People sometimes bully us, abuse us, or say unkind things to us. Such things can hurt us deeply and we may build walls around our hearts to escape such attacks. However, what we hoped would protect us from external hurts often become a prison in which we become root-bound. Bad roots of doubt and despair crowd out the good roots that nurture and sustain us. We feel justified in locking ourselves away, maybe even safer, but we stop growing and, probably, our spirit starts dying a slow painful death. When we are root-bound, we miss out on so much of life! We miss the best that God has for us.