The Soil of the Heart
We live in a world that celebrates external growth: platforms, promotions, and performance. But God is more concerned with the condition of our soil than the size of our stage. In the Kingdom, you can’t grow fruit from toxic ground.
V1 Church prayer ministry leader Evelyn Roman recently offered a reminder to Christians that before they bear fruit in community, they must check the soil of their heart.
The Condition of Your Soil
Acts 2:42–45 gives us a divine blueprint for a healthy church community: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer... All the believers were together and had everything in common.”
Community isn’t a Sunday activity—it’s a lifestyle of devotion, accountability, and mutual edification. For many, V1 Church serves as a church that offers spiritual growth from Breakers to Flight Crew to Men of Valor and the Free Woman Collective.
But even when God provides a believer with the resources, you “need to be rooted in community—and community needs to be rooted in you.” Evelyn shared her journey of arriving at V1 wounded from spiritual abuse. She didn’t come there to lead; she was there to heal. But the Holy Spirit had other plans. “I just wanted to receive, but God said, ‘You’re a river, not a reservoir,’” she recalled.
She didn’t wait until she felt whole. She said yes to leading a connect group. That, yes, became the start of her transformation. In her obedience, her healing began not just in her, but in her marriage, her children, and in the women she began to raise up as leaders. She quickly learned that when you pour out, God pours in.
What’s Killing Your Growth?
Look at the heart as the soil of a yard. At any moment, anyone's soil can be poisoned.
“Some people have toxic soil. And nothing will grow,” Evelyn warned.
Toxic soil consists of: bitterness, lust, rejection, rage, spiritual pride, and unforgiveness.
She called the aforementioned “spiritually transmitted demons” (STDs)—those things you catch when you consume every flashy preacher or viral prophecy online without discernment. Not everything anointed is appointed for you. Be careful what you let in through your “eye gates.”
When we study the garden in Genesis, we can track that God’s creation was meant to go from cursed dust to redeemed soil. Genesis 3:17-19 reveals the curse: “Cursed is the ground because of you... For dust you are and to dust you shall return.” Because of Adam, we were born into cursed soil and formed from dust that was broken. And that brokenness follows us—until we encounter another garden.
Luke 22:44 tells us: “And being in agony, He (Jesus) prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus didn't just redeem our souls. He began redeeming our soil. The ground was cursed in Eden, but Jesus bled into the dirt—the same dust we’re made from and brought forth redemption.
So our trauma, our sin cycles, our anger, lust, rejection, and fear can all be healed—because through the blood of Christ, the curse has been reversed.
Matthew 13 teaches that the soil of your heart determines whether God’s Word takes root.
Ask yourself today - Is your heart hardened, is it full of rocks—offense, fear, bitterness, is it choked by thorns—distractions, comparison, worldly desires? That can all change. Truth is, if you get planted in a good church and get surrounded with good people, thing might not change.
Because if your soil is toxic, you still won’t grow.
We weren’t made to just receive. We were made to flow. Healing didn’t come when Evelyn hoarded God’s love.Healing came when she became a conduit of His love to others. God is calling us, too—not just to get rooted, but to check your roots. If the soil of your heart is contaminated, you don’t need another motivational speaker; you need Jesus to bleed on your dirt.
Pray this today:
“Lord, I give You permission to till the soil of my heart.
Break up the rocks. Pull out the weeds. Heal the ground.
I receive the blood of Jesus—not just for salvation, but for restoration.
Make me a river. Pour through me. Let me nourish others.
Heal my soil, God—and plant me for Your glory. In Jesus’ Name! Amen.”
About the Author
Jeannie Ortega Law is a chart-topping singer, evangelist, media personality and author from New York City. She can be reached on social media: @JeannieOrtega or emailed at Info@JeannieO.com
At V1 Church we believe in teaching Bible-based relationship principles so that you can your family can be strengthened. Connect with us using one of the links below – we’d love to see you and help you walk through the process of reconciliation.