What has God grown in you this year? As the year comes to a close, it can be easy to focus on what remains unfinished, what didn’t go as planned, or where you wish you had grown more. But reflecting on your year through the lens of faith can help you recognize the spiritual growth, lessons, answered prayers, strengthened relationships, and deeper trust in God that may have developed along the way.

God often grows something meaningful in us through ordinary days, difficult seasons, waiting, disappointment, and unexpected opportunities. Like gathering a harvest, taking time to look back can reveal how God has been shaping your character and drawing you closer to Him. Reflecting on His faithfulness can help you celebrate progress you may have overlooked, give thanks for what He has taught you, and carry those lessons into the year ahead with greater faith and purpose.

Highlights

• How to recognize the spiritual growth God has cultivated in your life this year

• Why we can overlook meaningful growth when we focus only on what remains unfinished

• How difficult seasons, waiting, and disappointment can produce lasting spiritual lessons

• Practical ways to reflect on answered prayers, changed priorities, and deeper faith

• Why remembering God’s faithfulness can strengthen gratitude and hope for the future

• How to gather the lessons God has grown in you rather than simply moving on to the next season

• Encouragement to look back with gratitude and trust God with what He will grow next

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Full Transcript Below:

Gathering What God Grew in You This Year

By Melinda Eye Cooper

Bible Reading: 

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - 1 Corinthians 3:7 NIV

An interesting thing happened this year. Two tomato plants grew in the exact spot we’d planted them last year, but they shouldn’t have. My husband had pulled the plants out of the landscaping last Fall when they were done producing.  

We planned on putting a couple more plants there again this year because they’d grown well in that shaded spot beside the house. But strangely, in spring, when we began preparing the landscaping for flowers, two healthy-looking plants were growing in the exact same place we planted them the year before. 

“Are these tomato plants?” he asked after he finished pulling weeds, preparing to plant flowers. Thankfully, he didn’t pull them out thinking they were some kind of weed.

I examined the two healthy plants and couldn’t stop the excitement in my voice. “They sure are. Wow.” 

“That’s really weird. I pulled those out last fall when they were done making tomatoes,” he said. 

We were shocked but happy we didn’t have to buy any plants.

We checked with some family members to find out if tomato plants will just automatically grow back the next year in the same place. One person told us that it had happened to them before but the tomatoes that grew back were small and not as good. 

With this knowledge, we didn’t have great expectations but were curious about these mysterious plants, so we kept our eyes on them, making sure they were watered. 

Those plants grew absolutely huge and took over the landscaping on that side of the house. They produced the best crop of tomatoes we’ve ever grown. All without us even doing a thing except for giving them some water, and my husband tied them up to keep them off the ground, for the most part.

Apparently, the plants found the perfect spot to grow. 

We gathered tons of tomatoes. I learned how to use a water bath to can them. Some are in the freezer. I gave many to neighbors, and ate a lot of delicious bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches and fresh salads. No store-bought tomato can compare to the heavenly taste of a homegrown one. They’re just better in every way.

God really knows how to grow good things. 

And thankfully, He does the same thing with us. 

In the referenced Scripture, Paul is speaking about church growth. I love how Paul says God makes things grow. That statement is so true. We can try all we want, but without God, we’re not going to grow well. We may get head knowledge, but true growth is a changed heart, and the most important thing. 

Intersecting Faith & Life:

When we seek God by reading the Bible, speaking with Christian friends about questions we have, or going straight to God in prayer, we’re growing spiritually. It is a slow process, for sure. 

What God produces within us through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is really good stuff – the fruit of the Spirit. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Like I gathered an unexpected bumper crop of tomatoes, and figured out the best way to use and preserve them, how can we do this with what God has grown in us? 

(I’m so glad you asked.) 

This good fruit of the Spirit is incredibly beneficial and is evidence of God’s work in our lives. He’s changing us, helping us become more like Jesus, slowly but surely as we grow. 

Speaking to each of these fruits would probably be a long devotion or even a book. So, I’ll keep it short and sweet. 

One way we can know God has grown something good within us is when we can forgive someone we love for causing us pain and continue to love them through forgiveness. We don’t allow bitterness or resentment to take hold. 

We gather what God grew in us and give them some grace and mercy as He has given us. 

God has a purpose in pain, and often it is the catalyst for our own spiritual growth. 

Not to say we forgive and forget what happened, but that we recognize none of us is perfect, and we all make mistakes. And with genuine forgiveness on our part, we can move forward a little wiser and love others in a better way. We choose to show love and forgiveness even when it’s hard. That can be a big point of growth. 

We’re a work in progress, and thank goodness, God’s growing us to be more like Jesus. We’re changing for the better. 

With Jesus deeply rooted in our hearts, we’re planted in the right spot. 

God will nourish, and we will surely flourish. 

Father, thank You for the powerful Holy Spirit and for His help in life. I need Him every moment of every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.