In the bible there is a teaching on roots and fruits. God has designed the universe so that you can identify problems based on the effect they have on our lives. For example, suppose you discover water dripping from the ceiling of your living room and it’s ruining your carpet. You will probably respond to this problem in one of two ways. One way is to engage in damage control. You will keep empty pots and pans wherever the water is leaking and scurry around to keep them emptied. If you live in a rainy climate, this could become a full-time job. Plus, it’s hard to cook without cookware!

The second method you might choose is to hire someone to come in and fix the leaky roof. This may cost more, but it will truly solve the problem. The soggy carpet is evidence of the “fruit.” It tells us that there is a serious problem in the structure of the house. The “root” is the leaky roof. If we do not pay attention to the root, we will likely have much more bad fruit, such as thousands of dollars of damaged carpet and flooring. Matthew 7:17-18 NKJV says, “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. In other words, results always point toward causes.