Becoming A Well-Watered Woman In A Parched WorldSample

What Is Your Identity Rooted In?

Your sense of identity has roots—unseen, hidden, yet manifested in how you live. Our identity is ultimately rooted in what we believe about God and ourselves. When these beliefs aren’t rooted in the truth, chaos ensues. 

Maybe your identity is rooted in past experiences, failures, or false words that were spoken over you. Or perhaps your identity is rooted in a present situation that’s making you feel stuck and disappointed. Your identity could be rooted in future fears, potential mistakes, or a sense of upcoming doom. Most likely, your roots are tangled up in all three—past pain, present struggles, and future worries. Often, our core beliefs stand in stark contrast to God’s truth. 

Consider these rotten roots that could be at work in your life, as well as the gospel root God wants to replace them with:

Rotten root: What others think of you is more important than what God thinks of you.
Gospel root: When God sees you, he sees Christ, not your past failures or mistakes. The only audience to live for is the audience of one. 

Rotten root: You have to mask your hurt with a happy face.
Gospel root: Christ has experienced the hurt for you. He understands, he listens, and he can handle your hurting heart. Bring the pain to him and receive his promise of healing. 

Rotten root: True beauty is determined by your weight, skin color, and size.  
Gospel root: Your worth is determined by your Savior, who bore the weight of the world on his shoulders to set you free. 

Rotten root: To be successful and have worth, you must be constantly productive and never take a break.  
Gospel root: You can never do enough or be enough to satisfy the masses. The most productive thing you can do is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

If we believe Satan’s lies, we’ll find our lives drained of joy. Satan wants to keep us stuck in these lies, and he will do everything possible to keep you from opening your Bible. He knows his lies can’t stand against the truth of God’s Word.  

Ultimately, what we believe about who God is and who we are in him affects the way we live and think, and these beliefs are buried in the root system of our souls. If we have good roots, our lives will produce the good fruit of the Spirit. These roots can only be established and strengthened when they’re watered by the truth of Scripture and cleansed from the lies of this world. 

Conversation Starter: Which of these rotten roots do you find yourself listening to most? Can you identify others that drain the joy from your life? 

Getting Started: Become a “thought sifter” and sift every thought through the truth of God’s Word to determine whether it’s a rotten root or a gospel root.