Real vs Fake

I’ve been spending some time working outside this spring. In NW Ohio, the weather has been like a roller coaster. My closet currently doesn’t know what season it is!

Anyway, since I’ve been spending more time outside, I’ve started noticing the flowers on people’s homes as I drive by. It gives me a sense of encouragement—like, yes, I can grow a flower all season without letting it die! It also inspires my creativity as I think about what else I’d like to add to our home.

One day, I was driving past a couple of houses and noticed these bright, perfect flowers. They looked like they came straight out of Better Homes & Gardens. How could something look so easy to grow and so perfect?

Then one day, while scrolling through Facebook, I saw an ad for fake flowers in hanging pots available on Amazon. They were the exact flowers I’d been seeing on those homes. That’s when it hit me: those homes had fake flowers! Nothing was needed to help them grow—no water, no sunshine. If you forgot about them, no problem. They always looked perfect.

Let me ask you a hard question—one that might make you pause and reflect:

Is your relationship with Christ like those fake flowers?
Do you look the part, but fail to sow seeds in faith?
Do you neglect to water your relationship with Christ?
Do you allow the Son to shine in your life?
Is your relationship with Christ real—or are you just playing a part?

In Galatians 6:7–8 it states: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

I’m not here to judge you because I’ve been there too. There were times in my life when I was just playing the part. I wasn’t spending time cultivating my relationship with Christ. I was like those fake flowers—looking perfect and standing out.

But the older I get, the more I realize that real growth happens on the days when you have to dig a little deeper. You have to pull away the dead flowers that never produced. You have to get your hands in the dirt and examine the soil you’re trying to plant seeds in. You have to be as real as real can be with Christ.

And guess what? That’s when the change happens.

My challenge to you this week is simple:
Cultivate your relationship with Christ. Be real—not fake.

How can you do this?
Through prayer, Bible study, worship, fellowship, obedience, and service.

God bless,

Micha