Dear Friend:
Your roots determine what kind of person you are.
I don’t mean your family roots. I mean the set of beliefs and principles directing your life. Everyone has this kind of root system. It shapes what you think, what you value, how you relate to others . . . your whole life!
Our roots are like a tree’s. Tree roots not only stabilize, they absorb, store, and transport nutrients. Proper nutrients support and strengthen the entire tree. But a tree withers and dies from poor nutrition. Life above ground depends upon health below ground.
The same is true of you and me. What we fill our minds with and give our hearts to determine the character and quality of our lives. It’s absolutely vital, then, to feed your roots the proper nutrients: a steady stream of God’s Word.
Developing and nourishing your root system with Bible-teaching is the path to spiritual health and true blessing. Those who do so are like trees firmly planted along a riverbank, bearing fruit each season, and prospering in all they do (Psalm 1:1–3). In other words, having Bible-saturated roots:
- Gives substance to your faith
- Stabilizes you during times of testing
- Equips you to detect and confront error
- Makes you confident in your daily walk
- Filters out your fears and superstitions
Expanding our grasp of the Bible is urgent and important! One essential way of doing so is by sharpening our understanding of its main doctrines.
To help you with this endeavor, Insight for Living Ministries has made Growing Deep in the Christian Life our theme for January through March so all can discover just how essential, practical, and interesting biblical doctrine truly is.
There is nothing like letting the rich nutrients of God’s Word steadily flow into our lives. As you reflect on how enlivening it is, will you please send a generous financial gift to Insight for Living Ministries this month? We want everyone to resemble a flourishing tree! Don’t you? Well, it’s people like you, locking arms with us through intercession and donations, who enable us to make accurate, clear, and practical Bible-teaching freely accessible for anyone who wants it.
God designed a tree to be abundant in life with its thick trunk, sprawling branches, plush leaves, and delicious fruit. That’s its God-given purpose! Ever thought of it that way? Well, the same is true of you and me. God designed us to be abundant in life . . . it’s His life-giving Word that grows us into exactly the kind of people He made us to be.
Delighting with you in God’s Word,
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll