Sermon Tone Analysis

/Success often depends on the habits you develop./

A doctor was counseling his patient about a problem with his weight.

“I don’t know what the problem is doctor.

I just can’t seem to get rid of this flab.

Maybe I have an overactive thyroid.”

To which the doctor replied, “Listen, I’ve run tests and your thyroid is fine.

If anything’s overactive it’s your fork.”

/Ouch!

That’s not what we like to hear! It’s not always easy to get rid of unhealthy habits, is it?

It’s not always easy to develop new healthy habits you’ve never practiced before.

But the truth is your habits really can make you or break you.

One of the keys to living life to the fullest is to develop healthy habits not only of body, but of mind and spirit.

/

/            In 1989 Steven Covey wrote a bestselling book entitled “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” which outlined 7 habits which he promises guarantee success in life.

/

/            Tonight I want to look to a better book than Covey’s—I want us to look at God’s book, the Bible, where we can discover 6 habits which can guarantee success in your life-not success in the stock market, or success as the world measures success, or lasting success in the eyes of God .

These habits are listed in a series of exhortations given by the apostle Paul in *1 Thess.

5:14-22*.

Tonight we’ll look at the 1st 3 habits and next week the other 3. /

*PRAYER*

*            */What are 6  habits of highly successful Christians?

Paul begins with / \\ *I.

The Habit of Caring (v.

14-15) *

One person caring about another represents life's greatest value.-Jim

Rohn

     Paul’s first exhortation is for us to develop the habit of caring for other people, or in the words of *v.

15* /…pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all…/ Make caring your habit.

What kinds of things are involved in the habit of caring?

/Confronting the unruly// //(=careless; out of line) /Paul says you must care enough to confront those who are out of line with God’s will.

He’s not suggesting you become bossy or nitpicky toward the faults of your neighbor.

There are plenty of folks who are more than willing to pounce on the failings of others.

That’s not caring, that’s judging.

On the other hand, when you truly care about someone, you care enough to lovingly, tenderly confront them when they’re headed in the wrong direction.

Because you care, you are even willing to run the risk of offending them to warn them of the danger.

*            Jas 5:19-20* 19Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Caring very often involves confrontation.

Caring also involves

/Comforting the fainthearted// //(= timid; discouraged) = /The Greek word for /comfort= coming alongside to help.

/Caring involves encouraging the discouraged, sharing the load with people who walking a rough road.

To care about them means to be sensitive to what they’re going through, to give them a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a friend to call on.

Comfort involves doing what you can to help.

Paul says caring also involves

/Upholding the weak/ Caring involves helping those who are weak in their faith, whether they are new Christians going through spiritual growing pains, or older believers struggling to hold on to their faith in Christ.

We all encounter circumstances that drain us emotionally or spiritually.

Too often we’re so wrapped up in our own little world we don’t even notice those around us who need to be strengthened.

Paul says you and I need develop the habit of standing /with/ our brother~/sister when they are weakened, holding them up in prayer, strengthening them with God’s Word, reaching out to pick them up when they fall.

Finally, caring includes

/Being patient with all.//

/The word here literally means /long-suffering /which the Bible tells us is an attribute of God.

/Be willing to put with a lot without complaining or striking back.

Never give up working with people, never give up hope no matter who they are or what they do.

/That can be challenging, but I can tell you one way to be more patient with others is to remember how patient God is with you!

            Paul challenges us not to care about people when we feel like it, or when it’s easy—he says if you want to be a successful Christian, /you must develop the habit of caring./

Why should you and I care?

/Because Jesus cares.

/When He walked this earth He was in the habit of caring about people.

He cared enough to confront them, He cared enough to comfort them, He cared enough to strengthen them, He cared enough to be patient with them.

He still cares that way ---about you, and me, and all of the people in our world.

If we want to be like Him---the essence of a successful Christian—develop the habit of caring about people.

/Who in your life right now needs you to practice caring?

Who needs you to care enough to confront them?

Who needs you to care enough to encourage them?

Who needs you to care enough to strengthen them?

Who needs you to care enough to be patient with them?

Who needs you to show the same them the same compassion Christ showed you?/

When/ /Jack Casey was a small boy, he had oral surgery to remove 5 teeth.

In the operating room, just before they put him under, a nurse promised the frightened boy, “Don’t worry, I’ll be right here beside you no matter what happens.”

When Jack woke up she was true to her word, standing right there with him.

20 years later, Jack is an emergency worker on an ambulance rescue squad, called to the scene of a highway accident.

A truck has overturned, the driver is pinned in the cab.

Gasoline is dripping onto the driver’s clothes, and one spark would spell disaster.

The driver is terrified, crying out that he is scared of dying.

So, Jack crawls into the cab next to him and says, “Look, don’t worry, I’m right here with you; I’m not going anywhere.”

And Jack is true to his word; he stays with the man until he is safely rescued.

Jack learned how to care from somebody who cared for him.

/Jesus cares for you.

Have you learned from Him to develop the habit of caring for others?

Paul urges you to and I to develop the habit of caring.

He goes on to urge us to adopt / 

*II.

The Habit of Joy (v.

16)*

Somebody observes that

The average child laughs 400 times a day.

The average adult laughs 15 times a day.

What happens in life that makes adults lose their laughter?

/     Do we quit laughing because we are old, or do we get old because we quit laughing?/

One reason we quit laughing is we get out of the habit of joy.

We allow our hurts, and anger, and disappointments, and everything else negative to steal our smile, to make us lose our laughter, to rob us of our joy.

I’ve heard people say /I can’t help how I feel.

/You might be right, but you /can /choose whether or not you will be joyful.

How do I know?

Read this verse again.

It’s a command.

God /commands/ us to /rejoice always/.

Now ask yourself: /would God command me to do something I couldn’t do? /I don’t think so.

But like any other habit, joy has to be developed.

It takes effort, practice, and God’s help.

But you /can/ develop a habitual attitude of joy.

If you want a model, just look at kids.

Have you ever noticed how kids can find joy in almost anything and everything?

When I was a very small boy, I would visit my Granny Allbritton out in the country.

She didn’t have a lot of fancy toys for me to play with, but she did let me run around outside a lot.

During one of my romps I found an old dead limb that had fallen out of a tree.