ROOTS
16th Sep 2026
When we moved to our new home nearly 4 years ago, one of our granddaughters gave us a plum tree. It arrived by post in a cardboard cylinder. We planted it in a pot and cared for it. However, a year ago, a friend and expert gardener suggested it needed to be moved out of its pot and into the ground.
He then said to me, “You need to dig a square hole because it helps the roots reach out further. A round hole tends to make the roots go in a circle, limiting growth and strength.” I had never heard this advice before, so I dug the square hole. The tree’s growth and development have proven this advice true.
So, as believers, how do we develop our spiritual roots? Jesus said that the seed planted in rocky ground, is like someone with no roots. It does not thrive or bear fruit. (Matthew 13:20-21) If we allow all kinds of rubbish to fill our lives, it will inhibit root growth.
I believe reading the whole Bible helps our roots grow. Some of it is hard graft, but it will strengthen our roots. Just reading our favourite passages will make our roots go round in circles! Biographies of spiritual giants stimulate faith and inspire growth.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord…he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.” We all have faith projects, things we are praying for and waiting to happen. Don’t lose heart; as you continue to pray consistently, you develop your roots and build your faith.
Ephesians 3:17 Paul encourages the believers, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power… to grasp how wide and high and deep is the love of Christ…that you might be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Love for God, for other believers, and also for those you are praying for will strengthen your roots.
There is a very interesting verse in Proverbs 12:3: “A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.” If we live consistent, faithful lives, it develops our roots and gives us a firm foundation.
This theme of “roots” has been with me for quite a while. Growth doesn’t happen overnight, but as day by day we live lives of worship, prayer, fellowship and meditating on God’s Word, our roots will go deeper, and we will have a peace and stability in our lives which is unshakeable.
by Charles Sibthorpe
