It has become apparent to me that before Christmas we all seem very aware of the things we want. Then we get to the New Year and realise all the things that you don’t need.
I am aware that I don’t need two copies of Jamie Oliver 30minute meals.
I am aware that I don’t need the additional pounds that I am now carrying around me waist.
There are so many things that the world tell us the we need to be like,
There are so many things that have to be adhered to.
There are so many things to live up to.
There are so many expectations to live under
This is simply not healthy
So when we consider making plans to live differently as we tend to do at this time of year I want to offer you a suggestion of things to ask God to help eliminate from our lives
Firstly Our NEED to be first.
I was in Ireland for New Year, we popped into Asda to get some milk or something, the queues were terrible so I decided to go to the cigarette counter as I thought it would be shorter. It appeared so, as soon as the till was free I moved towards but was beaten to it to the till. It was then that realised that there was one long queue feeding all the tills and that I had just tried to jump the lot. Being a good citizen I moved to the back to of the queue to wait my turn. As I stood in line, behaving nicely a woman came along and tried what I had just done, as soon as a till became free she walked right up and got served. I was spitting features. You can only imagine how I felt about that.
Who does she think she is? I thought
Why does she think she can get away with that?
What makes her so important?
How dare she?
We live in a culture where we are encouraged to take care of number one
Where we see our time as more precious than of those around us
It is viewed as wisdom to look out for your own interests
I truly believe that as the church of Christ we have to be different.
We follow the example of Jesus who said of himself:
Mark 10:25, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus lays his life down for many
He didn’t look out for his own well being in order to provide a better life for himself or to somehow preserve it.
He died so that others might have life
Paul writes about Jesus in Phillipians 2 saying
Christ Jesus vs7 …made himself nothing
We are called to be like him
Philippians 2:3-5
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus
Let us choose to be like Christ. This is his church, let us follow his example
He didn’t cling to his rights
Yet we live in a culture where we feel we deserve respect yet give respect to others so rarely Often to demand our rights at the expense of others.
1 Corinthians 10: 23-24
23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
Paul writes that I shouldn’t look for what is good for me, but I should be concerned with what is good for others.
If we are going to do community properly then we will need to make others of greater importance than ourselves
We are going have to give the best of our time benefiting others
We are going to have to be generous
If we are going to serve this neighbourhood properly we are going have to put them first
We are going to have to make them a priority which means you and yours become second place
We talk about loving our community
We talking about loving church
Well John 15:13 says
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Would you lay down your life for the sack of this community
Maybe not death, but your very existence, the best of all you have:
Your rights
Your time
Your money
Your skills
Your play time
Your rest time
Oh if only we would be willing to go for this. If we were willing to count the cost – What an impact we could make.
God please take away our need to be first
You were created to forget about yourself and get lost in the joy of knowing God, doing the work he’s called you to do, and loving others. Forget about yourself.
Because your Heavenly Father will never forget about you, you can forget about you
(2) Our NEED to be appreciated
It is so nice to be appreciated, it is such a blessing when people affirm you or when people are grateful for what you do for them.
But Lord take away my need for it!
Take away those feelings we get when we are not praised
When our effort goes unnoticed
When we give and no one recognises
I would love to get to the place where God’s approval is all I want
Where his delight in me is my joy
Where I turn from being a people please to being a Christ pleaser
Where God’s approval is all that counts.
(3) Our NEED to be physically attractive.
Again looking nice is great, but whose affection are we living for
Whose attention do we want?
Don’t forget how much God loves you?
Don’t forget the lengths me went to to ensure you freedom
Other people look at physical appearance, but they don’t see what the Lord sees.
He sees my heart.
1 Samuel 16: 7
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Our cry should be the same as the psalmist
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalms 51:8
(4) Our NEED to appear smart.
Again being intelligent is a great thing, I want to encourage learning.
But being intelligent doesn’t make God love you any more
You don’t need to be smart to be saved
You don’t need to have a degree to be accepted
And you certainly don’t need to be clever to share the gospel
1 Corinthians 1: 17-21
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
…21God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe
So we should not be putting restrictions on sharing the gospel
Get out there
Don’t hold back
(5) Our NEED to be strong
No more pretense
No more brave faces
Sometimes life if hard
Sometimes we are tired
Sometimes we are weak
We need to accept that our own strength is not enough,
Living as community involves accepting help
If you can do everything yourself you are not in community
I have to say that I need you and I need God
I am nothing without you both
We need to let go of this need to be strong when God has placed around us people who can help
And let’s make sure we turn to God
The bible tells me that God’s power can be displayed best when I am weak.
2 Corinthians 12: 9-10
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(6) Our need to be ‘good enough’.
I always try to be good and do what is right and flop
I strive for holiness and fall
No matter how hard I work, I things fail.
Infact even my best effort is worthless
I will always fall short of God’s glory.
But because of Jesus I have been made good enough
Romans 3: 23-24
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Is this enough for you
Is His grace sufficient?
Is His love enough?
Will we give ourselves fully to God this year?
Throwing down our need to be First
Our need to be Appreciated
Our need to be Attractive
Our need to be Smart
Our need to be Strong
Our need to be Good enough
When with God’s help we can be rid of these things, I believe we can truly be what God requires us to be.
We can love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. And love our neighbours as ourselves.
When we allow God to speak his approval over us the praise of men seems insignificant
When we allow God sing over us his love and affirmation, appearing attractive to the world fades away
When we see that God can use our foolishness for his glory, appearing smart seems less important
When we understand God’s power in made perfect in our weakness, appearing strong is made obsolete
