Symptoms Versus Roots

The church consists of people who want to walk away from common life-corroding and destructive behaviors.

It is easy to look at a symptom and believe it to be the cause. But the cause, the root of something, is hidden and must be dug up to be successfully examined. Jesus tells us that He is the Vine and we, the branches. And to remain healthy, we must remain fully attached to Him. Stop looking at the fruit and start looking at your Vine connection. Are you attached? Fully attached? How have you determined that - by how you feel?

Using feelings to gauge healthy thoughts and actions makes it difficult to recognize what brings lasting benefits. Why? Because emotions are unstable and very unreliable. Feelings come from thoughts, so if your thoughts are toxic, your feelings will also be. Harmful actions follow.

Very rare is the Scripture that says, ‘this we feel,’ but many are they that say some variation of ‘this we know.’

God knows our feelings will let us down, so He asks for commitment instead. Then, He directs us to use His Word, a stable foundation, to filter our thoughts. Cultivate a lifestyle of daily prayer and Scripture reading and watch your life flourish.