Rooted in His Love: The Foundation for Growth
When we root ourselves deeply in His love, true growth will naturally follow.
This is part 2 of the Bloom Fully Series, originally published in the Sustain Newsletter.
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In part 1 of this series, we talked about how healthy growth is a natural result of abiding in Christ. If you missed it, you can read about it here .
To recap:
Growth is not a burden we have to carry on our own, nor should we suppress it out of false humility. When we remain in Him—trusting and following rather than acting out of fear and insecurity—we will grow as God intends.
This week, let’s talk about being rooted in Him. You might expect a discussion about spiritual disciplines like prayer and Scripture reading. And yes, those are essential. But what I really want to talk about today is rooting ourselves in His love and His delight in us as His children.
How Do You Think God Sees You?
Can we be really honest? What do you imagine God thinks about you? How do you believe He feels about you?
How you think He sees you reveals a lot about how you see Him. The answers to these questions matter because they shape how you relate to Him and how you navigate life. Now, I’m not asking for the "right" answer here—I’m asking: What belief are you operating out of in your day-to-day life?
Maybe you imagine God as a strict, difficult-to-please parent. Maybe you think He’s waiting for you to mess up or to get your life together. Or that He only cares about shaping your character through suffering, not about your joy.
A lot of us walk around imagining that God merely tolerates us. 😞 Perhaps you feel that He doesn’t truly see or care about you as an individual, that you aren’t truly significant to Him.
These lies can steal our joy and stifle our growth. Even if we wouldn’t say we believe them, they can lurk beneath the surface. It’s time to expose them to the light.
Look for the Fruit 🍇
If you’re like me, it might feel uncomfortable to dwell on the idea that God delights in you. It can seem self-focused or even "fluffy." But here’s what the Lord taught me early in my walk with Him: Look at the fruit.
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are some of the patterns—or fruit—that tend to grow from different beliefs:
What happens when we believe God is hard to please?
We strive, perform, and chase perfectionism.
We fear failure and shrink back rather than stepping into new things.
What happens when we don’t feel profoundly loved and accepted?
We seek validation from others, leading to people-pleasing.
We become overly affected by others’ approval or rejection.
What happens when we believe God only wants us to suffer?
We miss out on His joy and the abundant life He desires for us—even in the midst of suffering.
What happens when we believe we aren’t significant to God?
We strive to create our own significance and direct our own lives.
We look for identity in places other than Him.
The Beautiful Truth ✨
That was the bad news. Now for the beautiful part: What fruit is produced when we know, deep down, that God truly loves and delights in us?
We are utterly secure in our status as His children. Our security, identity, sense of belonging, and significance are all undergirded by His unchanging character and love.
We are empowered to serve Him and others with confidence and humility, neither performing nor shrinking back in fear or shame.
We actually become less self-focused because we are filled by His love. We no longer go into the world needy, seeking love and approval elsewhere.
We are more able to enjoy and delight in others, operating from the overflow of His love rather than from comparison or insecurity.
The Father’s Love Goes Before Our Work
Before Jesus even began His earthly ministry, the Father declared His love for Him:
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16-17)
The Father says so much in just a few simple words:
“This is my Son” → Jesus’ relationship with the Father, His identity, and His sense of belonging are all affirmed and solidified in this one statement.
“Whom I love” → The Father’s love came before Jesus' ministry work.
“With Him I am well pleased” → The Father delights in His Son. Once again, this was already true before Jesus did the work that He came to do.
And here’s the incredible news: Because of Jesus, we share that same unbroken relationship with the Father. His delight in us is not based on our performance. It is rooted in who He is and what Christ has done.
Resting in His Delight Frees Us 🕊
Think of a small child resting in a parent’s love. It’s not selfish—it’s healthy and beautiful. It becomes the foundation of the child’s security and confidence as they go into the world.
Friends, our Heavenly Father delights in us too. When we embrace this, we are freed in countless ways. We can step out in faith, serve others, and pursue His calling without fear of failure or striving for approval.
Let’s root ourselves deeply in His love. From that place, true growth will naturally follow. 🌿
There is more to come! In Part Three of this series, we will explore what it looks like to submit to His growth process for us.
A Prayer for the Week Ahead
Lord, we bring our hearts before You. By Your Spirit, reveal the places where we misunderstand Your heart—where we are not fully rooted in Your love. We ask You to bring to light any lies we’ve believed and set us free from them.
I can think of no better words to pray over my sisters than these words from the Apostle Paul:
“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.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Lord, root and establish us in Your love. May our capacity to understand and receive Your love grow this week and always as we walk with You.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Thanks for reading!
Your companion on the journey,
Nicole