No one fears a seed. It is too small, too ordinary,
too insignificant. It doesn't look dangerous.
It doesn't look destructive. It simply rests
there, quietly, waiting. But every forest was
once a seed. Every garden was once a seed. Every
harvest was once a seed. And every tragedy was
once one too. Because the greatest dangers in
life rarely begin with catastrophe. They begin
small enough to ignore. That is how weeds grow.
That is how kingdoms grow. That is how faith
grows. And that is how sin grows. No one suddenly
abandons God. No one suddenly destroys a family.
No one suddenly loses their integrity. Long before
the visible collapse, there was an invisible
planting. A lie believe. an offense embraced,
a fear entertained, a desire nourished, a question
left unanswered, a seed, because sin is rarely
born in the moment. It grows where a seed has
been welcomed. Today, I want to invite you into
a conversation, a conversation that may completely
change the way you understand temptation. because
the greatest spiritual battles are rarely won
or lost at the moment of action. They are won
or lost long before the action ever appears.
I've entitled today's conversation, The Seeds
You Entertain. More specifically, The Seed You
Welcome. Welcome to Pamoja Podcast, a ministry
of Life of Christ International Ministries. Where
we build stronger lives, deeper faith, and Christ
-centered homes, one story, one message, and
one revelation at a time. I'm Barry Mwamba. Let's
begin. Have you ever noticed something fascinating
about God? Almost everything He created begins
the same way, with a seed. Before there was a
forest, there was a seed. Before there was a
vineyard, there was a seed. Before there was
fruit, there was a seed. Even Jesus described
the kingdom of God this way. He compared it to
seeds scattered into the ground, a mustard seed
that became a tree, a sower who scattered seed
into different kinds of soil. Why? Because a
seed is one of God's greatest principles. Everything
begins small, hidden, almost invisible. Then
it grows, quietly, patiently, until one day,
everyone sees what was growing all along. A harvest
never surprises the farmer. He already knows
what he planted. And I believe Satan understands
this principle better than many believers do.
He knows he doesn't always have to destroy you
today. He simply has to plant something today
that will destroy you tomorrow. That is why scripture
repeatedly warns us to guard our hearts. Because
our hearts are not merely the place where emotions
live. They are gardens. Gardens where something
is always growing. The question is never whether
something is growing. The question is, what is
growing? Every day, someone is planting. God
plants truth. His word plants faith. The Holy
Spirit plants conviction. But the enemy also
plants. He plants lies. He plants offense. He
plants bitterness. He plants pride. He plants
comparison. He plants lust. He plants fear. He
plants discouragement. He plants unbelief. Anything
that can eventually produce a harvest that pulls
us away from the purpose of God. And here is
what makes seeds so deceptive. They don't ask
for permission to grow. They only ask for permission
to remain. Once a seed finds good soil, it simply
does what it was created to do. Grow. Which means
the greatest spiritual battles are rarely fought
at the moment of harvest. They are fought at
the moment of planting. Because every temptation
begins as permission given to a seed. Have you
ever noticed something strange? Sometimes the
opportunity to sin doesn't feel shocking. It
feels familiar, almost natural, almost comfortable.
And the reason is simple. The seed was planted.
long before the temptation arrived. That is one
of the enemy's greatest strategies. He understands
that if he can make sin feel familiar, he won't
have to make it look attractive, because familiarity
lowers our defenses. What once disturbed us eventually
stops bothering us. What once shocked us slowly
becomes normal. And what becomes normal eventually
becomes acceptable. That is why the enemy rarely
begins with an invitation to rebel. He begins
with exposure, little by little, day after day.
One seed at a time. Sometimes without our knowledge.
Sometimes with our permission. There are seeds
planted in our lives without us even realizing
it. Through the conversations we entertain. Through
the voices we keep listening to. Through the
stories we consume. Through the music that shapes
our emotions. Through the images that remain
in our imagination. Through the books we read.
Through the jokes we laugh at. Through the bitterness
we replay in our minds. Through the fear we continually
feed. Through the comparison that steals our
contentment. And yes, through social media. Not
because social media is evil in itself. Like
every tool, it can be used for good or for evil.
Today, the gospel reaches millions through a
single video. Lives are encouraged. Families
are restored. People encounter Christ through
platforms that did not exist a generation ago.
But the same technology that can carry truth
can also carry deception. The same screen that
can strengthen your faith can quietly weaken
your convictions. Never before in human history
have we allowed so many strangers to speak into
our minds every single day. People we have never
met shaping our opinions, shaping our values,
shaping our emotions, shaping our desires. One
short video, another short video, one post, another
post, one image, another image, one opinion,
another opinion. until we no longer realize that
something inside us has begun to change. The
enemy understands something frightening. He doesn't
have to convince you all at once. He only needs
repeated exposure. Because repeated exposure
creates familiarity. Familiarity creates comfort.
Comfort weakens conviction. And weakened conviction
opens the door to compromise. That is why Paul
writes in Romans 12, Do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Notice where the battle begins. Not
in the hands. Not in the feet. Not even in the
mouth. In the mind. Because transformation begins
there. And so does conformity. The battlefield
has always been the mind. Long before there is
an outward action, there is an inward agreement.
Long before there is a visible failure, there
is an invisible acceptance. This is why scripture
tells us in Proverbs, Above all else, guard your
heart, for everything you do flows from it. Everything.
your words, your decisions, your relationships,
your character, your future. Everything flows
from what has been allowed to take root within,
which leads me to something that completely changed
the way I understand temptation. The enemy doesn't
begin by asking you to commit a great sin. He
begins by asking you to tolerate a small seed,
because every temptation begins as permission
given to a seed. And if that is true, then temptation
doesn't begin with behavior. It begins with desire.
Interestingly, That is exactly what James tells
us. He doesn't describe sin as an event. He describes
it as a birth. Let's look at that together. There
is something remarkable about the way James describes
temptation. He doesn't begin with sin. He begins
with desire. Listen carefully to what he writes.
When it is fully grown, gives birth to death.
James 1, 14 -15. Do you see the progression?
Desire conceives. Conception gives birth. Birth
produces growth. Growth eventually produces death.
James is not describing a single bad decision.
He is describing a process. Almost like a farmer
describing a harvest. Nothing happens overnight.
Everything grows. Slowly, silently. patiently.
That is why sin rarely surprises God. It only
surprises us, because we usually notice the fruit.
God has been watching the seed. The world sees
the scandal. Heaven saw the planting. The world
sees the collapse. Heaven saw the compromise
that was never confronted. The world sees the
affair. Heaven remembers the first thought that
was welcomed. The world sees the addiction. Heaven
remembers the first moment someone decided, just
this once. This is why we must be careful not
to judge only what is visible. Because visible
failures often have invisible histories. Every
harvest has a season. Every tree has roots. Every
consequence has a beginning. And every sin has
a story. That story almost always begins with
something that appeared harmless. A thought.
A wound that was never healed. An offense that
was never released. A lie that was never challenged.
A fear that was never surrendered. a desire that
was never brought before God, a seed. This is
why I believe one of the greatest mistakes Christians
make is waiting until sin becomes visible before
dealing with it. By then, the roots have already
gone deep. Have you ever tried to pull a weed
out of the ground? When it first appears, it
comes out easily. But leave it there long enough,
and suddenly its roots spread beneath the surface.
What was once easy to remove now requires great
effort. Sin works the same way. The longer it
remains, the deeper it grows. The deeper it grows,
the harder it becomes to uproot. That is why
the Holy Spirit convicts us early, not to condemn
us, but to protect us. His conviction is God's
mercy. He speaks while the seed is still small,
while repentance is still easy, while the heart
is still tender, because our Father would rather
remove a seed than later have to cut down a tree.
The enemy has the opposite strategy. He whispers,
It's only a thought. It's only a conversation.
It's only curiosity. It's only entertainment.
It's only one time. It's only one compromise.
But He never tells you that every tree begins
exactly that way, small enough to ignore. And
that is why I believe one of the greatest spiritual
disciplines is not simply asking, is this a sin?
But asking something much deeper. What is this
planting in me? Because not everything that plants
a seed produces the fruit you want to harvest.
Some seeds grow into peace. Others grow into
anxiety. Some grow into faith. Others grow into
unbelief. Some grow into purity. Others grow
into bondage. The question is never whether the
seed will grow. The question is, what kind of
harvest will it produce? And if James has taught
us anything, it is this. Sin does not suddenly
appear. It develops. It matures. It grows. Just
like every other seed. Which brings us to the
very first place where we see this strategy unfold.
Not in the life of David. Not in the life of
Samson, not even in the life of Judas, but in
a garden, the Garden of Eden. Because before
there was ever a forbidden fruit, there was a
question. And that question was the first seed.
The first temptation recorded in the Bible did
not begin with fruit. It began with a conversation.
Think about that for a moment. Satan never walked
into the Garden of Eden demanding rebellion.
He never said, Eve. Disobey God. No. He was far
more subtle than that. He planted a question.
Did God really say, not rebellion, just a question?
Because the enemy understands something profound.
If he can make you question God's truth, he won't
have to force you to reject it. Everything that
followed in Eden began with that single seed.
A question became curiosity. Curiosity became
imagination. Imagination became desire. Desire
became justification. Justification became action.
Action became death. That is exactly how James
describes temptation. Long before Eve reached
for the fruit, she had already entertained the
conversation. She remained where she should have
walked away. She continued listening when she
should have trusted what God had already spoken.
She gave attention to a voice that God had never
authorized. And isn't that still the strategy
today? The enemy rarely begins by attacking your
behavior. He attacks your confidence in God's
word. Did God really say marriage should be honored?
Did God really say forgiveness is necessary?
Did God really say purity still matters? Did
God really say you should love your enemies?
Did God really say you can trust Him? Notice,
He always begins by questioning what God has
already settled. Because if God's voice becomes
uncertain, Every other voice becomes louder.
That is why guarding your mind is not enough.
You must also guard whose voice you allow to
shape your thinking. Every voice is planting
something. Some voices plant faith. Others plant
fear. Some plant hope. Others plant hopelessness.
Some plant humility. Others plant pride. Some
draw you closer to Christ. Others slowly normalize
distance from him. Not all seeds look dangerous.
Some arrive disguised as entertainment. Some
arrive disguised as wisdom. Some arrive disguised
as harmless curiosity. Some arrive disguised
as personal freedom. That is why spiritual maturity
is not merely knowing the difference between
right and wrong. It is learning to recognize
what is trying to plant itself within you because
every voice carries a seed and every seed is
trying to create a harvest. I often wonder What
would have happened if Eve had ended the conversation
with one sentence? God has already spoken. No
debate, no negotiation, no second opinion, just
complete confidence in what God had already said.
Sometimes, the greatest act of faith is refusing
to continue a conversation that God has already
finished. That is exactly what Jesus did in the
wilderness. Every temptation began with words.
If you are the Son of God, again. A question.
Again, an attempt to create doubt. But unlike
Adam and Eve, Jesus never entertained the seed.
He answered every temptation the same way. It
is written. He never argued. He never negotiated.
He never explored the possibility. He simply
stood on what his father had already spoken.
What a lesson for us. Victory doesn't always
come because temptation disappears. Sometimes
victory comes. because we refuse to let another
voice become greater than God's. And perhaps
that is the question every one of us must answer
today. Whose voice has been shaping the garden
of your heart? Because the voice you trust will
determine the harvest you produce. If Eve teaches
us how a seed is planted, David teaches us what
happens when that seed is entertained. Because
no one falls in a single moment. Even David,
a man after God's own heart, had a season when
one look became a lifetime of consequences. As
we come to the end of today's conversation, I
don't want you to think first about sin. I want
you to think about seeds. Because before there
is ever a harvest, there is always a moment when
something is welcomed into the heart. A thought,
a voice, a belief, a question. That is where
every spiritual battle begins. Not when everyone
else can see it, but while it is still hidden,
while it still looks harmless. while it still
appears too small to matter. Perhaps today, God
is not asking you, what have you done? Perhaps
he is asking, what have you welcomed? What voice
have you been listening to? What thought have
you allowed to remain? What fear have you been
feeding? What offense have you refused to release?
Because every voice carries a seed. Every thought
carries a seed. Every conversation carries a
seed. And every seed is preparing a harvest.
The beautiful thing about seeds is that while
they are still small, they can still be removed.
Don't wait until the fruit appears. Deal with
the seed. Don't wait until compromise becomes
a lifestyle. Deal with the seed. Don't wait until
doubt becomes unbelief. Deal with the seed. Because
God's conviction is not condemnation, it is His
mercy. He speaks to us while the seed is still
beneath the surface, before the roots grow deep,
before the harvest becomes visible. Today, Ask
the Holy Spirit to show you the seeds that don't
belong in the garden of your heart and have the
courage to remove them because tomorrow's harvest
is being shaped by what you welcome today. In
our next conversation, we're going to answer
another important question. What happens when
a seed is not rejected but entertained? We'll
look at the life of David and discover how one
welcome seed can grow into a harvest that affects
an entire life. Until then, guard your heart,
guard your mind. And remember, not every seed
deserves a place in your garden. Thank you for
joining me on Pomoja Podcast, a ministry of Life
of Christ International Ministries, building
stronger lives, deeper faith, Christ -centered
homes. One story, one message, and one revelation
at a time.