Roots Don’t Lie

You can cut back a tree. You can trim its branches. You can even disguise its fruit for a season. But no matter what you do on the outside, what’s hidden in the root will eventually show itself in the fruit.

Roots don’t lie.

We live in a world obsessed with appearances—fixing what people can see while ignoring what only God can heal. But Jesus didn’t come to manage the surface. He came to transform us at the deepest level.

What the Roots Reveal

Jesus said:

Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. (Matthew 15:13 NIV).

The root system is the truth-teller of every tree. You can polish the branches, but the roots expose what’s really growing beneath the surface.

Anger often has a root of rejection or bitterness.

Addiction usually springs from pain or emptiness.

Fear grows from unbelief in God’s promises.

Cutting branches may keep things hidden for a while, but until the root changes, the same fruit will keep returning.

The Poison of Hidden Roots

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. (Hebrews 12:15 NLT)

Roots don’t stay contained. They spread. What begins as a private struggle will eventually end up in your marriage, your family, and other people you are in contact with. That’s why ignoring roots is dangerous. What we refuse to uproot today will eventually bear poisonous fruit tomorrow.

Stop Cutting What Keeps Growing Back

We try so hard to manage what only God can heal. We cut back the same habits, silence the same thoughts, hide the same struggles—only to watch them grow again. Why? Because cutting branches never changes the root!

You don’t need another cycle of "try harder, fail again." You need the Holy Spirit to go deeper than what’s visible and put His hand on what’s buried to pull up the root. Only then does real freedom come.

Let God Deal With the Root

John the Baptist declared:

Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:10 NLT)

That sounds heavy—but it’s actually mercy. God doesn’t come swinging to destroy you; He comes to free you!

When He lays the ax to the root, He’s not after your fruit—He’s after your the root that is blocking your freedom. He’s after the wound beneath the anger. The lie beneath the shame. The emptiness beneath the addiction.

I believe the Lord is saying:

“Stop trying to manage what I want to remove. Stop trimming branches that will only grow again. Let Me dig out the root, because what you’ve buried, I can heal. What has poisoned you, I can purify. What has bound you, I can break. Roots don’t lie—but My truth will set you free.”

Roots don’t lie. They reveal what’s been hidden, what’s been ignored, what’s been buried deep. But the good news is this: God doesn’t expose the root to shame you—He exposes it to free you.

The same God who uncovers the root is the same God who heals it. He doesn’t just pull up what was poisoning you; He plants something new. His Spirit replaces bitterness with forgiveness, fear with faith, and shame with identity.

So don’t settle for trimming what keeps growing back. Invite Him to go deeper. Ask Him to lay His hand on the roots of your life. Because where His truth goes, lies die. And when His life takes root, the fruit will follow.

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