The Greenhouse of the Mind
By Max Lucado
A Pure Heart
Suppose you come to visit me one day and find me working in my greenhouse. (Neither my house nor thumb is green, but let’s pretend.) I explain to you that the greenhouse was a gift from my father. He used state-of-the-art equipment to create the ideal structure for growth. The atmosphere is perfect. The lighting exact. The temperature is suited for flowers, fruit, or anything I want, and what I want is flowers and fruit.
I ask you to join me as I collect some seeds to plant. You’ve always thought I was a bit crazy, but what I do next removes all doubt. You watch me walk into a field and strip seeds off of weeds. Crab grass seeds, dandelion seeds, grass burr seeds. I fill a bag with a variety of weed seeds and return to the greenhouse.
You can’t believe what you’ve just seen. “I thought you wanted a greenhouse full of flowers and fruit.”
“I do.”
“Then don’t you think you ought to plant flower seeds and fruit seeds?”
“Do you have any idea how much those seeds cost? Besides, you have to drive all the way to the garden center to get them. No thanks, I’m taking the cheap and easy route.”
You walk away mumbling something about one brick short of a load.
The Greenhouse of the Heart
Everybody knows you harvest what you sow. You reap what you plant. Yet strangely, what we know when we develop land, we tend to forget when we cultivate our hearts.
Think for a moment of your heart as a greenhouse. The similarities come quickly. It, too, is a magnificent gift from your father. It, too, is perfectly suited for growing. And your heart, like a greenhouse, has to be managed.
Consider for a moment your thoughts as seed. Some thoughts become flowers. Others become weeds. Sow seeds of hope and enjoy optimism. Sow seeds of doubt and expect insecurity. “People harvest only what they plant” (Gal. 6:7).
The proof is everywhere you look. Ever wonder why some people have the Teflon capacity to resist negativism and remain patient, optimistic, and forgiving? Could it be that they have diligently sown seeds of goodness and are enjoying the harvest?
Ever wonder why others have such a sour outlook? Such a gloomy attitude? You would, too, if your heart were a greenhouse of weeds and thorns.
Perhaps you’ve heard the joke about the man who came home one day to a cranky wife. Arriving at 6:30 in the evening, he spent an hour trying to cheer her up. Nothing worked. Finally he said, “Let’s start over and pretend I’m just getting home.” He stepped outside, and when he opened the door, she said, “It’s 7:30, and you’re just now getting home from work?”
The wife was reaping the harvest of a few weedy thoughts. Let’s pause and make an important application. If the heart is a greenhouse and our thoughts are seeds, shouldn’t we be careful about what we sow? Shouldn’t we be selective about the seeds we allow to come into the greenhouse? Shouldn’t there be a sentry at the door? Isn’t guarding the heart a strategic task? According to the Bible it is: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23 niv). Or as another translation reads: “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.”
What a true statement! Test the principle, and see if you don’t agree.
Two drivers are stuck in the same traffic jam. One person stews in anger, thinking, My schedule is messed up. The other sighs in relief, Good chance to slow down.
Two mothers face the same tragedy. One is destroyed: I’ll never get over this. The other is despondent but determined: God will get me through.
Two executives face the same success. One pats himself on the back and grows cocky. The other gives the credit to God and grows grateful.
Two husbands commit the same failure. One bitterly assumes God’s limit of grace has been crossed. The other gratefully assumes a new depth of God’s grace has been discovered.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
Let’s look at it from another angle. Suppose I ask you to take care of my house while I’m out of town. You pledge to keep everything in great shape. But when I return, I find the place in shambles. The carpet is torn, walls are smeared, furniture is broken. Your explanation is not impressive: some bikers came by and needed a place to stay. Then the rugby team called, looking for a place for their party. And of course there was the fraternity—they wanted a place to hold their initiation ceremony. As the owner, I have one question: “Don’t you know how to say no? This is not your house. You don’t have the right to let in everyone who wants to enter.”
Ever think God wants to say the same to us?
By Max Lucado
A Pure Heart
Suppose you come to visit me one day and find me working in my greenhouse. (Neither my house nor thumb is green, but let’s pretend.) I explain to you that the greenhouse was a gift from my father. He used state-of-the-art equipment to create the ideal structure for growth. The atmosphere is perfect. The lighting exact. The temperature is suited for flowers, fruit, or anything I want, and what I want is flowers and fruit.
I ask you to join me as I collect some seeds to plant. You’ve always thought I was a bit crazy, but what I do next removes all doubt. You watch me walk into a field and strip seeds off of weeds. Crab grass seeds, dandelion seeds, grass burr seeds. I fill a bag with a variety of weed seeds and return to the greenhouse.
You can’t believe what you’ve just seen. “I thought you wanted a greenhouse full of flowers and fruit.”
“I do.”
“Then don’t you think you ought to plant flower seeds and fruit seeds?”
“Do you have any idea how much those seeds cost? Besides, you have to drive all the way to the garden center to get them. No thanks, I’m taking the cheap and easy route.”
You walk away mumbling something about one brick short of a load.
The Greenhouse of the Heart
Everybody knows you harvest what you sow. You reap what you plant. Yet strangely, what we know when we develop land, we tend to forget when we cultivate our hearts.
Think for a moment of your heart as a greenhouse. The similarities come quickly. It, too, is a magnificent gift from your father. It, too, is perfectly suited for growing. And your heart, like a greenhouse, has to be managed.
Consider for a moment your thoughts as seed. Some thoughts become flowers. Others become weeds. Sow seeds of hope and enjoy optimism. Sow seeds of doubt and expect insecurity. “People harvest only what they plant” (Gal. 6:7).
The proof is everywhere you look. Ever wonder why some people have the Teflon capacity to resist negativism and remain patient, optimistic, and forgiving? Could it be that they have diligently sown seeds of goodness and are enjoying the harvest?
Ever wonder why others have such a sour outlook? Such a gloomy attitude? You would, too, if your heart were a greenhouse of weeds and thorns.
Perhaps you’ve heard the joke about the man who came home one day to a cranky wife. Arriving at 6:30 in the evening, he spent an hour trying to cheer her up. Nothing worked. Finally he said, “Let’s start over and pretend I’m just getting home.” He stepped outside, and when he opened the door, she said, “It’s 7:30, and you’re just now getting home from work?”
The wife was reaping the harvest of a few weedy thoughts. Let’s pause and make an important application. If the heart is a greenhouse and our thoughts are seeds, shouldn’t we be careful about what we sow? Shouldn’t we be selective about the seeds we allow to come into the greenhouse? Shouldn’t there be a sentry at the door? Isn’t guarding the heart a strategic task? According to the Bible it is: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23 niv). Or as another translation reads: “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.”
What a true statement! Test the principle, and see if you don’t agree.
Two drivers are stuck in the same traffic jam. One person stews in anger, thinking, My schedule is messed up. The other sighs in relief, Good chance to slow down.
Two mothers face the same tragedy. One is destroyed: I’ll never get over this. The other is despondent but determined: God will get me through.
Two executives face the same success. One pats himself on the back and grows cocky. The other gives the credit to God and grows grateful.
Two husbands commit the same failure. One bitterly assumes God’s limit of grace has been crossed. The other gratefully assumes a new depth of God’s grace has been discovered.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
Let’s look at it from another angle. Suppose I ask you to take care of my house while I’m out of town. You pledge to keep everything in great shape. But when I return, I find the place in shambles. The carpet is torn, walls are smeared, furniture is broken. Your explanation is not impressive: some bikers came by and needed a place to stay. Then the rugby team called, looking for a place for their party. And of course there was the fraternity—they wanted a place to hold their initiation ceremony. As the owner, I have one question: “Don’t you know how to say no? This is not your house. You don’t have the right to let in everyone who wants to enter.”
Ever think God wants to say the same to us?
Guarding Our Hearts
You’ve got to admit some of our hearts are trashed out. Let any riffraff knock on the door, and we throw it open. Anger shows up, and we let him in. Revenge needs a place to stay, so we have him pull up a chair. Pity wants to have a party, so we show him the kitchen. Lust rings the bell, and we change the sheets on the bed. Don’t we know how to say no?
Many don’t. For most of us, thought management is, well, unthought of. We think much about time management, weight management, personnel management, even scalp management. But what about thought management? Shouldn’t we be as concerned about managing our thoughts as we are managing anything else? Jesus was. Like a trained soldier at the gate of a city, he stood watch over his mind. He stubbornly guarded the gateway of his heart. Many thoughts were denied entrance. Need a few examples?
How about arrogance? On one occasion the people determined to make Jesus their king. What an attractive thought. Most of us would delight in the notion of royalty. Even if we refused the crown, we would enjoy considering the invitation. Not Jesus. “Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself” (John 6:15 msg).
Another dramatic example occurred in a conversation Jesus had with Peter. Upon hearing Jesus announce his impending death on the cross, the impetuous apostle objected. “Impossible, Master! That can never be!” (Matt. 16:22 msg). Apparently, Peter was about to question the necessity of Calvary. But he never had a chance. Christ blocked the doorway. He sent both the messenger and the author of the heresy scurrying: “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works” (Matt. 16:23 msg).
And how about the time Jesus was mocked? Have you ever had people laugh at you? Jesus did, too. Responding to an appeal to heal a sick girl, he entered her house only to be told she was dead. His response? “The child is not dead but sleeping.” The response of the people in the house? “They laughed at him.” Just like all of us, Jesus had to face a moment of humiliation. But unlike most of us, he refused to receive it. Note his decisive response: “he put them all outside” (Mark 5:39–40 rsv). The mockery was not allowed in the house of the girl nor in the mind of Christ.
Jesus guarded his heart. If he did, shouldn’t we do the same? Most certainly! “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (Prov. 4:23). Jesus wants your heart to be fertile and fruitful. He wants you to have a heart like his. That is God’s goal for you. He wants you to “think and act like Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). But how? The answer is surprisingly simple. We can be transformed if we make one decision: I will submit my thoughts to the authority of Jesus.
It’s easy to overlook a significant claim made by Christ at the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18 niv). Jesus claims to be the CEO of heaven and earth. He has the ultimate say on everything, especially our thoughts. He has more authority, for example, than your parents. Your parents may say you are no good, but Jesus says you are valuable, and he has authority over parents. He even has more authority over you than you do. You may tell yourself that you are too bad to be forgiven, but Jesus has a different opinion. If you give him authority over you, then your guilty thoughts are no longer allowed.
Jesus also has authority over your ideas. Suppose you have an idea that you want to rob a grocery store. Jesus, however, has made it clear that stealing is wrong. If you have given him authority over your ideas, then the idea of stealing cannot remain in your thoughts.
See what I mean by authority? To have a pure heart, we must submit all thoughts to the authority of Christ. If we are willing to do that, he will change us to be like him. Here is how it works.
A Guard at the Doorway
Let’s return to the image of the greenhouse. Your heart is a fertile greenhouse ready to produce good fruit. Your mind is the doorway to your heart—the strategic place where you determine which seeds are sown and which seeds are discarded. The Holy Spirit is ready to help you manage and filter the thoughts that try to enter. He can help you guard your heart.
He stands with you on the threshold. A thought approaches, a questionable thought. Do you throw open the door and let it enter? Of course not. You “fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5 phillips). You don’t leave the door unguarded. You stand equipped with handcuffs and leg irons, ready to capture any thought not fit to enter.
For the sake of discussion, let’s say a thought regarding your personal value approaches. With all the cockiness of a neighborhood bully, the thought swaggers up to the door and says, “You’re a loser. All your life you’ve been a loser. You’ve blown relationships and jobs and ambitions. You might as well write the word bum on your résumé, for that is what you are.”
The ordinary person would throw open the door and let the thought in. Like a seed from a weed, it would find fertile soil and take root and bear thorns of inferiority. The average person would say, “You’re right. I’m a bum. Come on in.”
But as a Christian, you aren’t your average person. You are led by the Spirit. So rather than let the thought in, you take it captive. You handcuff it and march it down the street to the courthouse where you present the thought before the judgment seat of Christ.
“Jesus, this thought says I’m a bum and a loser and that I’ll never amount to anything. What do you think?”
See what you are doing? You are submitting the thought to the authority of Jesus. If Jesus agrees with the thought, then let it in. If not, kick it out. In this case Jesus disagrees.
How do know if Jesus agrees or disagrees? You open your Bible. What does God think about you? Ephesians 2:10 is a good place to check: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (niv). Or how about Romans 8:1: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (niv)?
Obviously any thought that says you are inferior or insignificant does not pass the test—and does not gain entrance. You have the right to give the bully a firm kick in the pants and watch him run.
Let’s take another example. The first thought was a bully; this next thought is a groupie. She comes not to tell you how bad you are but how good you are. She rushes to the doorway and gushes, “You are so good. You are so wonderful. The world is so lucky to have you,” and on and on the groupie grovels.
Typically this is the type of thought you’d welcome. But you don’t do things the typical way. You guard your heart. You walk in the Spirit. And you take every thought captive. So once again you go to Jesus. You submit this thought to the authority of Christ. As you unsheathe the sword of the Spirit, his Word, you learn that pride doesn’t please God.
“Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance” (Rom. 12:3 phillips).
“The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging” (Gal. 6:14).
As much as you’d like to welcome this thought of conceit into the greenhouse, you can’t. You only allow what Christ allows.
One more example. This time the thought is not one of criticism or flattery but one of temptation. If you’re a fellow, the thought is dressed in flashy red. If you’re a female, the thought is the hunk you’ve always wanted. There is the brush of the hand, the fragrance in the air, and the invitation. “Come on, itall right. We’re consenting adults.”
What do you do? Well, if you aren’t under the authority of Christ, you throw open the door. But if you have the mind of Christ, you step back and say, “Not so fast. You’ll have to get permission from my big brother.” So you take this steamy act before Jesus and ask, “Yes or no?”
Nowhere does he answer more clearly than in 1 Corinthians 6 and 7: “We must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever…. Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them” (6:18; 7:1–2 msg).
Now armed with the opinion of Christ and the sword of the Spirit, what do you do? Well, if the tempter is not your spouse, close the door. If the invitation is from your spouse, then hubba hubba hubba.
The point is this. Guard the doorway of your heart. Submit your thoughts to the authority of Christ. The more selective you are about seeds, the more delighted you will be with the crop.
Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.
Romans 12:12 tev
You’ve got to admit some of our hearts are trashed out. Let any riffraff knock on the door, and we throw it open. Anger shows up, and we let him in. Revenge needs a place to stay, so we have him pull up a chair. Pity wants to have a party, so we show him the kitchen. Lust rings the bell, and we change the sheets on the bed. Don’t we know how to say no?
Many don’t. For most of us, thought management is, well, unthought of. We think much about time management, weight management, personnel management, even scalp management. But what about thought management? Shouldn’t we be as concerned about managing our thoughts as we are managing anything else? Jesus was. Like a trained soldier at the gate of a city, he stood watch over his mind. He stubbornly guarded the gateway of his heart. Many thoughts were denied entrance. Need a few examples?
How about arrogance? On one occasion the people determined to make Jesus their king. What an attractive thought. Most of us would delight in the notion of royalty. Even if we refused the crown, we would enjoy considering the invitation. Not Jesus. “Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself” (John 6:15 msg).
Another dramatic example occurred in a conversation Jesus had with Peter. Upon hearing Jesus announce his impending death on the cross, the impetuous apostle objected. “Impossible, Master! That can never be!” (Matt. 16:22 msg). Apparently, Peter was about to question the necessity of Calvary. But he never had a chance. Christ blocked the doorway. He sent both the messenger and the author of the heresy scurrying: “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works” (Matt. 16:23 msg).
And how about the time Jesus was mocked? Have you ever had people laugh at you? Jesus did, too. Responding to an appeal to heal a sick girl, he entered her house only to be told she was dead. His response? “The child is not dead but sleeping.” The response of the people in the house? “They laughed at him.” Just like all of us, Jesus had to face a moment of humiliation. But unlike most of us, he refused to receive it. Note his decisive response: “he put them all outside” (Mark 5:39–40 rsv). The mockery was not allowed in the house of the girl nor in the mind of Christ.
Jesus guarded his heart. If he did, shouldn’t we do the same? Most certainly! “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (Prov. 4:23). Jesus wants your heart to be fertile and fruitful. He wants you to have a heart like his. That is God’s goal for you. He wants you to “think and act like Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). But how? The answer is surprisingly simple. We can be transformed if we make one decision: I will submit my thoughts to the authority of Jesus.
It’s easy to overlook a significant claim made by Christ at the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18 niv). Jesus claims to be the CEO of heaven and earth. He has the ultimate say on everything, especially our thoughts. He has more authority, for example, than your parents. Your parents may say you are no good, but Jesus says you are valuable, and he has authority over parents. He even has more authority over you than you do. You may tell yourself that you are too bad to be forgiven, but Jesus has a different opinion. If you give him authority over you, then your guilty thoughts are no longer allowed.
Jesus also has authority over your ideas. Suppose you have an idea that you want to rob a grocery store. Jesus, however, has made it clear that stealing is wrong. If you have given him authority over your ideas, then the idea of stealing cannot remain in your thoughts.
See what I mean by authority? To have a pure heart, we must submit all thoughts to the authority of Christ. If we are willing to do that, he will change us to be like him. Here is how it works.
A Guard at the Doorway
Let’s return to the image of the greenhouse. Your heart is a fertile greenhouse ready to produce good fruit. Your mind is the doorway to your heart—the strategic place where you determine which seeds are sown and which seeds are discarded. The Holy Spirit is ready to help you manage and filter the thoughts that try to enter. He can help you guard your heart.
He stands with you on the threshold. A thought approaches, a questionable thought. Do you throw open the door and let it enter? Of course not. You “fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5 phillips). You don’t leave the door unguarded. You stand equipped with handcuffs and leg irons, ready to capture any thought not fit to enter.
For the sake of discussion, let’s say a thought regarding your personal value approaches. With all the cockiness of a neighborhood bully, the thought swaggers up to the door and says, “You’re a loser. All your life you’ve been a loser. You’ve blown relationships and jobs and ambitions. You might as well write the word bum on your résumé, for that is what you are.”
The ordinary person would throw open the door and let the thought in. Like a seed from a weed, it would find fertile soil and take root and bear thorns of inferiority. The average person would say, “You’re right. I’m a bum. Come on in.”
But as a Christian, you aren’t your average person. You are led by the Spirit. So rather than let the thought in, you take it captive. You handcuff it and march it down the street to the courthouse where you present the thought before the judgment seat of Christ.
“Jesus, this thought says I’m a bum and a loser and that I’ll never amount to anything. What do you think?”
See what you are doing? You are submitting the thought to the authority of Jesus. If Jesus agrees with the thought, then let it in. If not, kick it out. In this case Jesus disagrees.
How do know if Jesus agrees or disagrees? You open your Bible. What does God think about you? Ephesians 2:10 is a good place to check: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (niv). Or how about Romans 8:1: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (niv)?
Obviously any thought that says you are inferior or insignificant does not pass the test—and does not gain entrance. You have the right to give the bully a firm kick in the pants and watch him run.
Let’s take another example. The first thought was a bully; this next thought is a groupie. She comes not to tell you how bad you are but how good you are. She rushes to the doorway and gushes, “You are so good. You are so wonderful. The world is so lucky to have you,” and on and on the groupie grovels.
Typically this is the type of thought you’d welcome. But you don’t do things the typical way. You guard your heart. You walk in the Spirit. And you take every thought captive. So once again you go to Jesus. You submit this thought to the authority of Christ. As you unsheathe the sword of the Spirit, his Word, you learn that pride doesn’t please God.
“Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance” (Rom. 12:3 phillips).
“The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging” (Gal. 6:14).
As much as you’d like to welcome this thought of conceit into the greenhouse, you can’t. You only allow what Christ allows.
One more example. This time the thought is not one of criticism or flattery but one of temptation. If you’re a fellow, the thought is dressed in flashy red. If you’re a female, the thought is the hunk you’ve always wanted. There is the brush of the hand, the fragrance in the air, and the invitation. “Come on, itall right. We’re consenting adults.”
What do you do? Well, if you aren’t under the authority of Christ, you throw open the door. But if you have the mind of Christ, you step back and say, “Not so fast. You’ll have to get permission from my big brother.” So you take this steamy act before Jesus and ask, “Yes or no?”
Nowhere does he answer more clearly than in 1 Corinthians 6 and 7: “We must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever…. Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them” (6:18; 7:1–2 msg).
Now armed with the opinion of Christ and the sword of the Spirit, what do you do? Well, if the tempter is not your spouse, close the door. If the invitation is from your spouse, then hubba hubba hubba.
The point is this. Guard the doorway of your heart. Submit your thoughts to the authority of Christ. The more selective you are about seeds, the more delighted you will be with the crop.
Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.
Romans 12:12 tev
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