To Change the Fruit, Heal the Root

Moran is a student at Auburn, who faced addiction, depression, and anxiety.

He also had issues with his father, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

Moran went through an Issue Focused Ministry session )IFM) to dig at the root issues. 

It comes from beneath

Many times, we don’t like “fruit” we see in our lives. That is, we see issues (even recurring ones) in the same areas:

• Relationships don’t work
• We struggle to maintain a healthy weight 
• We fall into the same unhealthy patterns and addictions

In truth, when our hearts are whole, relationships work. And we find purpose. And we’re emotionally stable. And we don’t self-sabotage.

I assumed self-sabatoge was simply one of those bad fruits people needed to be taught about. If they only knew better, they could do better. Or so it seemed.

Self-sabotage is a root issue, though. Not a fruit issue.

To kill it, you’ve got to destroy the roots, not just keep plucking off bad fruit. Unless the stuff inside changes, the fruit always returns.

Think about it.

To change the fruit, you’ve got to change the root…

Attach the heart to the right thing

Many of us attach our hearts to the wrong things (in large part, because of past hurts and pains we’re seeking to soothe). We live from undisclosed hidden rules- in an effort to avoid pain. We cover that pain with addictions, false-fillers which can never eliminate the void. The result is bad fruit, bad fruit which returns perennially.

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I “killed” bad fruit in my life. “This is it,” I repeatedly told myself. Then, to use the language from the title of this short book, “I’m finally free.”

But I wasn’t. Not for long.

Often, seemingly out of nowhere, bad fruit returned. When it did, it often grew back stronger and bigger, making it even more difficult to pluck off the next time.

Maybe you’ve been there, too, experiencing the same thing.

If you have, join the crowd. You’re not alone.

The results of the IFM

The IFM— like Moran experienced— goes after the roots. As a result of pulling out the bad roots, Moran’s “fruit” was transformed. 

• Moran began diving into Scripture each day.
• He also lost 30 pounds in just a few weeks. 
• He’s happy.

And, he’s taking steps forward. He's back in school, but living forward with a new perspective.

To learn more about an IFM for you or someone you know, go here.