This week I attended my first-ever farming symposium. I’m not sure if all farming conferences are like this, but this one was deeply focused on one thing: soil — what it is, how it’s changing, and how we can regenerate it using biological practices.
A lot of the science admittedly went over my head, but there were a few speakers who slowed down long enough to speak about the why behind healthy soil. They talked about soil as the foundation of life — the beginning of growth, the sustainer of growth, and what remains long after our lives have ended.
And as I sat there listening, I couldn’t help but think back to Genesis.
God, the First Gardener
Before God ever formed humanity, He spent days designing the perfect environment for life to flourish. Light. Water. Land. Vegetation. Creatures. And after each stage of creation, He called His work good.
Then in Genesis 1:26, He said, “Let Us make man in Our image.”
And in Genesis 2:7, “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
This beautiful moment marries the physical (dust) with the spiritual (God’s breath) — and humanity becomes a living being made in His likeness.
What does this tell us?
- The earth God created was whole, abundant, and perfectly designed.
- God Himself was the first gardener.
- And we were given dominion — not domination, but stewarding care.
We Can’t Keep Treating Soil Like It’s “Just Dirt”
One speaker said something that struck me: “We can’t keep treating our soil like it’s just dirt.”
Good gardeners know the difference. Dirt is dead.
Soil is alive — teeming with organisms, minerals, and the complex systems that sustain life.
But today, much of our soil is hurting.
Poor land management, pollution, erosion, and decades of stripping the soil through conventional farming have left vast areas depleted. Yes, synthetic fertilizers keep crops growing — and farmers rely on them — but they don’t actually rebuild what the soil has lost.
I think of my own basil plant that’s lived in the same little pot for almost two years. I water it every Tuesday. I prune it for meals. But lately its leaves are smaller, yellowing, and weak.
Why?
Because the soil is simply exhausted. It’s been giving and giving and giving… without being replenished.
And isn’t that exactly how we can become?
Where Soil Meets the Soul
Scripture often uses soil as a metaphor for the heart.
The condition of the soil determines what can grow.
The condition of our soul determines what can take root in us.
Just as soil can be depleted, compacted, polluted, or renewed — so can the soul.
- Harmful influences can seep into our spirit like contaminants.
- Neglect can leave our hearts dry and nutrient-poor.
- Wrong voices can shape our beliefs like erosion shapes the earth.
- Good community, God’s Word, prayer, and rest act like compost, amendments, and rich organic matter — restoring what’s been stripped away.
- Both soil and soul were formed by God’s hands.
Both were created flawless.
Both are impacted daily by their environment.
And both can be renewed when cared for intentionally.
Steward Your Soil — and Your Soul
In the parable of the talents, the faithful servants didn’t bury what they’d been given — they multiplied it. God’s command to “have dominion” invites us into that same responsibility.
To care.
To cultivate.
To nurture.
To steward what we’ve been entrusted — whether that’s our land, our families, or our spiritual lives.
If we want healthy crops, we must invest in healthy soil.
If we want a healthy walk with God, we must tend to our souls.
The world is feeling the effects of poor soil stewardship.
And many hearts are feeling the effects of poor soul stewardship too.
But the good news is: soil can be restored. And so can we.