Rooted in Love
This summer, my friend graciously gifted me several tomato plants. She described each plant by name. “Here’s a Goliath tomato plant,” she said, “The tomatoes are very large.” “This one is a Rainbow tomato plant…and that one over there is a yellow tomato plant.” I knew right away that I just had to have that Goliath tomato plant! Since I’m not an avid gardener, the name of this plant caught my interest right away. Who wouldn’t want a jumbo-size tomato? As I gathered up my assorted plantings, I silently prayed, “Lord, help me to keep them alive!”
Well, I tended to these tomato plants everyday. I watered them, placed them into bigger pots and reinforced them. They grew and grew. I even placed the plants on my back porch so that they were positioned right in the sun. I also made plans for my neighbor to water them while we were away on vacation.
When we returned from our trip, I was amazed to find thriving tomato plants! What a welcomed surprise. However, the next day, the unexpected happened. A gust of wind blew through and knocked all of my tomato plants off the porch, soil and all! I immediately went into “rescue mode" and was thankful I was home to take care of them. I scooped up the soil and replanted the roots back into their pots. One of the tomato plants broke when it tumbled to the ground. I did the best that I could to reassemble it and prayed that it would continue to grow.
Weeks went by and that particular tomato plant recovered. It had re-rooted itself and stayed alive. This was so encouraging; hope was not lost. It has been a LONG process for these plants to produce tomatoes, but they are finally growing.
In a recent gathering, I shared about being ROOTED in LOVE. This has been something that has been on my heart for a while now. The verse bubbling inside of me comes from Ephesians 3:17-19 which says,
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be FILLED to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
This verse reveals how important being rooted and established in love is. Roots keep us grounded. Out of this place, we can grow and be filled to the measure of the fullness of God, together.
I’ve heard it said that the ROOTS will speak of the FRUITS. When we are rooted in love, our lives will produce Godly fruit and we will be filled with the fullness of God.
There will be the testing of our faith. There will be storms that arise in this life that will reveal the depth of our roots and what is in our hearts.
I love what it says in 1 Corinthians 13. It points out what really matters and what truly remains in this life. Let’s read it together:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
The verse continues,
“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Love is the soil that our roots can thrive in. It’s the Miracle Grow! What we produce will be fruitful.
God is so GOOD, and He knows what we need.
This sparked a conversation with my friend, Jackie - who is amazing by the way. We talked about being rooted in love and how the Lord has been speaking to her on this very same subject.
Jackie shared with me about her conversation with the Lord regarding Matthew 13. This is the parable of the sower. This story directly correlates to seeds falling on different kinds of ground and how people can hear the same message, but in actuality, some really don’t.
“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Then we talked about what happens in GOOD SOIL.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Jackie shared her heart in wanting to produce a harvest that reflects this verse of yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. That’s my desire as well.
It’s just challenging to assess and reflect on the soil of my heart and evaluate myself as being rooted in love. It’s so healthy to allow God’s word to shape and challenge our lives and have conversations with one another about scripture.
Seeds that are planted in good soil and are rooted in love will always produce a harvest.
The soil of our hearts matters. Where we are rooted matters because we abide where we are rooted. The Bible talks about abiding and staying connected to the vine. When we are rooted in love, then abiding in love connects us to our Creator: our “lifeline”.
Conversations like these sharpen me and bring forth deeper revelation from God’s word. This allows me to grow even more. I am thankful for my sweet friend, Jackie. She inspires me.
Loving people matters to God and doing all things in love reveals where we are rooted.
When we are rooted in love, our eyes and ears are open to hear and understand what God is saying in His word. It also allows us to love others well.
How deep our roots grow is directly proportional to reading God’s word and spending time with Jesus every day…cultivating our relationship to know Him more and more. That bears even greater fruit than Goliath tomatoes!
Be ROOTED and ESTABLISHED in LOVE.
Bethany Marshall
