Let No Ivy Take Root

Last Updated on March 23, 2018

by Kim Chaffin

Last night at Bible study we were talking about spiritual battle and a young mom in our group gave a great analogy of what can happen when we let our guard down. Being a picture person, it came through loud and clear to me. Today I find myself stuck on that picture she painted in my mind with her words. She said something along the lines of, “When we let our guard down the enemy and sin has a way of creeping in like ivy on a house.”

“Ivy” … beautiful to the onlooker but what is it doing to the structure underneath? Ivy can start from one little root and it slowly grows. It is a creeping plant that wraps its way up trees, fences, and buildings. Sound familiar? The enemy sits waiting for his chance to plant that one little root that in time can grow and slowly begin to take over. Many things that the world sees as perfectly acceptable and what God sees as sin can take over a person.

As I researched ivy I learned that it wraps its way around a tree and sucks the life out of the tree. What looks beautiful from the outside is killing the tree. Even a tree with deep roots will be harmed when the root of an ivy plant takes hold. On buildings that have any cracks/damage, ivy can literally grow into the crack and cause very harmful structural damage. Moisture also gets into those damaged areas that the ivy has made bigger and it is the perfect breeding ground for mold and fungus.

We can so easily become like those homes covered in ivy. We can look so beautiful on the outside and we are falling apart because of the damage the roots of sin, shame, and lies from the enemy have caused us. We can be like the tree that is slowly dying as the life is sucked out of us. Something foul like mold or fungus on a house can be growing in us where the root of evil has broken into previous wounds.

God’s word tells us to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:8. We need to be on guard as believers. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms Ephesians 6:12 Daily we need to be putting on the armor of God and digging in deep to tear out any roots the enemy is trying to plant in our heads and our hearts.

Today I pray that as you read this you will really look hard at yourself. Is there ivy in your life that you need to tear out before it damages you and slowly sucks the life out of you? Ask God to search your heart, to bring to your attention any strong holds that have taken place and ask God to use his mighty hand to tear out the ivy in your life. Know this, as Ivy is pulled off a building it breaks out parts of the building with it. Ask God to be the life giving “spackle” that fills in those holes where your ivy has been pulled out. God can rebuild what was meant for harm. Ivy can be turned from harmful to …

“I” live
“V”ictoriously in
“Y”ou!

The enemy can have no root of harm in me!

Kim Chaffin is a member of City Life Church leadership team. A wife of 23 years and mother of two, Kim is currently enrolled in Portland Bible College (never stop learning and growing). Her passion is helping women of all ages really understand how much God loves them. Kim was honored to be a speaker in a media seminar at the 2013 CWIMA (Christian women in media association) National conference in Texas.  She is blog writer at Heartfelt Ramblings, bible study leader, creator of “Heartfelt ramblings of a midlife domestic goddess” on Facebook and she just finished her first book. Kim, AKA “Momma Chaffy” also has a heart for youth. She is not surprised to get texts at all hours of the day or night or to open her door to find a youth in need of prayer.