No Ragrets (w1)
No Ragrets • Sermon • Submitted
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What is up Vertical. For the next three weeks we are talking about relationships. Ultimately, our hope is to help you make choices that you won’t regret. This series comes from a movie. Here is the vid.
The reality is that, like tattoos, some of our decisions we make today will affect our future forever.
Some decisions are permanent and could affect you forever. Can you live with the consequences of making choices that are not according to God’s word? Yes. In fact, you see this in Scripture but just this is not a prescription. It is a description. Some times the Bible will describe something that happen so we can learn and make a different choice.
I am here to encourage you to live a life that has no regrets. Especially in the area of relationships. So here is our main point today:
Main Point: Our desires and emotions are not the best indicators of what is good for us.
Main Point: Our desires and emotions are not the best indicators of what is good for us.
The reality is that in every relationship- whether with your parents, friends, bf/gf and even professional relationships, there are always emotions and desires involved. That is how God created us, with emotions and desires. Let me make this clear though, I want to speak about the key to relationships. ALL OF THEM.
Last week for HERD Night, we did a couples panel. I got a text that got me thinking. A student asked “How were y’all able to maintain a relationship and Jesus at the same time?”
Now, I do not know if this student meant this question this way, but the reality is that maintaining a relationship and Jesus are not mutually exclusive realities. In fact, The key to all relationships is keeping Christ as the center of every relationship.
However, this question reveals to me that sometimes we haven’t internalized the fact that Christ ought to be the center of every area of our lives. He is not a section our lives but Jesus is the King of everything. With this in mind, here is principle #1:
Principle #1: Our hearts do not need to be discounted, they need to be protected.
Principle #1: Our hearts do not need to be discounted, they need to be protected.
Here is a Scripture we cannot overlook.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)
9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
Don’t miss that question. “Who really knows how bad it is?” We do not think we are that bad. We really think that we are good people that can always make good choices, but the reality is that this world is broken because of humanity.
I have said this many many times before, but if we were given 24 hours without rules or consequences, would more good be done or more evil?
It is not God’s fault that we sin, it is ours.
God knows this, this is why the Scriptures also say Proverbs 4:23 “23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
See, it is not one or the other. It is not about ignoring or shutting your desires and emotions, nor letting them run free. There is a middle road that can be achieved. (I was talking to pastor this week and he used this illustration- that I am going to steal.)
The phrase “guard your heart.” In Hebrew, that phrase is called “mishmar.” Mishmar is a terrible name for your daughter. Mishmar means to guard something like a prison guard keeping watch over a prisoner. Which brings me to principle #2
Principle #2: Our hearts need a capable guardian. We are not it.
Principle #2: Our hearts need a capable guardian. We are not it.
Look at what Paul says in Galatians 5
Gal 5:19-21 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Paul is stating the facts. When we allow ourselves to be the guardians of our hearts and desires, we have a tendency to sin. Again, Jeremiah said it. Our hearts are deceitful.
This is the problem, that we do not think we are doing anything wrong, if/when we listen to our hearts. When we allow ourselves to be the standard for what is right, then the standard changes according to what we like, feel or want.
We are not good guardians of our hearts. This is an issue that permeates our culture today. It is call moral relativism. This idea that states that things may be wrong for you or for me, but the problem with that is that who defines what is right or wrong.
Moral relativism sounds right at first but it is impossible in practice because it violates the objective standard of good and evil. Got question says this: “The main argument relativists appeal to is that of tolerance. They claim that telling someone their morality is wrong is intolerant, and relativism tolerates all views. But this is misleading. First of all, evil should never be tolerated... Second, it is self-defeating because relativists do not tolerate intolerance or absolutism. Third, relativism cannot explain why anyone should be tolerant in the first place. The very fact that we should tolerate people (even when we disagree) is based on the absolute moral rule that we should always treat people fairly—but that is absolutism again! In fact, without universal moral principles there can be no goodness.”
Student, moral principles are not political statements. I know we live in a culture that makes everything political but as Christian we need to adhere to the word of God whether it sounds political or not.
Do not fall in the trap of culture which tells you that whatever you feel or desire must be right because it comes from within. We need an objective standard to know when our emotions and desires led us astray because
Main Point: Our desires and emotions are not always the best indicators of what is good for us.
Main Point: Our desires and emotions are not always the best indicators of what is good for us.
Again, I am not saying that every desire and emotion is wrong, what I am saying is that we need to check our desires and emotions against an objective standard that does not change. Which brings me to principle #3
Principle #3: Our hearts need a capable guardian. The Holy Spirit is it.
Principle #3: Our hearts need a capable guardian. The Holy Spirit is it.
Let’s look at what Paul says before and after the passage I just showed you..
Gal 5:16-18 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses...
Gal. 5:22-26 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Some quick highlights:
We need the Spirit of God to guide us.
Our intentions (emotions & desires) are not always good for us.
We have a decision to make. (v25: Let us…)
Notice that the fruit of the Spirit is a barometer that can help you see whether or not your desires and emotions are leading you or the Holy Spirit is.
So, in your relationship today I ask:
LOVE – Have you been willing to sacrifice for the people around you? Are you willing to lay down your ego for the sake of other people coming first?
JOY – Are you constantly comparing yourself to others? Do you notice your lack before seeing what you have?
PEACE – Do you feel rested, or are you constantly anxious?
PATIENCE – Are you always in a hurry?
KINDNESS – Do you consider others first? Are you compassionate?
GOODNESS – Are you confident in your standing with God? Do you see yourself as follower of Jesus and not just a fan?
FAITHFULNESS – Do you trust in the promise of God over your own fears?
GENTLENESS – Is your anger louder than your love?
SELF-CONTROL – Is your heart controlling your actions? Are you desires and your emotions you captain?
The answers to this questions will reveal whether or not your heart has a capable guardian.
Here is something important to remember about the fruit of the Spirit. This is not a buffet. You don’t get to pick and choose which one you like most. This is the fruit of the Spirit; not the fruits.
You see when I look at this list, I very quickly realized that in all my relationships not all of this are present, so my response ought to be surrender.
v.25: let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives...
Again, Our hope with this series is to help you make choices that you won’t regret. Ultimately, God can/will redeem everything, but He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us from decisions and behaviors that can hurt us. Trust in God’s goodness.
Main Point: Our desires and emotions are not always the best indicators of what is good for us. The Spirit will always want what is good for us.
Main Point: Our desires and emotions are not always the best indicators of what is good for us. The Spirit will always want what is good for us.