By The Root
When I was ten years old, my Grandpa taught me how to use a lawnmower and a line trimmer (weedeater), and I’ve been doing yard work ever since. In fact, I mowed lawns like a maniac in order to raise enough money to go on my first mission trip to the Philippines while I was in High School! Yard work is somehow therapeutic for me and I enjoy it. I even helped my boys start their own yard business this summer, which makes me proud.
Now that the sandblasting dusty winds of New Mexico’s spring are behind us, and the heat of summer is setting in, it is yard work season. And though our backyard is full of pecan trees, as I fight to bring back a grassy lawn, I’m in a battle against weeds. I am committed to keeping the ground moist, not just to grow healthy grass, but in order to be able to deal properly with the weeds. And here’s what I’ve noticed: when you pull a weed by the root, there’s a fibrous tearing sound, that’s strangely satisfying. You knowyou got the whole thing. But when it snaps? You know part of it’s still under the surface. And that means you’ll be dealing with that same weed again.
It’s the same with our lives—our hurts, habits, hangups, sin patterns, and broken belief systems are like weeds. If we only mow over the top, if we just break off the surface behavior, the root remains, and it will grow back. But if we’re willing to do the hard work—the heart work—we can truly see transformation as we deal with issues at the root level.
One of my mentors told me years ago, that great fathers, great leaders, and people who hope to have any influence at all, are ruthless with their sin. And a lion is nothing, if not ruthless! I watched a crazy documentary about the Mapogo Lions that lived in the Sabi Sands region of Kruger National Park in South Africa in the early 2000’s. Uniquely, there were six males banded together and they were gangsters! The Mapogo’s killed over 40 others lions and cubs in less than a year to remain dominant over their territory, which, at its peak, included an estimated 170,000 acres!
The Mapogo Lions were ruthless!
This summer, I’ve been challenged to be ruthless too, in a different way. I don’t plan to fight my way through every other potential dominant male on my block! But I do want to pull the deeper things that don’t belong in my heart, fully up and out. I don’t want to settle for surface change, but go after true transformation and growth in my words, beliefs, attitude, behavior, etc. The good news is that God always helps us do it. And hopefully, you’ve got people around you who can walk with you through the process, too.
Lions don’t just skim the surface—they tear out strongholds. They fight to keep the ground they’ve won…to the death if necessary. They take ownership, face the truth, and battle for lasting freedom.
Be that kind of lion…be Ruthless!