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 believed. 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 I've been reflecting
on for some time a conversation. I believe every
believer needs to have I Have chosen to call
it the seeds you entertain welcome to promote
your 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. Thank you for joining me today. Let's
talk. 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.
gives birth to death. James 1, 14 to 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. If
Eve teaches us how a seed is planted, David teaches
us what happens when we entertain it. David was
not an ordinary man. He was a shepherd, a warrior,
a king. More importantly, God himself described
David as a man after his own heart. If anyone
should have been protected from falling, it was
David. Yet even David was not stronger than an
entertained seed. The Bible tells us that one
evening, David walked onto the roof of his palace.
From there, he saw a woman bathing. At that moment,
David had a choice. He could have looked away.
He could have gone back inside. He could have
guarded his heart. Instead, he stayed. And sometimes,
that is where the battle is lost. Not because
we looked, but because we kept looking. The first
look may not always be a choice. Life places
many things before our eyes, but the second look
usually is. David looked. Then he kept looking.
Then he asked who she was. Then he sent for information.
Then he sent for her. Then he slept with her.
Then she became pregnant. Then he tried to hide
it. When hiding failed, he lied. When lying failed,
he arranged for Uriah to be placed on the front
lines of battle. One decision led to another.
One compromise produced another. One entertained
seed grew into an entire forest of consequences.
Adultery, deception. Manipulation, murder, a
broken family, a wounded nation. Notice something
remarkable. David did not wake up planning to
commit adultery. He did not wake up planning
to arrange the death of one of his most loyal
soldiers. He simply entertained what should have
been rejected and the seed kept growing. That
is the deception of sin. It never shows you the
harvest. It only shows you the seed. It never
tells you where the path ends. It only invites
you. to take one more step, one more conversation,
one more click, one more message, one more secret,
one more compromise. The enemy never advertises
the destination. He only makes the first step
seem harmless. That is why we must stop asking,
how far can I go before it becomes sin? That
is the wrong question. The better question is,
what is this planting inside me? Because what
you repeatedly entertain, you eventually become
comfortable with. and what becomes comfortable
eventually becomes a part of you. This is true
not only of lust, it is true of bitterness. You
replay an offense again and again and again until
bitterness takes root. It is true of fear. You
rehearse the worst possible outcome day after
day until fear begins making your decisions.
It is true of pride. You continually feed your
ego until humility disappears. It is true of
comparison. You spend your life measuring yourself
against everyone else, until gratitude slowly
dies. Every seed, whether planted by the flesh,
the world, or the enemy, is asking the same question.
May I stay? And every time we refuse to confront
it, we silently answer, yes. That is why Proverbs
says, above all else, guard your heart, for everything
you do flows from it. Not some things, everything.
Your words, your choices. your relationships,
your ministry, your marriage, your future. Everything
flows from the condition of your heart. David
eventually repented. God forgave him. His fellowship
with God was restored. But forgiveness did not
erase every earthly consequence of the harvest
that had already grown. There is hope after failure.
There is grace after repentance. But how much
better to uproot the seed before it becomes a
tree? Let's talk about Joseph. After everything
we've seen, One question remains. How do we stop
the seed before it becomes a harvest? I believe
the answer begins with one man, Joseph. Joseph
understood something many of us forget. Not every
battle is meant to be fought by standing still.
Some battles are won by running. When Potiphar's
wife tried to seduce him, Joseph didn't stay
to prove how spiritual he was. He didn't stay
to test his self -control. He didn't stay to
see how close he could get without falling. He
ran. He left his garment behind. but he protected
something far more valuable, his heart, his integrity,
his relationship with God. Sometimes we think
courage means standing our ground, but sometimes
courage means knowing when to leave, leaving
a conversation, leaving an environment, leaving
a relationship, leaving a habit, leaving anything
that continues to feed the wrong seed. Joseph
understood that temptation is strongest when
we remain where we were never meant to stay.
The seed cannot grow. if it never finds good
soil. Now compare Joseph to Samson. Samson was
also called by God. He was empowered by the Spirit.
He carried extraordinary strength. Yet the strongest
man in Israel could not overcome the seed he
refused to uproot. Read Samson's story carefully.
I can handle this." Little by little, the line
became easier to cross. Until one day, he woke
up thinking he was still as strong as before.
The Bible says something heartbreaking. He did
not know that the Lord had left him. Think about
those words. He didn't know. Strength had become
weakness without him realizing it. That is what
entertained seeds do. They don't announce when
they have taken root. They quietly change us
until what once convicted us no longer bothers
us. Joseph fled. Samson stayed. Joseph lost his
coat, but kept his calling. Samson kept the relationship,
but lost his strength. One protected the garden.
The other entertained the seed. The difference
was not God's love. God loved them both. The
difference was not God's calling. Both were chosen.
The difference was what each man chose to cultivate.
There is a lesson here that I never want to forget.
We often pray, Lord, deliver me from temptation.
But sometimes God answers, I already showed you
the exit. Sometimes the miracle isn't supernatural
deliverance. Sometimes the miracle is the wisdom
to walk away before the seed takes root. Because
every environment is growing something. Every
relationship is growing something. Every conversation
is growing something. Every habit is growing
something. Every voice is growing something.
The question is no longer, can I handle this?
The question becomes, what is this producing
in me? If it is producing greater faith, stay.
If it is producing greater holiness, stay. If
it is producing greater love for Christ, stay.
But if it is feeding bitterness, leave. If it
is feeding lust, leave. If it is feeding pride,
leave. If it is feeding unbelief, leave. If it
is feeding compromise, leave. Protect the garden
God has entrusted to you, because not every door
God opens is meant for you to remain in forever.
And not every door you can walk through was opened
by God. Discernment is not merely recognizing
good and evil. Discernment is recognizing what
is feeding your spirit and what is feeding your
flesh. Because what you continually feed will
eventually become the strongest voice within
you. But even after we remove ourselves from
the wrong environment, the battle is not over.
Because the greatest battlefield isn't around
us. It's within us. The flesh still has desires.
The spirit calls us higher. And that is why victory
is not found merely in willpower. It is found
in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's talk about
that. By now, you may be asking yourself, if
the battle is this deep, how can anyone truly
overcome? That is an honest question. Because
if all we have is our own determination, our
own discipline, our own willpower, then eventually
we will reach our limit. The truth is, the flesh
cannot defeat the flesh. You cannot overcome
sinful desires simply by wanting to overcome
them. If that were enough, none of us would struggle.
The apostle Paul understood this better than
anyone. Listen to his honesty. For I do not do
the good I want to do, but the evil I do not
want to do. This I keep on doing." Can you hear
his frustration? Paul wasn't describing an unbeliever.
He was describing the conflict every sincere
believer eventually experiences. The desire to
honor God and the pull of the flesh. Two realities
fighting within the same person. Have you ever
promised yourself, I'll never do that again,
only to find yourself fighting the same battle?
Have you ever walked away from a temptation?
only to discover it waiting for you again another
day. That struggle doesn't mean you don't love
God. It means there is a war taking place within
you. The flesh is pulling one way. The spirit
is leading another. That is why Paul tells us
in Galatians, Walk by the spirit, and you will
not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the
flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit,
and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh.
Notice something important. Paul does not say,
focus on defeating the flesh. He says, walk by
the Spirit. Because victory in the Christian
life is not merely about resisting the wrong
desire. It is about cultivating a greater one.
The Holy Spirit doesn't simply tell us, don't.
He creates within us a deeper love for what is
right. He changes what we hunger for. He changes
what satisfies us. He changes what we pursue.
He plants new seeds, seeds of love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self -control. Notice that Paul calls these the
fruit of the Spirit. Fruit, not instant results.
Fruit, which means even spiritual maturity, grows.
Just as sin grows when we feed the flesh, holiness
grows when we feed the Spirit. Every time you
open God's word, you are planting. Every time
you pray, you are planting. Every time you worship,
you are planting. Every act of obedience plants
another seed. Every time you forgive, another
seed is planted. Every time you choose humility
over pride, another seed is planted. Every time
you trust God instead of fear, another seed is
planted. Never underestimate those moments, because
heaven doesn't measure faithfulness the way the
world measures success. The world celebrates
the harvest. God delights in the planting. There
will be days when you don't feel yourself growing,
days when prayer feels ordinary, days when reading
scripture feels quiet, days when obedience seems
unnoticed. Keep planting, because seeds don't
stop growing simply because you cannot see them.
One day, the peace you've been praying for will
become part of who you are. The patience you've
been asking God to give you will become visible.
The self -control you've struggled to develop
will begin to bear fruit, not because you became
stronger than temptation, but because the Spirit
became stronger. within you. That is the hope
of the Gospel. God never asks us to fight this
battle alone. He gives us His presence, His power,
His Spirit. And wherever the Spirit is continually
planting, the flesh slowly loses its ground,
because darkness cannot remain where light is
continually welcomed. So now, we've come full
circle. We've talked about the seeds the enemy
plants, the seeds we choose to entertain, and
the seeds the Holy Spirit longs to cultivate.
The question is no longer whether seeds are being
planted. They are. The only question that remains
is this. What kind of harvest are you preparing
for tomorrow? Let's close it out. As we come
to the end of our conversation, I don't want
you to leave thinking about David or Eve or Samson
or Joseph. I want you to think about you. Because
the purpose of God's Word is never simply to
inform us, it is to transform us. Perhaps today,
God is not pointing at your actions. Perhaps
he is pointing at your garden. Because long before
the world sees the harvest, God sees the seed.
He sees every thought, every desire, every fear,
every offense, every compromise, every act of
obedience, every quiet decision that no one else
knows about. Nothing escapes his eyes, and that
should not frighten us. It should encourage us.
Because our father never waits for the harvest
before he comes looking for us. He meets us while
the seed is still in the ground. He convicts
us before the roots grow deep. He calls us back
before the tree becomes difficult to remove.
That is not condemnation. That is grace. Grace
does not merely forgive the harvest. Grace warns
us while there is still time to deal with the
seed. So today, What seed have you allowed to
remain? Is it fear, bitterness, pride, lust,
unforgiveness, comparison, discouragement, a
secret compromise? Or perhaps it is a lie about
yourself that you have believed for years. Maybe
you've convinced yourself that you'll never change,
that you'll always struggle, that you'll never
be free. But let me remind you of something.
The same God who created a garden also knows
how to restore one. He is able to uproot what
the enemy planted. He is able to heal what bitterness
poisoned. He is able to restore what sin damaged.
He is able to make life grow where everything
seemed dead. That is the beauty of the gospel.
Jesus didn't simply come to forgive sinful actions.
He came to transform sinful hearts. He came to
give us a new nature, a new beginning, a new
garden. Because where sin planted death, Christ
plants life. Where the enemy plants lies, Christ
plants truth. Where the enemy plants despair,
Christ plants hope. Where the enemy plants condemnation,
Christ plants grace. Where the enemy plants death,
Christ plants eternal life. So guard your heart.
Protect your mind. Stay close to God's word.
Walk daily with the Holy Spirit. Surround yourself
with people who strengthen your faith, and never
underestimate the power of small decisions. Because
every prayer is a seed. Every act of obedience
is a seed. Every time you choose forgiveness,
it is a seed. Every time you worship instead
of worry, it is a seed. Every time you trust
God when circumstances tell you not to, it is
a seed. Plant enough seeds of the Spirit, and
one day, you'll stand in a harvest you once prayed
for. Remember how we began. No one fears a seed,
because it looks too small, too ordinary, too
insignificant. But now you know better. Every
giant oak was once a seed. Every thriving ministry
was once a seed. Every Christ -centered marriage
was once a seed. Every revival was once a seed.
Every addiction was once a seed. Every affair
was once a seed. Every betrayal was once a seed.
Every divorce was once a seed. Every faithful
servant who finished well protected the seeds.
Every servant who drifted away ignored them.
The difference was never the size of the harvest.
The difference was the seed they chose to cultivate.
So tonight, don't just examine your actions.
Examine your garden. Ask yourself, what am I
watering? Because whatever you continually water,
you should expect to harvest. And whatever you
starve will eventually die. Choose wisely what
you allow to grow, because tomorrow's harvest
is already hidden in today's seed. Thank you
for spending this time with me. This has been
Pomoja 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. Until next time, may God help you recognize
every seed that draws you closer to Him and give
you the courage to uproot every seed that does
not belong in the garden He has entrusted to
your care. In Jesus' name, God bless you.