Ecclesia Global Missions

I have lived in Cape Town for the past 28 years, and every summer, the Western Cape faces devastating fires intentionally or unintentionally introduced into South Africa. Most are started by humans, and while only a few spiral out of control each year, this season has been different. Since November, the fires have raged on, destroying homesteads, wine farms, and thousands of hectares of vegetation. The loss of animal life is heartbreaking, and the damage to the land is immense.

Reports often note that indigenous plants burn quickly and die out, but invasive species fuel the flames far longer. They smoulder beneath the surface, reigniting when the wind rises. These alien plants—brought into South Africa intentionally or unintentionally—have no natural enemies. They spread rapidly, consuming water and space meant for our native vegetation, and in doing so, they cause harm to people, the environment, and the economy.

This made me reflect on how, as children of God, we sometimes allow invasive thoughts, habits, traits, and words to take root in our lives. Some of these are inherited from generations before us. We grow accustomed to them, tolerate them, and even take pride in them. How often do we hear someone say, “My father did the same,” or “It runs in the family—it’s just who I am.” In claiming these patterns, we forget that Jesus died for every wrong thing in our lives. He gave His life so that we could live worthy of His sacrifice, overcome, and walk in victory.

Just as alien vegetation is difficult to extinguish, removing invasive habits from our lives requires effort. The question we must ask ourselves is: Do I truly want to be free from these chains? Only you can answer that. Many of this year’s fires burned through vegetation that had 15 years or more of invasive plants interwoven with indigenous growth. In the same way, our thoughts and habits may have been entwined with truth for years, making them harder to separate.

But I thank God that He is a consuming fire. He reveals truth and helps us uproot every invasive thing in our lives. We can ask Him to show us what does not come from Him, and to remove it completely—down to the root—so that we may be holy as He is holy, becoming all He intends us to be.

Some of the invasive things that can take hold in our lives include:

• Pride – Not only thinking too highly of ourselves, but also believing we are not good enough. Pride whispers that we don’t need God’s help, or worse, that He doesn’t want to help us.
• Rejection – The lie that we are unworthy of love, happiness, or belonging.
• Unforgiveness – Holding onto the belief that what someone did is unforgivable. Yet when we cannot forgive, God within us can—and He will help us.
• Feeling unloved – One of the greatest misconceptions. We measure love by people’s actions or words, forgetting that the only opinion that truly matters is God’s. And His opinion of you is that you are wonderfully loved and precious.

There are many more “alien” things that can invade the truth of our lives. Ask God to reveal them, then take time to remove them. Speak His Word over your life and let His truth take root.

Romans 8:31-39 (Amplified)

What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us? 32 He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself]. 34 Who is the one who condemns us? Christ Jesus is the One who died [to pay our penalty], and more than that, who was raised [from the dead], and who is at the right hand of God interceding [with the Father] for us. 35 Who shall ever separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Just as it is written and forever remains written,
“For Your sake we are put to death all day long;
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. 38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.