The Tree of Life

I had an illustration appear in my mind today, as a result of several books I'm reading including Stephen Covey's Seven Habits and Breaking Free. Also, I heard a sermon about Adam and Eve just the other day. Let's call this the Tree of Life.
At the bottom are roots, in God, because he created everything and all we do is use it. Breaking Free posits that sex is such a strong snare and negative influence on our lives because God created it,  designed it to keep marriages together, fulfill us as much as any human relationship can and to perpetuate our families. Our roots are needs built by God, needs for relationship with him and with good, godly people.
But between the roots and fruits is a trunk: free will. Between our influences and our reactions is our choice of how to respond, as Covey says, our free will, the trunk for this tree.
Now even though Man was begun with the best intentions and such great capabilities, part of our tree is diseased. From Adam and Eve, we all inherit the sin nature that Satan introduced in the Garden. There is a black part of each trunk which is producing bad fruit in our lives. It feels natural because it's always been there. It feels good because it's based on those root needs God created.
That's why we need constant gardening from Jesus, because he can see us inside and out. He can heal these trees in a way no tree can heal itself.