To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
Genesis 3:17-19
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
During 2026, Peachtree Church is inviting everyone into Cultivate, a churchwide discipleship plan centered on the fruit of the Spirit and the kind of life God longs to grow in us. Throughout the year, we’ll explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control take shape in everyday life through the Spirit’s work. Cultivate brings together worship, Scripture, group guides, and meaningful practices designed to meet you where you are and support growth in ways that fit your season. These twice-weekly devotionals are one way to stay connected, offering reflection and grounding for daily life with God. Whether you engage in many ways or just one, you’re invited to be part of this shared journey of becoming more rooted in who God has created and called you to be.
Devotional
In Genesis 3, we encounter one of the most honest (and haunting) passages in all of Scripture. After the rupture of relationship between humanity and God, God speaks to Adam and shares the reality of what life will look like going forward.
The ground, once freely fruitful, will now be cursed because of human disobedience. Food will come only through painful toil. Thorns and thistles will grow alongside what sustains life. Work itself will be marked by resistance. “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,” God says, “until you return to the ground.”
This is not punishment as much as it is truth-telling.
Genesis 3 reminds us that growth is no longer effortless. Cultivation now requires attention, patience (forbearance), and endurance. The soil resists us. We work hard and still face disappointment. We plant faithfully and still encounter thorns.
Most of us know this reality well. We want spiritual growth, but we find ourselves tired or burnt out. We desire peace, but anxiety persists. We long to love generously, but self-protection creeps in. Even our best intentions often meet resistance.
And yet, this passage does not end with abandonment. As we talked about this week in worship, we can still be frustrated and yet covered in grace.
God does not remove Adam and Eve from the work of the world. Instead, God meets them in it. Cultivation becomes the place where dependence is formed, and humility is learned. The soil may be harder, but God remains present in the work. He stands next to you; grace incarnate.
This is why cultivation matters. Not because it guarantees ease or quick results, but because it keeps us engaged with God in the real conditions of our lives. Growth now happens slowly, through faithfulness, through shared labor, and through trust that God is still at work beneath the surface.
As we begin this year, Genesis reminds us to be honest about the ground we are working with. It will not always cooperate. But God has not withdrawn. The same God who named the difficulty also continues to bring life from the soil.
Even now and especially now, something good can grow.
For Reflection
- Where in your life does growth currently feel resistant or slow, and how might God be meeting you in the difficulty rather than removing it?
- How does naming the hardness of the ground change the way you think about faithfulness, both in your own life and within the community around you?
Prayer
Lord, you know the ground we are working with. You see the effort, the frustration, and the weariness we often carry. Help us to trust that you are present even when growth feels slow and the soil feels hard.
We place our work, our lives, and this year into your hands.
Amen.
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Devotionals