It’s true what they say: the longer you know God, the more you realise you have to learn! My own journey and the sharing of others’ journeys have shown me that we all share certain human tendencies that affect our relationship with God.
From a young age, we learn to live by certain standards – spoken and unspoken measures that shape how we see ourselves and others. Over time, these can begin to form a mindset: what began as learnt behaviour can eventually set itself up as “truth” in our thinking.
Yet many of these standards are not inspired by God at all. While God graciously shares His dreams and purposes with us, we must be careful not to interpret them through a worldly lens or attempt to fulfil them by human strength. It is only when He mercifully reveals His truth to us through His Holy Spirit that we are able to surrender our thinking and realign ourselves to His ways.
Scripture reminds us that God’s ways are profoundly different from our own:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV
This calls us to examine the source of our dependence. The righteousness that Jesus worked for us on the cross, its outworking in our lives, and our daily reliance on Him stand first and foremost before the visible works we produce.
From a young age, we learn to live by certain standards – spoken and unspoken measures that shape how we see ourselves and others. Over time, these can begin to form a mindset: what began as learnt behaviour can eventually set itself up as “truth” in our thinking.
As born-again Christian women, please remember that we were accepted by God long before we had anything good to offer. Our holy and gracious Father sent Jesus to save us while we were still empty-handed. Righteousness was never something we earned; it was something we received.
A Call Back to Dependence
I found a sobering yet hopeful picture of this truth in Hosea 10. Here God calls His people out of sin and idolatry, and back to wholehearted worship of God. They were chasing after false gods as He rebuked them for complacent, divided, and deceitful hearts.
What was the root of their sin?
“You have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception … because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors.” – Hosea 10:13, NIV
In God’s eyes, their sin was not just moral failure – it was self-reliance. They had abandoned Him as their one source. Looking one verse back, Hosea 10:12 is a gracious invitation by God to follow His ways:
“Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.” – Hosea 10:12, NIV
Three Powerful Choices for a Life Rooted in God:
1. Sowing Righteousness, Reaping Mercy
To sow is to act – every choice, every response, every attitude is a seed planted into the soil of our lives. At its core, righteousness means “straightness” – being in right standing with God. But righteousness is not something we can manufacture.
True righteousness comes through faith in Christ, not human effort. It is a gift from God to those who believe, as Paul reminds us, it is “through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 22, NIV). This righteousness is then expressed through a life surrendered to God’s will and shaped by His lordship.
Scripture is clear that sowing always leads to reaping:
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows … the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” – Galatians 6:7-8, NIV
Hosea continues by calling us to “reap the fruit of unfailing love.” The Hebrew word used for love here is hesed, also at times translated as mercy:
“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” – Hosea 6:6, NIV
God invites us as women to remain soft and humble before Him. He calls us into the light of His holiness, not to shame us, but to heal and transform us.
Hesed is rich in meaning. It speaks of loyal, steadfast love; faithfulness and devotion; kindness and justice. It is love toward God expressed in holiness, and love toward others expressed in mercy. This is inward, God-breathed obedience – not a religious performance or outward display of works.
2. Breaking Up Unploughed Ground
Unploughed ground is hard, dry, and often overrun with weeds. Spiritually, it represents areas of our hearts where we have resisted surrender.
We break up this ground by inviting God’s light to search us – to reveal hidden attitudes, misplaced affections, and areas not yet yielded to His lordship. As we allow Him to cleanse us from unrighteousness, the hardened soil of our hearts becomes soft and receptive.
God delights in this posture:
“A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” – Psalm 51:17, NIV
Such a heart is no longer unfeeling or unproductive. It is repentant, teachable, and ready to bear fruit.
3. Seeking the Lord
Finally, God calls us to seek Him. This is an acknowledgment of our complete dependence on His grace and mercy – to live rightly toward Him and toward others.
We may sow the seed, but only God can make it grow. As we lift the work of our hands to Him, we trust God for the harvest. When we sow in righteousness, we reap in mercy – not according to what we deserve, but according to His grace.
God invites us as women to remain soft and humble before Him. He calls us into the light of His holiness, not to shame us, but to heal and transform us. Jesus poured out grace for us at the cross – not only for our salvation, but also to empower us to live righteous lives. That grace must not be forgotten or wasted.
There is no righteousness found within ourselves – only the righteousness given by God to those who fully surrender to Him and are led by His Spirit.
May we come before Him with David’s prayer on our lips:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” – Psalm 139:23-24, NLT
