Character formation works the same way as maintaining a garden. Listen in to hear what I mean.

STRENGTH CHECK or ROOT REFLECTION:

One. Name one thing in your life right now that keeps growing back no matter how many times you have already dealt with it. Ask yourself honestly, have I been treating this like a one-time weeding, when it actually needs regular tending?

Two. Think about which of your own habits or attitudes came from soil you did not choose, things absorbed from family, from the culture, or from your friendships. Ask God to show you which of these are actually good plants worth cultivating and which ones are weeds wearing the costume of tradition.

NEXT RIGHT STEP:

For the next two weeks, pick one row in your life that keeps growing weeds, one recurring habit, attitude, or pattern that you thought you had already pulled out. Every time you notice it trying to grow back, do not treat it as a defeat. Simply go back to the row and pull it again.

Keep a small tracker, on paper or in your notes app, of every time you catch yourself returning to the same weeding instead of giving up on the patch. You are not tracking how many times you failed. You are tracking how many times you showed up to tend the ground God gave you. Please know that you can’t do the weeding alone. You can’t do the weeding all by yourself, it can only be done best with the help of the Holy Spirit. Anything else other than that is self-sufficiency. Return to God and let Him do the weeding.

Then write or send me your story. Tell me about your own weeds, the ones that keep coming back no matter how many times you have pulled them, and what it has looked like for you to keep returning to that row instead of walking away from the garden altogether, what it has looked like for you to depend on God rather than weed from your own strength.

USEFUL LINKS:

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Iman Diaries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WHOLE | Life Counseling Ministry⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠⁠Book your counseling sessions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

MUSIC CREDITS

• Alex Jauk for distant bell ringing
• Breakz Studios for the piano

PARTICIPATE IN THIS PODCAST

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© Copyright 2026 | Emmylou F. Iman