This week I’ve been thinking a lot about two words that have always been at odds or are usually never used together in a conversation. One has always had the reputation of being ugly and the other of beauty. I would like to submit this to you for some thought…

Contrary to their reputation, beneficial weeds under certain circumstances can be helpful in the garden by holding top-soil, pulling up water and nutrients from deep in the soil and down from the air. They can provide food, control insects, break up hard-pans and compaction, and control erosion.

When we say or think of the word flower, it’s altogether different from the description above. We tend to think of flowers as decorations for our gardens and homes. In fact, plants produce flowers for the sole purpose of producing seeds and perpetuating their species. The same holds true of the weed but it looks nothing like the flower.

While they are certainly not considered the be in the same category and both have their uses for the environment, let’s move a step further in comparison to us as fellow Christians in the Community of Faith.

There are those, who it seems, are always in the limelight. Let’s face it, we all have different talents/gifts that put us in certain situations of service. Some of these talents/gifts may have us be in front of a congregation or many times in the center of what’s going on in our churches. Not because that’s what we necessarily want, but it’s how we are made to serve. Others may have talents/gifts that would never put them in the same situation and could sometimes make them feel like nobody even notices what we do. But those talents/gifts are as necessary as the aforementioned, to allow others to flourish just like the weed does for the flower.

So let me ask you this question, “Are you serving God or man….?”

Do we do the things we do because we want recognition or because we are laying up treasures in a place where we will live forever, never cry, never feel pain and will be with our Savior while eternity rolls?

I’ll ask the question again, “Are you a WEED or a FLOWER?”

It makes no difference what your label is as long as you use the talents/gifts He’s given you for His Glory alone.