The Heart And The Three Trees

How do Christians change?
How do we become more and more like Jesus?
How does God work in and mature a follower of Jesus?

These questions, and many others like them, emerge in our lives and in our church in many contexts: at lunch with a Christian friend who may be struggling, in our Community Groups, in our fellowship, and in counseling. In these contexts, much is discussed regarding our need for change and growth. 

In Luke 6:43-45, Jesus reveals a profound truth about us. The heart is the issue, and this is one of the hardest things to accept. We are quick to assign blame. At times, we are blind to the fundamental truth that the bad fruit we bear in our lives is the result of what is in our hearts. The core issue is not the difficult situation or trial. It is not a particular person. It is my heart, and it needs to be changed. But, trusting that God is right on this matter, we have real hope that our hearts will experience real change for His glory.

Over the years, our church has come to deeply appreciate an illustration and approach that helps us speak to Gospel hope and change in our discipleship, fellowship, Community Groups, etc. This illustration, or model, is The Three Trees. Authors Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp introduced us to this illustration, and we have used it for years. Let me be clear. The Three Trees is simply a model. It is not the life-changing word of God. No model is. With that said, The Three Trees model has at it very heart, THE “tree”... the Cross… the Gospel that is the hope for our real change. This model is Gospel-centered. 

We are providing you this graphic (created by CCEF) of The Three Trees model along with its companion application questions - “Helping People Make Gospel Connections.” We encourage you to use this in your study and application of God’s word on the matter of the heart and change.

Also, we highly recommend this outstanding book by Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp - “How People Change”. Real hope for real change by the power of the Gospel is offered by the authors of this book. There they unpack the The Three Trees in depth.

A Closing Encouragement from Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp: “Our hearts, once under the domination of sin, now are the dwelling place of Christ, the ultimate source of righteousness, wisdom, grace, power, and love. Our hearts can respond to life in brand new ways because we are no longer dominated by sin, but we are liberated by the gracious rule of Christ. We base our lives on the fact that because Jesus lives in us, we can do what is right in desire, thought, word, and action, no matter what specific suffering or trial we face.”