about love, justice, forgiveness\u00a0and kindness, and who dies on a cross.\u00a0 His life and those ideas were small, seemingly insignificant seeds.\u00a0 However, two thousand years later those seeds have given rise to a religion that touches people all over the world.<\/p>\n

The same idea holds true when we want to do the work of creating the kingdom of heaven on earth. We don\u2019t need to do anything grand.\u00a0 We simply need to plant tiny mustard seeds.<\/p>\n

Let me give you an example.\u00a0 When I was growing up, I had Sunday School teachers who planted Bible stories in my head. I don\u2019t think they thought much of it.\u00a0 But when I became a teenager and during my early twenties, I took great solace in those stories.\u00a0 And when I went through the process of growing up and becoming an adult, the small seeds that those teachers planted changed how I developed as a person.\u00a0 Those seeds led me to study religion in college and graduate school.\u00a0 They also created in me a lifelong desire in me to learn about the Bible and the teachings of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Now that I am an adult and a Sunday School teacher, I try to do the same thing that my teachers did. I try to plant Bible stories in my students\u2019 heads.\u00a0 I want the morals of those stories to take root and change how my students think about the world.\u00a0 My kids will readily tell you from the story of the Tower of Babel that God loves humility and hates pride.\u00a0 And they will gladly tell you from the story of Daniel in the Lion\u2019s Den that God is our great protector.\u00a0 My hope is that when they become adults, some of what they have learned will help guide them in life.<\/p>\n

Planting small seeds will change the world \u2013 for better or worse. We can plant seeds of love or of hate.\u00a0 Right now, we are seeing the effects of having a cavalier view of the type of seeds that we plant.\u00a0 Seeds of hate have been planted for a number of years now by certain people in power, and those seeds have taken root in the minds of very troubled people.\u00a0 Some of those people have committed violent acts in the last week or so in our country.<\/p>\n

It is important to pay attention to the small seeds which you are planting each day. Are you encouraging people and planting seeds of hope in others?\u00a0 Or do you insult and denigrate others?\u00a0 Do you commit random acts of kindness which make others feel loved and cared for?\u00a0 Or do you live selfishly?\u00a0 Do you speak softly and with maturity, or do you rant and bluster about?<\/p>\n

If you think about your future obituary, what would it say about the type of seeds that you have planted during your lifetime? I would want my obituary to read that I planted seeds of love during my lifetime, and that those closest to me felt cared for by me.\u00a0 I would want it to say that I inspired people to be kinder and a little bit more patient with one another.\u00a0 I would hope that my life would be one in which I planted the right kind of seeds on this earth.<\/p>\n

This week, consider the type of seeds you are planting. Make sure they are the seeds that will establish the kingdom of heaven on earth.\u00a0 If we all planted seeds of kindness, justice and decency, think what a different world it would be.<\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of the mustard seed. \u201cThe kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. \u00a0Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Kind of Seeds Are You Planting? - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/10\/kind-seeds-planting.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Kind of Seeds Are You Planting? 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