47. Growing Deep Spiritual Roots as a Christian Woman

What if the reason your faith feels shaky isn’t that you’re doing something wrong, but because God is still growing your spiritual roots beneath the surface?! 

Just like a tree needs deep roots to stand strong through storms, our faith needs a strong foundation in Scripture, prayer, and a relationship with God. 

In this episode of Step Into Bold Faith, Whitney explores how letting God strengthen your spiritual roots can help you stay steady and grounded in your faith no matter what season of life you’re in.

Listen to this episode to answer the following questions:

• Why does my faith sometimes feel inconsistent or shaky?
• What does it really mean to be rooted in Christ?
• How do I build a strong spiritual foundation as a Christian?
• What helps Christians stay steady in difficult seasons of life?
• How do I grow spiritually and become more rooted in God?

Then this episode is for you!

Continue Learning About the Bible With Whitney:

1. Get the FREE guide: 5 Things You Need to Truly Understand the Bible. Learn the things you need to start truly understanding the Bible so you can live with more clarity, direction, and purpose as a Christian woman!

2. Join the Step Into Bold Faith Collective: This is a guided community for Christian women to learn how to read, study, and apply the Bible to everyday life. Get ready to change how you think, how you live, and who you become!

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4. Subscribe to the Step Into Bold Faith YouTube channel to watch the video version of these audio episodes!

Transcript

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Have you ever felt like you want to live fully for God, but the world keeps distracting you and pulling you in a bunch of different directions? I know that you want to stay grounded in your faith. You want to grow closer to God. You want a relationship with Him and for it to feel strong and steady and rooted. But you know, life gets busy, distractions come up, things come up, culture is pulling at our attention, trying to get us away from the life that God wants us to live. And sometimes it can just feel really difficult to stay on the right path. And, you know, one day you might feel really close to God. And then the next week it's like really hard to get back to that place. But what if that wasn't an issue week after week? What if you're actually feeling rooted in God and steady in your relationship and like it's actually consistent? And the real issue might just be that your roots need to grow deeper. So in today's episode, we're going to be talking about what it means to develop spiritual roots so that your faith becomes steady, resilient, and anchored in God, even when life gets chaotic, even when there's a bunch of distracting things going on. And we're going to look at what scripture says about being rooted in Christ, how God strengthens our faith beneath the surface, and how you can start growing in a deeper foundation with God starting today. So by the end of this episode, my hope is that you'll walk away with a clearer understanding of what it means to be spiritually rooted, encouragement if you feel like your faith isn't growing fast enough, practical ways to deepen your relationship with God, and a renewed perspective on how God grows us from the inside out. So let's get into today's episode. So welcome to Step Into Bold Faith. I'm Whitney Gardner, and this podcast helps Christian women grow closer to God, understand his word, and learn what it means to live boldly for him in everyday life. So if you're someone who wants to build a deeper and real relationship with God, wants to strengthen your faith and walk closely with Jesus in a world that constantly pulls us in the opposite direction, you are in the right place. And again, today we are diving into something that has been really on my heart, and that is letting God grow our spiritual roots. So I have been reading this really amazing book called Rooted, and it has just been such a powerful reminder that spiritual growth, it doesn't always happen in the ways that we think it is or the ways that we see it. And this is just like a whole tree analogy, right? Like we're talking about being rooted, and when I'm talking about this, think about like a big tree, right? So a lot of times we see, you know, these big trees, and what we see is only what's happening above the ground, right? We're not actually seeing their roots underneath. But the reason that the trees are so tall, they are so big, they are, you know, they can weather the storms, they can, you know, survive all the elements is because of the roots that are growing underneath the surface. The roots reach deep in the soil, they draw in the water, they draw in the nourishment, they keep the tree steady when the winds come, right? It's like grounding the tree. And the same thing is true in our faith. If we want to live boldly for God, we need deep spiritual roots, especially in this world that we live in that is so distracting and so tempting and so like sin-based. We need roots that are grounded in scripture. We need roots that are grounded in prayer, it that are grounded in going and seeking him out to living for him fully, that are anchored in our relationship with him every day, that are anchored in actually staying consistent and prioritizing our faith, right? So one verse that really captures this whole concept beautifully is in Colossians 2, 6, 7. So then, just as you receive Jesus Christ as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. I love how this verse just reminds us that faith is not about the moment that we first believe in Jesus, it's about continuing to grow deeper in him, being rooted up, being built up, being strengthened in him over time. Another really good verse that speaks about this is in Jeremiah 17, 8, 7, 8. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. This was my phone screen for a while. I really, really liked this one a lot, especially when I started reading the book. And what this verse is showing us is that when our roots are connected to God, we can remain steady even when life feels uncertain, dry, difficult, right? The deeper our roots grow, the more stable our faith becomes. So here's what happens when God grows our roots. When he begins strengthening our root system, first we start wanting to spend more intentional time with him. So that might look like opening up your Bible more often, praying throughout the day, simply inviting him into your little everyday moments in everyday decisions whenever you need help with something, just like very small things that can really just take that relationship with him to the next level. Second, we begin developing a deeper understanding of his word. So instead of scripture feeling confusing or distant, we start really trying to see how it applies to our everyday lives. And it begins shaping the way that we think, the way that we respond to situations, the way that we make decisions, the way that we handle relationships, that we handle hardship, right? And the third is that we become more grounded in our true identity in Christ. When our roots grow deeper, we are less shaken by the opinions of the world, the challenges that we face. We become more confident in who God says that we are. And finally, once our roots are actually built and our tree is growing and we're thriving and we're successful, we begin to bear fruit. And our lives begin reflecting things like love, patience, wisdom, faithfulness, peace, faithfulness, all the fruits of the spirit, right? But again, just like growing the roots underground, this process happens slowly, right? And it requires consistency, patience, asking God for help, trusting God that it's going to work out, even when we don't see the immediate results. Trusting He has a plan for us and following His plan, right? And so if you've ever felt like your faith isn't growing fast enough or like you're still figuring things out, you're struggling, I really want to encourage you that spiritual growth is not about perfection. It's really about allowing God to continue to strengthen your roots. Every single time that you pray, every single time that you open your Bible and read scripture, every time you trust him, every time you listen to his voice and don't ignore him, every time you do what you're supposed to do and you actually follow through on what you say you're going to do, these are all moments where your roots are forming and they're growing deeper and deeper and deeper, even if you can't see it yet. And if this episode resonated with you and you are desiring a deeper relationship with God, if you want to grow your spiritual roots, if you want to take your faith to the next level, I want to personally invite you to join the Step into Bold Faith Collective. This is a community for Christian women who want to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, who want to understand and live out God's word, who want to encourage one another as we grow in faith. And inside the collective, we have conversations just like this. This is an example of one of the monthly themes that I did inside the collective, where we dive into scripture and we support each other on our walk and help each other actually work through certain things and build those real deep spiritual roots within God. So if that sounds like something that you have been looking for, definitely go to the link in the show notes or into the link in the comments to learn more. I would absolutely love to support you in this and love to have you a part of the community. It's so fun. And so now let's end in our prayer. God, thank you so much for developing our roots and helping us to grow and help us to picture ourselves becoming these big, beautiful, strong trees with these big, beautiful, strong roots underneath the surface. And just help us know that everything that you're doing, Lord, it is to help us be rooted in you, be grounded in you, Lord. Please help us to weather any storms and just to be able to sustain any tough times that come, any winds that blow, and that we just remind ourselves that everything we're doing is for you, Lord, and for your glory and to help us be better Christian women. We love you, we worship you. In Jesus' name, amen. So until next time, thank you so much for coming along the journey with me and let's keep stepping into bold faith together. Bye.