I would not consider myself a talented gardener. I enjoy the blooms of color and fragrant smells that greet me as I walk up to my front door, but I lack the vision or wisdom to make my landscape truly wow anyone. On top of my lackluster knowledge in this area, when it comes to keeping up on my weeds, I am mediocre at best.

Regardless, this doesn’t keep me from working to improve every year. I imagine when my kids are grown I will have more time to nurture the outside of my home. For now, however, I will place my focus on the inside.

One day, I was out front with my middle child as she was helping pull weeds. We were working to clear the growth that had happened in early spring. We get these nasty thistle weeds that have small barbs at their base. It is tempting to pull out just the leafy part and move on. On the surface, they appear to be gone. As I watched my daughter take care of the top part of the plant and move on, I had to stop her. I explained that these pesky plants need to have the root removed as well or they will spring right back up. She gave a huff of frustration and whined that the root was deep and barbed and she hated pulling that part out. ‘It was a lot of work!’

Our hearts are not so different.

In life we experience lies, half truths and trauma. Before we know it, something less than our best has taken root. Sometimes we are unaware that these “weeds” have sprung up amongst our better qualities. Other times we know they are there, but like my daughter, you take one look and decide the work it takes to fully uproot it isn’t worth it.

Maybe we try to act differently in order to appear like the wound isn’t there. We lop off the surface level behavior, but we don’t deal with the heart-level hurt. This can work for a while if you put some effort into it, but it won’t last. If the roots are still there, it won’t be long before it springs new leaves and barbs and you’re right back where you started.

Getting to the root cause of our heartache and wounding is difficult. However, Jesus died for us to have an abundant life, and I believe that means living as wholeheartedly as we can on this side of Heaven. He did not guarantee us a perfect life. In fact, He told us in John 16:33 that “In this life, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Overcoming the world is as big as salvation from an eternity spent apart from God and as small as renewing your mind from thoughts that steal your joy. He is bigger than all of it, and He longs to free us from the chains that bind us to unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors.

How do we do it?

How do we get to the root and then eradicate it from our lives? The reality is, this takes time and intentionality on our part. We have to be able to hear the voice of God in our lives. When I say hear I don’t mean an audible voice, but a knowing of how He communicates to you. This is developed in the day-to-day pursuit of a relationship with the Holy Spirit. When we commune with God daily, we begin to understand how He interacts with us. As He gently highlights something in your life, He will invite you into breakthrough. Not because He can’t be with you in your imperfect state, but because He loves you so much. Plus, abundance and redemption are side-effects of an active relationship with Him.

I learned a valuable lesson from a mentor in the faith that if I could see the highlighted weaknesses as invitations to breakthrough, then I could get excited about them instead of beating myself up. It has allowed me to flip the script on my thinking when the enemy wants me to feel defeated about an area that I have not (yet) seen victory in.

Renew your thinking about areas to receive healing or breakthrough.

It is going to take practice.

When we are going after something that is embedded into our lives or our beliefs, it takes time. That lie didn’t fall into your life and take deep root instantly. No, it slowly but surely implanted itself into the fabric of your heart until it most likely blended into your norm. When the Holy Spirit starts to highlight something like that it can feel hard or overwhelming, but take heart! God has conquered it all and He has what you need to see this through.

When you commit to the practice of renewing your mind, you begin to soak in the truth that He has you in the palm of His hand and He will be near whenever you need Him. This practice begins to shape your mindset as He gently brings lies you believe about yourself or Him to light. He can guide you through redeeming your heart toward Him or toward yourself in ways only He can.

Our chances of success are much higher if we prioritize pursuing Him and pursuing the truth about who He is for us as opposed to changing our behaviors that are ultimately tied to a lie, wound, or trauma we have experienced in the past.

May you enjoy the journey of allowing God to be the Healer and Prince of Peace in all areas of your life.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Uprooting Lies