Stop Judging Yourself For Not Doing Enough
Jesus calls his followers salt of the earth and light of the world. Salt brings flavor, or fulfillment, and light brings clarity, or revelation. We are quite simply part of God’s story, life is not about us, it’s about him. We, as his followers, are to help people find fulfillment and enlightenment in him. Our only strategy is walking in love and communicating the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. To be salt and light, we illuminate the Gospel so it can help people come out of the darkness and into his light.
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“You are the salt of the earth...
You are the light of the world...”
No matter how much good you do for the Kingdom of God, it will never be enough to repay Jesus for the price He paid for you. You can never be good enough, spiritual enough, or kind enough to represent God the way He deserved to be represented fully. So go ahead and let yourself off the hook for not measuring up, stop judging yourself for not doing enough. Here's the secret, no one does enough.
Maybe you feel like you should be further along in your transformational journey with Christ than you are now. You're right, you should be further along. But, if Jesus were to stand in front of you, He would probably say something about your little faith or maybe worse.
But… that's true for all of us. That's the beauty of the exchange of the cross. He measures up for us, He makes us complete. He fulfilled the Law for us. It's His power that works through us. And the more we allow His strength to work in us, the more we'll participate in His finished work.
Salt and Light
You might be thinking, Clint, you're usually nicer than this, why are you saying these mean things? Because I want you to realize that no matter how much good you do or how many mistakes you make, God doesn't change His mind about you.
God still sees you as the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It's an interesting thought. In John 8, right after He heals someone, Jesus calls himself the light of the world. But in Matthew 14 He calls YOU the light of the world. He calls you by the same title He gave Himself. He looks at you and sees Himself. He looks at you and sees someone capable of doing the same things He did, because He knows YOU have His same power.
Jesus calls his followers salt of the earth and light of the world. Salt brings flavor or fulfillment, and light brings clarity or revelation. We are quite simply part of God's story, life is not about us, it's about him. We, as His followers, are to help people find fulfillment and enlightenment in him. Our only strategy is walking in love and communicating the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. To be salt and light, we illuminate the Gospel so it can help people come out of the darkness and into his light.
Walking in that power is not the result of being a better person, it's the result of God's presence within. So, yes, of course, God desires that you live a life that brings honor and glory to His name, and doesn't minimize the work of Christ on your behalf, but your standing with God is not based on your deeds, they're based on Christ's.
Quit Disqualifying Yourself
So quit judging yourself and quit disqualifying yourself. Too many Christians place themselves on the sidelines because they don't think they're in a place to do the work of the ministry. Too many Christians miss daily opportunities to be a blessing to others, and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom because they are too focused on their own failures and believe God can't use them.
That's a lie. God can use you, God wants to use you, and God will use you if you would put yourself in the position to be used. You are the flavor of the Kingdom someone needs today. Repenting, humbling your insecurity, and stepping out in love toward people is the saltiness God wants to sprinkle into people's lives.
You can bring hope to people because God lives in you. So stop judging yourself and disqualifying yourself, and commit to a daily lifestyle of sprinkling the flavor of the Kingdom in small ways, everywhere you go. You can do it because Christ is in you!!
Watch this full series: Your Life Is Not Your Own
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Love Is A Lifestyle
Your life is not your own for you were bought with a price. When we hear these statements we can slip into a performance mindset. Yes, we do need to lay our lives down for the sake of the Gospel, but it's a natural process as we lead with love. Love is the greatest attraction to Jesus, it's our strategy. Love will win the world.
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“Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
If we as Christians get this right, we can make the most significant impact in the world for the Kingdom of God since the resurrection of Christ.
JOHN 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
This prayer of Jesus is fascinating to me. It covers the focus of the Christian life completely. It contains the will of God for every believer and it contains the strategy for the body of Christ to make an impact in the world, to the point that those in darkness come to the light of Christ. It’s the perfect circle.
Christ is in God and God is in Christ
You are in Christ and Christ is in you
Christ and his father are in you, and you are in the father with Christ
Christians are to be as united with each other as Christ is with the father
Christ shares his glory with all Christians
As we become mature in our love for one another, it will be a magnet that draws people to believe that God sent Jesus for them too
It’s a perfect strategy that is rooted in relationship, and motivated by love. The father and son’s relationship, our relationship with them as individuals, and our relationship with one another.
Encompassed in this circular relationship is encoded the commandments of Christ to love God and love one another. When you know/experience God’s love for you, the only mature response is to recognize that God loves everyone else as much as he loves you.
The fruit of this circle of love is action. Love is not just an emotion, it’s action. Fundamentally love is taking care of orphans and widows, feeding the hungry, and not forgetting those in prison. But it’s also patience with those who push your buttons. It’s a prayer for those who use you. It’s kindness for an angry, offensive person. It’s a soft word to turn away rage. It’s going the extra mile for someone trying to take advantage of you. It’s praying for the sick and believing with them to experience what Jesus paid for. This circular lifestyle of love is not motivated by obligation, it’s the fruit of your relationship with God and your love for others.
Imagine a mill that’s powered by water. As long as the water flows, the wheel keeps spinning, generating the power. The water is God’s love for us. The mill wheel is the body of Christ, collectively responding to the endless supply of God’s love that converts into energy toward the world. An energy that brings life, light, and love.
And the beautiful product is…the world believes that Jesus is for them too!! It’s time for the church to grow up and find common ground rather than pointing the theological finger at one another to delineate who is right and wrong. Love is focused on maturity and revealing God to the world. My prayer for you and myself is that we allow God to shape us into mature unifiers in his body.
I hope you watch this week’s sermon, as usual, I go into more detail on this topic.
Watch this full series: Your Life Is Not Your Own
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Becoming the Bride of Christ
God has not chosen a toxic spouse as his eternal bride. He assures this by providing a deep cleansing and renewal for us in Christ. Before he joins himself to us, he is meticulous in washing us pure with the lifeblood of Christ. He intricately sanctifies us to the state of holiness with Christ’s blood and his very own life essence, his spirit. In this process, he removes our broken and rebellious heart and gives us a new heart after his own heart, as David prayed. He then unites his spirit with ours to the point that you can’t distinguish between our spirit and his. He makes us partakers of his divine nature.
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“For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name”
When we read the Bible, we have to remember that when God speaks to us directly, he means what he says.
In Isaiah 53 we see the great price the Messiah pays as our guilt offering, to bear our sins and make intercession for our transgressions (Isa 53:10,12). As the result of the atoning work of the Messiah, God reframes his relationship with his people.
As a result of the complete work of Christ, God now views his relationship with his people as a marriage.
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 54:4-5
He is careful about his language in these passages as he describes the context of his new covenant, secured in the sacrifice of his son. He tells his people (ultimately those who have faith in Christ - Galatians 3:14,29) that he will rescue them from their widowhood and become their husband. He’s careful to identify himself as the commander of angel armies, the father of Abraham, and the creator of the earth. But he’s also deliberate in communicating his intentions toward the object of his affection.
You are that bride. Because of Christ, God decided to join himself to you as profoundly as a wife is joined to a husband. The Apostle Paul tells us that the spiritual union of marriage is a mystery, reflecting our union with God. God himself is careful to call you his bride.
As I ponder this passage, I think about all the marriages I have encountered as a minister. I have the honor of sharing life and doing ministry with incredibly loving and healthy couples, but I’ve also experienced the heartbreak of sitting with couples as they recount the pain they’ve caused each other, even to the point of divorce.
I think about the people who have chosen their spouse poorly. I think about the women who continue to attract abusers to them repeatedly. I think about the men who continue to attract unfaithful women and have their hearts wrecked over and over.
And then I think about God and the spouse he chose. Specifically you.
I think God is the most emotionally healthy being that exists. I think he would choose a good spouse, a spouse that compliments him, a spouse that is committed to providing for and loving deeply throughout eternity.
God has not chosen a toxic spouse as his eternal bride. He assures this by providing a deep cleansing and renewal for us in Christ. Before he joins himself to us, he is meticulous in washing us pure with the lifeblood of Christ. He intricately sanctifies us to the state of holiness with Christ’s blood and his very own life essence, his spirit. In this process, he removes our broken and rebellious heart and gives us a new heart after his own heart, as David prayed. He then unites his spirit with ours to the point that you can’t distinguish between our spirit and his. He makes us partakers of his divine nature.
It’s hard to imagine with our limited minds. We can only understand it with our hearts, explained by the spiritual language of love.
Why does he do this? Because we are of great value to him. We are worth something, we are worth everything to him. We are the joy that inspired Jesus to endure death. We are the world he loved that he gave his only son for. We are the treasure in the field he sold everything to have. If you don’t see yourself through his perspective of you, it’s time to repent and humble your self-opinion to match God’s value for you.
You can live a life of significant meaning from this awareness of your value. Because you mean so much to God, you can rest in his value for you and live for something greater than your own needs.
In this series, I am discussing the phrase from 1 Corinthians 6, your life is not your own for you were bought with a price. I am encouraging people in this series to choose to live for something greater than their own needs, namely the kingdom of God.
When you know your value to God and how intimately you are joined to him, it’s easy to let go of self-centeredness and live a life that is part of a bigger story. Your life is part of His story. Living for him leaves the realm of obligation and becomes driven by meaning and purpose when you realize that His story is more important than your story.
Your life was worth dying for to God, and your life is worth living for others. I recommend spending some time meditating on the kind of union you have with God. Allow it to heal your heart and inspire you to love others. Love is our greatest strategy to reach the world.
Never forget, you are valuable, and you are loved. When you look at others, allow yourself to be aware of how valuable that person is to God. In your mind, tell them you love them and align your inner man to be a conduit of God’s spirit in their life.
You are the spouse of God, whom he will care and provide for. Go forward without fear and lavish his love upon others.
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Your Life Is Not Your Own
Your life is not your own, for you were bought with a price. If you don’t know your freedom in Christ, this statement can be a source of shame for you. Christians have been made to feel like they owe God, and the way you repay him is to be as good as possible. The good news is, God loves you no matter what. Once you are secure in your freedom in Christ, you become free to live in a way that honors him in everything you do. Not out of obligation but out of gratitude. Our new series will discuss the value God places on our lives and how we can respond to his love for us by glorifying him in everything we do. Today we will discuss what it means to give God glory. We pray today’s message is a blessing to you and inspires you to follow God more deeply.
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“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.”
Do you ever feel stuck, as if every day is the same as the last?
When I speak to people that feel this way, the most common reason is that they have become too focused on their own lives. We rightfully want to provide for our families and plan for the future, but when that becomes the main focus of life, it can start to feel heavy and unfulfilling.
It’s a good thing to take care of your family and invest in your children’s futures. Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.” But if you feel like you just wake up, go to work, come and crash in front of the tv every evening, you will begin to feel like your life doesn’t matter.
But your life does matter. It matters greatly! You are needed in the kingdom. The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. Be careful to not allow your worldly responsibilities to overshadow your kingdom objectives. When you know that you are part of something bigger than yourself, it’s easier to find another gear and step into a productive life beyond your job.
This week I began a series in which I’m discussing how our lives are part of a bigger cause. That cause is glorifying God and participating in the increase of his kingdom.
In this week’s sermon, I ask you to consider a profound truth; You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
If you don’t know your freedom in Christ, this statement might be a source of shame for you. Maybe you have been made to feel like you owe God, and that you repay him by being as good as possible. Yet you always fall short because you can’t be good enough or do enough.
The good news is, God loves you no matter what. Once you are secure in your freedom in Christ, you become free to live in a way that honors him in everything you do. Not out of obligation but out of gratitude.
I don’t have a specific theological point to make this week, I’m more so interested in challenging you to expand your thinking. What does it mean to you that you are not your own? In the video, I go into what it means to glorify God and how you can do that. Watch it to engage a bit deeper. But the broader point this week is to ponder your feelings about your life, and to ask yourself if you are living for yourself, or are you living for a greater cause?
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