Warts: The Root of the Problem

Warts can be a big problem. They are very contagious and hard to get rid of, not to mention unsightly and even painful. As much as people don’t like them, the pain of getting rid of them may be more than some are willing to bear. I had some on my feet when I was 4 and they had to be burned off. I still remember the pain. Unfortunately, that pain is necessary to kill the root. If only the visible part of the wart is removed, it will come back. Like weeds, if the roots are allowed to remain, they will grow back.

 

1 Timothy 6:10 New American Standard Bible 1995

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Hebrews 12:15-16 New American Standard Bible 1995

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

Romans 11:16 New American Standard Bible 1995

If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.

Deuteronomy 29:17-18 New American Standard Bible 1995

moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them); so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Matthew 7:16-18 New American Standard Bible 1995

You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

 

The root determines what will grow. We cannot plant a plum tree and expect an orange to grow from it. If the root is bad, the tree will be bad, but roots are tricky. Some plants have roots that are very difficult to remove, like warts. I tried clearing some ground around my place and a lot of the brush that I cut is coming back because I didn’t get the roots.

 

Sin is like that. If we don’t get to the root of the problem, it will keep coming back. In raising children, merely dealing with the behavior will not result in real change. We have to deal with the heart. Once the heart changes, then the behavior will follow. Some children have been trained into behaving, so on the outside they look good, but their hearts have not been touched so on the inside they are still just as rebellious, and bitterness may grow as a result.

 

Some roots are hard to identify. Sometimes children misbehave because they are afraid of something, need attention, or are hurting because of the way someone else has treated them. Getting to the actual root of the problem can be difficult, but it is necessary. One root left can ruin everything else. A root of bitterness, for example, will grow causing us to become easily offended, cross and angry about everything. It can even lead to physical ailments. The love of money can lead to a host of other problems. Lack of self control with one thing can sprout up in every area of life.

 

The roots do not stay confined to one area. They also do not stay within one person. I can look at families around us and see how the roots of bitterness in one person have grown and developed in other members and generations, sometimes manifesting in completely different areas, but all leading back to that one person who did not deal with bitterness. This can also happen in churches, where one person gets offended and starts spreading gossip so that it affects and spoils the opinions of many until the church becomes divided, all because one person did not deal with their offense.

 

Hebrews 12:1-2 New American Standard Bible 1995

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Ephesians 4:20-24 New American Standard Bible 1995

But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

 

The removal process is often painful. Sin that is deeply rooted will not come out easily, but it will spread decay and destruction until it is dealt with. We need to not only be willing to get rid of the sin and its roots, but desirous to do so. We should seek Christ-likeness and hate everything that keeps us from it.

 

Ask God to examine your life and reveal anything that is causing problems, holding you back. Ask Him to help you deal with what is revealed. Ask Him to help you grow what is good and to stop the roots that are creeping in from others.