Rooted Before the World Gets a Say
Colossians 2:6–7
8–10 minute read
Mama, have you ever stopped to consider which voices your babies hear each day—and how those voices are shaping the way they see themselves?
Maybe they hear the voice of a mother who is overwhelmed, overstimulated, and tired. Maybe they hear a mother who recently found the strength to leave an abusive relationship—choosing safety over continued suffering, even when that choice required tremendous sacrifice.
Perhaps they hear the voice of a mother walking through grief because the diagnosis she prayed was not true has now been confirmed. Or maybe your story does not include any of these experiences.
Wherever you are in life and motherhood, one truth remains: You are one of the first voices your babies will hear.
God has entrusted us with the responsibility of stewarding their hearts, minds, and identities. But that stewardship begins with us. Before we can consistently root our children in God’s truth, we must first be rooted in Him—not in the opinions, expectations, and shifting standards of the world.
If we are not intentional, the world will eventually have something to say about our children that contradicts God’s living Word.
The world will attempt to define them by how they look, what they accomplish, where they struggle, the mistakes they make, and whether they fit in. It may try to convince them that their value depends on their performance, popularity, abilities, appearance, relationships, or circumstances.
As mothers, we may not be able to silence every outside voice, but we can be intentional about which voice our children hear first.
In Colossians 2:6–7, Paul tells believers to continue following Christ, allowing their roots to grow deeply into Him and their lives to be built upon Him. Our roots were never meant to grow into approval, achievement, appearance, relationships, or public opinion. They were designed to grow into Christ.
Think about a tree for a moment. A tree does not begin preparing for a storm when the wind starts blowing. Its ability to remain standing is determined by the roots it developed long before the storm arrived.
The same is true for us and our children.
We cannot wait until the world questions their worth to begin teaching them who they are. We cannot wait until rejection comes, comparison creeps in, or insecurity takes hold before we introduce them to God’s truth.
We must plant the truth now.
Mama, let me ask you a few questions. There is no judgment here. I am asking myself these same questions, and I am reaching for your hand as we walk through them together.
What labels have you been carrying?
Have you measured your worth by previous relationships, how well you appear to manage the ministry of motherhood, your past mistakes, your outward appearance, rejection, the approval of others, or how productive you are?
Have you ever looked at a mother online with a perfect aesthetic and seemingly perfect children and wondered why you could not hold everything together the way she appears to?
Hold my hand when I say this: Our children are not only listening to what we say about them. They are also watching what we believe, tolerate, and speak over ourselves.
They are watching how we respond when we make mistakes. They are listening to how we describe our bodies. They notice what we tolerate from others. They hear us when we call ourselves stupid, unattractive, unworthy, or incapable—even when we think we are only mumbling beneath our breath.
I was reminded of this truth personally this week.
I was finishing edits for my upcoming book, and my computer kept doing what technology sometimes does best—refusing to cooperate. I became frustrated and started mumbling words that I thought no one could hear.
But my two-year-old heard me, and she repeated some of those words.
I immediately looked at her and said, “That is inappropriate language.”
She simply responded, “Okay, Mommy.”
But sis, where did she hear it?
She heard it from me.
That moment convicted me. I realized that what I thought I had said quietly was still loud enough to become part of what she was learning.
How many times have you spoken harshly to yourself in the heat of the moment and regretted it shortly afterward? I will raise my hand because I have done it more times than I can count.
I am human, and Mommy will make mistakes. But knowing that my little girl is watching me changes the weight of my words. She sees me as her mother and her safe place. The way I speak to her matters, but the way I speak about myself in her presence matters too.
We cannot repeatedly tear ourselves down and expect our babies not to learn the same language.
That does not mean we must become perfect mothers. It means we must become aware, accountable, and willing to change. When we make a mistake, we can apologize. When we speak something harmful, we can correct it. When an old label rises, we can replace it with the truth of God’s Word.
Rooting our children in God’s truth does not guarantee that the world’s words will never hurt them. It gives them a foundation stronger than the words attempting to break them.
The goal is not to prevent our children from ever hearing the world’s labels. The goal is to root them so deeply in God’s truth that those labels never become their identity.
Plant the Truth This Week
Mama, I invite you to choose one declaration and speak it over your child every day this week:
“Before anyone else tells you who you are, I want you to know that God says you are loved, chosen, wonderfully made, and created with purpose.”
Be intentional about planting this truth:
Speak it during your morning routine.
Repeat it during daycare or school drop-off.
Use it when correcting behavior so the mistake is addressed without attacking your child’s identity.
Pray it over your child at bedtime.
Model it by speaking kindly and truthfully about yourself.
Our children need to understand that making a poor choice does not make them a bad person. Struggling with something does not make them incapable. Being different does not make them less valuable. And another person’s inability to recognize their worth does not diminish what God placed within them.
Correction should guide their behavior without wounding their identity.
And Mama, that same grace applies to you.
You may have made mistakes, but you are not your mistakes. You may have experienced rejection, but you are not rejected by God. You may be healing, learning, and rebuilding, but you are not disqualified.
God is still working in you.
Check the Roots
Take time to reflect honestly:
What labels did the world give me that God is asking me to release?
What does God’s Word say about my identity?
What does God’s Word say about the identity of my child?
Does the way I speak to myself agree with what I am teaching my children?
Is there anything I am tolerating that contradicts the identity I want my children to embrace?
What truth does my family need to hear repeatedly this week?
What God Says Will Stand
In this family, the world does not get the first or final word over our identity. We are known by God, loved by God, created with purpose, and rooted in Christ. What God says about us will remain louder than every label the world attempts to place upon us.
The world may eventually get a say, but it does not get the final say.
God does.
A Prayer for Rooted Identity
Father God,
Thank You for knowing us before the world ever formed an opinion about us. Thank You for creating us intentionally, loving us completely, and calling us by name. Your Word—not our past, our mistakes, our relationships, our appearance, or the opinions of others—has the final authority over who we are.
Lord, forgive us for every time we have agreed with a label You never gave us. Forgive us for calling ourselves unworthy, unwanted, inadequate, difficult to love, or not enough. Help us recognize that when we repeatedly speak against the woman You created, our babies are listening. They are learning how to see themselves by watching how we see ourselves.
Father, lovingly correct us when our words contradict Yours. Remind us that we cannot consistently teach our children to walk confidently in their identity while continuing to tear down our own. Heal the little girl within us who learned to seek validation from people. Uproot every lie planted by rejection, abandonment, comparison, disappointment, and shame.
Teach us to stop handing the world permission to define what You have already named.
Root us so deeply in Christ that we no longer need people to confirm what You have already declared. Let Your truth become louder than our insecurity and stronger than every painful experience attempting to shape us.
Lord, help us become intentional about the seeds we plant in our babies. Guard our mouths when we are frustrated. Teach us to correct their behavior without attacking their identity. May our homes be places where they repeatedly hear that they are loved, chosen, wonderfully made, capable, and created with purpose.
We know we cannot protect them from every opinion, rejection, or label they may encounter. But we can prepare them. We can pray over them. We can speak life into them. We can point them back to Your Word until Your truth becomes the foundation beneath their feet.
Give us the courage to do our healing work—not only for ourselves, but also for the children watching us. Let the cycles of insecurity, silence, comparison, and self-rejection end with us. May our babies inherit truth instead of trauma, security instead of confusion, and a legacy of faith instead of a lifetime of searching for their worth.
Before the world gets a say, let our families know what You have already spoken.
We are Yours.
We are loved.
We are chosen.
We are known.
We are created with purpose.
And we will remain rooted in You.
In Jesus’ name, amen.