Hoe In Your Own Row

by

Pastor B.J. Knefley

Years ago I heard a sermon about hoeing in your own row. It was one of those messages that I’ve never forgotten. It’s a subject that is practical and applicable to everyday life.

Have you noticed that everyone has an opinion and that they believe that theirs is the only one that counts? It doesn’t matter what the subject matter is, someone somewhere has an opinion and they want you to know what it is. To hoe in your own row simply means to take care of your own weeds before you go around hoeing the weeds out of someone else’s garden, (life). But we don’t do we? We look around and see what we consider some offensive issue somewhere and jump on the bandwagon of offense. Plastering our savory thoughts across social media sights for all to see while the weeds of our own life go unnoticed and choke out what we should be taking care of in our own garden.

The idea of hoeing in your own row is very much like the story Jesus told of taking care of the log in your own eye before you try to take our the splinter in someone else’s, (Luke 6:42). It makes me wonder how much different our world would be if we practiced this type of scrutiny. You know, taking care of our own lives before we start meddling into the life of another person. Personally I’ve had to look in the mirror often and found that the very thing that frustrated me about others was very evident in my own as well. I’ve had to do an attitude adjustment before talking to someone else about theirs.

Hoeing in your own row simply means to take at look at our own life, motives, attitudes, and beliefs and make adjustments wherever they are needed. Learn to live life as an example rather as an expert. Understand that in life, teaching others how to do things works better than just telling them. Teaching them and working along side of them will create a friend. Taking your hoe and hacking away at their garden will only create an enemy. The options are simple the choice is yours. Think about it.