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Plants grow down before they grow up. They become rooted before they become fruitful.
In many ways, people are plants. We need to be rooted in something and desire to bear fruit. Our “roots” are our connections with God, people, and our community. Our fruits are the successes we have in life, such as business success, deep meaningful relationships, strong romantic relationships, a dynamic relationship with God, and the list goes on.
People want to be fruitful. The problem, however, is that many people put the process in reverse. We want to bear fruit first and then worry about all the other stuff later. Unfortunately, this produces shallow "roots" or shallow connections.
Shallow roots: Can't support a lot, not very stable, and can be moved with relative ease.
We often fail to realize that fruit is produced by a hidden inner work happening deep underground. It is unfair to expect fruit from a tree that has not been allowed to grow the roots to support the fruit it produces. Likewise, it’s unfair to yourself to expect fruit when you don't have the roots to support the fruit.
Deep roots: requires stability, constant resources and attention, and constant protection, but supports great structures.
You can grow your roots by obtaining more information, or you can grow them by implementing some form of practice. In a practice environment, repetition of a small amount of information would be prioritized, not a continual consumption of new information. With practice, you can put your knowledge into action and build confidence through experience. Practice can help you go from shallow "roots" to deep, meaningful connections because your focus is on developing one relevant skill at a time.
With deep connections, you can expect to have stability in your most important relationships. From the overflow of these connections, you can expect to bear fruit. This fruit will be the evidence of your investment into these relationships. It will serve you and your community well.
Check out some of our practice environments at growingtruedisciples.com.
Scripture References:
John 15
Galatians 5
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