Call it laziness, call it selfishness...and that's probably what it is, but I love being served. I'm a momma's boy at heart, and I love knowing that my mom is going to be there to take care of every single need that I have. From extracting grease stains from my shirt to preparing my favorite meals, my mother knows how to take care of me. Now, I know there is no problem being pampered by your parents, however, I have this habit of viewing every moment through the lens of "how can my needs get met". If we're all honest with ourselves, most of us fall into this category as well. The problem boils down to one simple, honest, and maybe uncomfortable truth: I believe that my needs are more important than anyone else's needs.
This is the reason that we often find it so hard to serve others around us. Someone asks us to help out at church, but "I don't enjoy that area" or more accurately "my need to be entertained outweighs your need for my help". I know God wants me to serve an annoying person in my life by hanging out with them, but "they really get on my nerves" or "my need to be comfortable outweighs their need for intimacy and love". My Mom is really tired from work and I know I could help by taking some of the house work, but "I'm really tired too" or "my need for rest and relaxation outweighs her needs". I could go on and on with examples like these, but I think it's clear that this problem envelopes every area of our lives.
Possibly the easiest way to combat this mindset, is to begin placing ourselves in situations where we're forced to serve. Finding and committing to a serving team at church is a very easy and important way to begin transforming our minds. By regularly putting someone else's needs in front of your own, you can start conforming your mind to one similar to Christ. The next step is to find areas in your own life to begin serving those around you. Take advantage of those in your own house. Practice viewing your family's needs as more important than your own. Only when we have truly broken our spirit of "self" can we ever begin to build a heart which is Just Like Jesus'.
Explore
Meditate on the words in 1st Corinthians 10:24, Matthew 22:37-39, and Philippians 2:3.
Pray
That God can begin to break your spirit of selfishness, and allow you the strength to serve those around you in a Christ-like manner.
Discuss
In what ways can you serve someone in your life?
What If...
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
On the first day of school, you walk onto the campus viewing every moment as an opportunity to follow God's will. What would your day look like if you believed that God's will consumed every single second of your life? The problem for most of us is that we like to compartmentalize our life into categories: "God moments" and "worldly moments". We can understand that God would have a purpose for what our career should be, but what about "how we work"? We pray that God will show us what college to go to, but he has no place telling us how to study or handle our education. God wants us to love people, but he doesn't care who I hang out with. The truth is, God's will consumed the life of Jesus, and if we are to live like Jesus it should envelope our lives as well.
The absurd thing is that we often believe that we might understand our situation more clearly then God. Sometimes we're even arrogant enough to believe that we know BETTER than God! However, if we believe that the Bible is correct, when it states that God is the Creator, then why can't we believe he might know how His creation should work? If I create something, I have a specific purpose for it, and so does God.
We discovered on Sunday, that Jesus' beliefs ("every moment is sacred", "when there's a need I'll meet it", and "when moments are interrupted, I'll look for God's will") influenced his decisions to the point that the search for God's will consumed his life. So, why can't we do this? Put simply, I believe two things hinder our obedience to God's will: our selfish desires and our lack of trust. Although, everyone can understand how selfishness gets in the way, you might be asking "how does trust come into play?” When we search for our own answers or ignore God's callings, it is often attributed to our lack of trust in God. We cannot trust that God's love or what Jesus did on the cross, could ever outweigh the cost of whatever sacrifice we would have to make in order to follow God's will.
The truth is, if we're ever going to allow God's will to permeate our life we first have to let go of our selfish desires, and begin to trust in the love of God shown through Christ Jesus. I know, "easier said than done", but I believe the first way of trusting in what Jesus did, is understanding the impact of the cross. We often believe that the cross only affects our salvation. Even though salvation was the ultimate goal of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, it also serves as a perfect example of the love that God has for us. A love that is so powerful that it can satisfy you over any friendship, over any heartbreak, and over any rejection. We often feel that if we follow God's will, we might be rejected or it might be socially awkward. The fear that we will be left alone or scorned causes us to ignore God's will, but we can trust that God's love is enough to satisfy us through every situation. So, what if you truly believed that you had a love so strong that you could step outside of yourself and truly follow God's will unashamed and unhindered?
Explore
Read Mark 2:23-3:6, examples of Jesus' mindset that "every moment is sacred".
Pray
That you can begin to look for God's will in all moments, and that God can provide you the courage to meet the needs of those in your life.
Discuss
What habits can we put in place to assist us in hearing or seeing God's will in our lives?
The absurd thing is that we often believe that we might understand our situation more clearly then God. Sometimes we're even arrogant enough to believe that we know BETTER than God! However, if we believe that the Bible is correct, when it states that God is the Creator, then why can't we believe he might know how His creation should work? If I create something, I have a specific purpose for it, and so does God.
We discovered on Sunday, that Jesus' beliefs ("every moment is sacred", "when there's a need I'll meet it", and "when moments are interrupted, I'll look for God's will") influenced his decisions to the point that the search for God's will consumed his life. So, why can't we do this? Put simply, I believe two things hinder our obedience to God's will: our selfish desires and our lack of trust. Although, everyone can understand how selfishness gets in the way, you might be asking "how does trust come into play?” When we search for our own answers or ignore God's callings, it is often attributed to our lack of trust in God. We cannot trust that God's love or what Jesus did on the cross, could ever outweigh the cost of whatever sacrifice we would have to make in order to follow God's will.
The truth is, if we're ever going to allow God's will to permeate our life we first have to let go of our selfish desires, and begin to trust in the love of God shown through Christ Jesus. I know, "easier said than done", but I believe the first way of trusting in what Jesus did, is understanding the impact of the cross. We often believe that the cross only affects our salvation. Even though salvation was the ultimate goal of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, it also serves as a perfect example of the love that God has for us. A love that is so powerful that it can satisfy you over any friendship, over any heartbreak, and over any rejection. We often feel that if we follow God's will, we might be rejected or it might be socially awkward. The fear that we will be left alone or scorned causes us to ignore God's will, but we can trust that God's love is enough to satisfy us through every situation. So, what if you truly believed that you had a love so strong that you could step outside of yourself and truly follow God's will unashamed and unhindered?
Explore
Read Mark 2:23-3:6, examples of Jesus' mindset that "every moment is sacred".
Pray
That you can begin to look for God's will in all moments, and that God can provide you the courage to meet the needs of those in your life.
Discuss
What habits can we put in place to assist us in hearing or seeing God's will in our lives?
This is Love
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I think I'm funny. I mean, I think I'm really funny...And interesting. In fact, if I could, I would spend most of my day talking to or about myself. Now, I'm aware that this is a little self-obsessive, and possibly a tiny bit arrogant; however, I spent my entire high school career with this thought as my mindset, and it often led me into trouble. You have to understand I never had a problem with self-esteem, I always viewed myself as someone deserving of love. There is a problem, however, lying within this mindset that led me to not truly love those around me, and I believe it might also hinder some of you, as well.
Although I never had any problem viewing myself as worthy of love, I began to view most others around me as undeserving of it. I held many people to a set of standards and expectations that could never be met, and if you stepped outside of those boundaries, I chose you as unworthy of my love. The question I had to begin to ask myself was: If God could forgive me of all the things I had done, who was I to claim someone else as unworthy of love? I knew all the terrible things I had done, and God had forgiven me of all those things. However, I still couldn't love others like Jesus loved me.
See, the problem is that I viewed love as something in which I had a choice in. Although, it is true that love is a decision, as a Christian, love was no longer a choice for me. The writer of 1st John perfectly illustrates this:
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.-1st John 3:14
As John states in this verse, when we accept Jesus as the leader of our life we no longer choose to love, but love becomes who we are. In other words, if we do not love than how can we truly say that we belong to Jesus?
However, some of us cannot truly love another person, because we view ourselves as unworthy of love. Maybe you have a hard time accepting the love that Jesus has all ready given you, and so to love someone as yourself wouldn't mean much. Fortunately, God has called us to love others as Jesus loved us, and Jesus sacrificed everything, including his life, for us.
The question we must ask ourselves is: Am I truly living the love that Jesus lived?
Explore
Read 1st John chapter 3:11-24.
Pray
That God can grant you a spirit of love and compassion for those that don't fit your standards, and that you can begin to accept the love that He has already given you.
Discuss
In what ways can we practically love someone in our life this week?
Although I never had any problem viewing myself as worthy of love, I began to view most others around me as undeserving of it. I held many people to a set of standards and expectations that could never be met, and if you stepped outside of those boundaries, I chose you as unworthy of my love. The question I had to begin to ask myself was: If God could forgive me of all the things I had done, who was I to claim someone else as unworthy of love? I knew all the terrible things I had done, and God had forgiven me of all those things. However, I still couldn't love others like Jesus loved me.
See, the problem is that I viewed love as something in which I had a choice in. Although, it is true that love is a decision, as a Christian, love was no longer a choice for me. The writer of 1st John perfectly illustrates this:
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.-1st John 3:14
As John states in this verse, when we accept Jesus as the leader of our life we no longer choose to love, but love becomes who we are. In other words, if we do not love than how can we truly say that we belong to Jesus?
However, some of us cannot truly love another person, because we view ourselves as unworthy of love. Maybe you have a hard time accepting the love that Jesus has all ready given you, and so to love someone as yourself wouldn't mean much. Fortunately, God has called us to love others as Jesus loved us, and Jesus sacrificed everything, including his life, for us.
The question we must ask ourselves is: Am I truly living the love that Jesus lived?
Explore
Read 1st John chapter 3:11-24.
Pray
That God can grant you a spirit of love and compassion for those that don't fit your standards, and that you can begin to accept the love that He has already given you.
Discuss
In what ways can we practically love someone in our life this week?
WWJT
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
"What would Jesus do?". As many of us shared on Sunday morning, it is often hard to follow this simple (once popular) motto. Even though we know that God's commands were created out of love and are meant to protect us, we find ourselves falling into the same old temptations over and over again. Why then, if we want to please God and we want to live by his commands, do we continuously fail? The answer might be found in our memory verse from Romans.
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will."-Romans 12:2
Paul, the author of Romans, makes it pretty clear that in order to truly understand God's will and His commands, we must first renew, or change, our mind to be more like Christ. From birth we are trained to think like the world and the people in this world, however, when we accept Christ as our Savior, we become a "new creation", and we must begin to act like that creation. Unfortunately this is easier said then done. So, how do we go about renewing our mind? For some of us, we cannot begin to think like Jesus thought, because we don't know what Jesus taught. Possibly, reading about the life and teachings of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John can provide a deeper understanding of Jesus' commands. Praying daily for God to transform your mind, can also help you gain a better understanding of how Jesus thought. This week continue to diligently renew and transform your mind unto thoughts that Jesus would think.
Explore
Begin memorizing Romans 12:2, and dwell on the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Pray
That God will transform your thoughts unto the thoughts of Jesus.
Discuss
What practical steps will you put into place, in order to daily renew and transform your mind?
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will."-Romans 12:2
Paul, the author of Romans, makes it pretty clear that in order to truly understand God's will and His commands, we must first renew, or change, our mind to be more like Christ. From birth we are trained to think like the world and the people in this world, however, when we accept Christ as our Savior, we become a "new creation", and we must begin to act like that creation. Unfortunately this is easier said then done. So, how do we go about renewing our mind? For some of us, we cannot begin to think like Jesus thought, because we don't know what Jesus taught. Possibly, reading about the life and teachings of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John can provide a deeper understanding of Jesus' commands. Praying daily for God to transform your mind, can also help you gain a better understanding of how Jesus thought. This week continue to diligently renew and transform your mind unto thoughts that Jesus would think.
Explore
Begin memorizing Romans 12:2, and dwell on the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Pray
That God will transform your thoughts unto the thoughts of Jesus.
Discuss
What practical steps will you put into place, in order to daily renew and transform your mind?
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