WHAT IT
TAKES TO REALLY CHANGE
A New You For A New Year – Part 3
01-26-14
Sermon
Six Principles for Lasting Change
Romans 12:1-12
1. The
Principle of Dedication: I must___________________________________________
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view
of God's mercy, to offer YOUR BODIES as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Rom. 12:1 (NIV)
3 things you can do with your body that are
acts of worship:
C__________________________________
“Let
us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the body and spirit
perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1
C_________________________________
“No one hates
his own body
but lovingly cares for it just as Christ cares
for his body which is the church. Ephesians 5:29
C_________________________________
“Each
of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and
honorable.”
1 Thessalonians 4:4
“I
discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it should.” 1 Corinthians 9:27
2. The
Principle of Concentration: I must_______________________________________
“Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind.” Rom.12:2 (NIV)
3. The
Principle of Evaluation: I must _________________________________________
“Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given
you.” Rom. 12:3 (NIV)
“…
Be honest in your estimate of yourselves.” (NLT)
4. The Principle of Cooperation: I must__________________________________________
“Just as our bodies have many parts
and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and
each of us has different work to do.
And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other,
and each of us needs all the others.” Rom.
12:4-5 (NLT)
“In Christ there is no difference or division
between Jews and gentiles, free people and slaves, male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. It is our love in Christ, it is our
love for each other that brings us together which is greater than any kind of
ethnic or any other kind of difference.” Galatians 3:23
5. The
Principle of Affirmation: I must _________________________________________
“Don't
just pretend that you love others.
Really love them. Hate
what is evil. Stand on the side of
the good. Love each other with
genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” Rom.12:9-10 (NLT)
6. The
Principle of Motivation: I must___________________________________________
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep
your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Rom. 12:11-12 (NIV)
WHAT IT
TAKES TO REALLY CHANGE
A New You For A New Year – Part 3
01-26-14
Sermon
We’re going to continue in our series on
a New You for a New Year. We’re
looking at what does it really take to change.
The first week we looked at the fact that
you have to change your vision. You’re
going to either look at your life with eyes of faith or the eyes of fear. We looked at the passage where Moses
leads the children of Israel up to the Promised Land and what kept them out of
the Promised Land was they were looking with eyes of fear and couldn’t go in at
that point.
Then last week we looked at the second
principle which was you’ve got to believe you can change. And we looked at how do you set goals
in faith.
This week we’re going to look at what does
it take to really change.
One of the universal desires of human
beings is this desire to improve. We
all want to grow. We all want to
get better. We all want to make
something of our lives if we’re healthy.
One of the proofs of that is we spend billions of dollars every year on
projects and products and gizmos and gadgets that we think will improve our
lives or make our lives better. There’s
an entire industry built around the idea of, if you’ll just buy our product or
eat our product or whatever, then your life will be better.
But sadly the results don’t really last. Some of them don’t even work at all. Is there anything out there that can
get guaranteed permanent change? Is
there anything that can ever really transform my life that can actually make
changes in the deepest part of me?
The answer is Yes, but you’ve got to go back to the owner’s manual. When in doubt read the instructions and
check with the creator.
The classic text in Scriptures on how to
change is in the book of Romans. In
the book of Romans in the first twelve verses, it gives us what it really takes
to change.
There are six principles for lasting change.
The first principle is in verse 1. The
principle of dedication is this: Commit my body to God.
That’s the starting point. For change to happen in any area of
your life whether it is financial, vocational, educational, mental, relational
– it actually works best to begin with the physical. I commit my body to God. This is what the Bible says.
Why is this true, to start with the
physical? Because your body
affects your behavior. Your
muscles affect your moods. Your
muscles affect your motivation. Any
teacher knows this. If a kid comes
into class slouching or slumping, that kid’s got a bad attitude. You already know they’re not going to be
in a good mood for education. Your
physiology can actually affect your psychology. So God says you offer your bodies. Start there. Physiology
affects psychology.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.”
It starts off “Therefore I urge you brothers.” Let me give you a little tip on Bible
study. Anytime you see a “therefore” in the Bible you need to stop
and find out what it’s there for. Because a “therefore” means “in
light of everything I just said.” Paul’s
saying , in the first eleven chapters in light of all these mercies that God
has shown you, in light of all God’s grace to you, offer your bodies. Why? Because as long as you’re on this planet everything you do for
God, with God, in God, you’re going to do in your bod for God.
Have you ever heard anybody say to you, I can’t be with you tonight but I’ll be with
you there in spirit. You know
what that means? Nothing! You can’t be with anybody in spirit. If you’re not there in body, you’re not
there. Because as long as you’re
here on earth you can only be in one place at one time.
Then he says, “Therefore offer your body as a living sacrifice to God.” The problem with a living sacrifice is
that it can choose to crawl off the altar. We do this all the time. We offer ourselves to God and then we take ourselves back. We do it all the time. So this is not like a once and for all offer. Like, in 1946 I gave my life to God… No, you’ve got to do it four, five,
maybe ten times a day. Or every time
you are tempted to do something wrong in your body, your mind, your spirit or
whatever. You offer your body to
God.
“Offer as a
living sacrifice.”
What happens is we offer ourselves
as a living sacrifice on Sunday and then we crawl off the altar on Monday
morning. We come to church and we
sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” and on Monday we go AWOL. Offer your body as a living sacrifice.
“It is your
spiritual act of worship.” You say, wait
a minute! There is actually
something I can do with my body that would be an act of worship? Oh yeah! Absolutely. In
fact, let me give you three specific
things you can do with your body that are acts of worship.
1)
Cleanse it.
I’m talking about detox. By cleansing my body, that can be an
act of worship. There may be some
stuff that you’re putting in your body that you need to stop putting in your body.
Where is that? In 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Let
us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the body and spirit
perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” Notice the motivation: I want to be holy before God. I’m doing this as an act of worship, as
an act of reverence before God. God
made my body; I better take care of it.
So the first thing you can do, the Bible
says, out of reverence for God, is you can cleanse your body of the contaminants. That’s an act of worship.
The second way…
2)
Care for it.
I can care for my body. That’s an act of worship. The Bible says this in Ephesians 5:29 “No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it just as Christ
cares for his body which is the church [the family of God].” So he says we care for our bodies just
like Christ cares for his body the church. Caring for your body can be an act of worship.
How do care for your body? Keeping it in shape would be a good way
to do that. That can be an act of
worship to God.
Let me give you a third way:
3)
Control it.
Cleansing it, caring for it, and
controlling it. Controlling my body
is an act of worship to God.
1 Thessalonians 4:4 says this, “Each of you should learn to control his
own body in a way that is holy and honorable.” In other words I control my body, it doesn’t control me. In other words, I don’t say, I couldn’t help myself.
1 Corinthians 9:27 “I discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it should.”
That’s what the Bible says.
A Time
magazine article said: “Seventy-five
percent of the 2.5 trillion dollars of U.S. health care stems from chronic
diseases which can be prevented by lifestyle choices.” You know what that means? It’s up to us. Seventy-five percent of all that health
care is due to the things where we’re not cleansing, controlling and caring for
our bodies.
Let’s go to the second principle. The first principle is I commit my body
to God. That’s dedication.
1.
The second principle is
verse 2, the Principle of Concentration: I must refocus my mind.
That’s what the Bible says. It’s the second step. I must refocus my mind. The Bible says in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, [he’s talking about the way the world thinks.] but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind.”
The reason why he moves here with the
mind is whatever gets your attention
gets you. What he’s talking
about is you’ve got to stop thinking about what you don’t want and start
thinking about what you do want. You’ve
got to stop focusing on what’s bad for you and start focusing on what’s good for
you. You’ve got to stop focusing
on your plan and start focusing on God’s plan. You’ve got to stop focusing on what everybody else wants you
to do and start focusing on what God wants you to do. You’ve got to stop focusing on the negative and start
focusing on the positive. You’ve got
to transform by the renewing of your mind.
First it says, do not conform. You know what conform means. It means to copy everybody else. Too often we let everybody else shape
our lives. Don’t copy. Don’t conform.
Notice it says, “any longer.” Circle
“any longer.” When you do something
for a long time, it’s called a habit.
What starts off as copying other people becomes a habit in your life. It becomes habitual. It’s your habit, your hurt, your hang up, your addiction, your
compulsion. It’s now yours. You own it now because you’ve been doing it for a long time.
“Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world.” The point is this, everything you’ve
learned in life you’ve learned from a pattern. You learned from a model. That’s how we learn. The problem is, there are no perfect models
in the world. Every human being is
imperfect.
A lot of the models and a lot of the
patterns that you grew up with were defective. You’re going to have to learn some new patterns. You’re going to have to not conform to
those old patterns any more. You’re
going to have to change the way you think. To change my life I must change my model. You need to choose your models
carefully because they’re going to influence your life.
There’s only one perfect model; God sent
him to earth. His name is Jesus. Twenty times Jesus says, Follow me. Why? Because he’s
the perfect model. Paul, six times
says, Follow me as I follow Christ. Imitate me. You’re going to need a model. So you need to choose them carefully.
“Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.” That word
“transformed” in the Greek is the word we get the word “metamorphosis” from. What is metamorphosis? It’s what happens when a caterpillar
changes into a butterfly. That is that word, metamorphosis.
It’s a totally different animal. That’s not reformation. That’s not renewal. That’s not improvement. That’s transformation. That’s radical transformation.
Look at this verse on renewing your mind. The Bible says, “Put off your old self which is being corrupted by deceitful desires. [That’s
those impulses and compulsions that pull you the wrong direction.] and be made new in the attitude of your mind.
[Attitudes are kind of like diapers.
You’ve got to change them every once in a while or they start stinking. You put off your old self, be made new
in the attitude of your mind] and put on
the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Notice: There’s a putting off and there’s
a putting on. Stop putting in your
body and your mind negative, hurtful things. And start putting in the right things. There is a putting off and there is a
putting on. In the renewal of your
mind, you’ve got to put off before you can put on.
2.
This is third principle
that I call the Principle of Evaluation. I must humbly assess my current
state.
You don’t know how to get to where you
need to go until first you know where you are. That’s a principle of life. That’s the principle of change. You don’t know where you need to be until first you know
where you are.
I must humbly – because it takes humility
– assess my current state. The
first and the greatest barrier to change in your life, in any area of your life
is pride. – “I don’t have any problems!
I don’t see an elephant in the room. What are you talking about?” I don’t want to
admit I need to change.
The fact is, nobody has it all together. I don’t have it all together. You don’t have it all together. The Pope doesn’t have it all together. Everything on this planet is broken
because of sin. So nothing’s
perfect. But we pretend like we’ve
got it all together. We walk
around trying to impress people that we’ve got it all together.
Verse 3 “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, [that’s
humility] but rather think of yourself
[in other words evaluate yourself] with
sober judgment, [in other words be realistic about the situation you’re in] in accordance with the measure of faith God
has given you.”
First he says “don’t think of yourself more highly.” In other words be humble. I would say be humble
or you’ll stumble. Don’t
think, I don’t have any problems. Just be honest, be authentic. Be real. Be humble.
Then he says, “think of your life with sober judgment.” Be realistic. The New Living Translation says “be honest in your estimate of yourself.” Do you have enough courage to confront yourself? That’s what this verse is all about. Do you have the courage to ask those
closest to you to tell you honestly what you need to change in 2014? Do you have that kind of courage? That’s step three in change. Evaluation. Humbly access my current state.
It says “Do not think of yourself more highly… [ Be humble.] Evaluate your life with sober judgment, [Be honest.] in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Circle
the phrase “measure of faith.” The
word “measure” here in Greek is the word we get “metric system” from. That’s what it is. The the measure of faith.
Why is measurement so important? I
can only manage what I measure.
If you don’t measure it, you don’t manage
it. If I don’t know the measure of
my faith I can’t manage my faith. I
can’t grow in faith. If I don’t
know the measure of my health, I can’t develop and grow in health. If I don’t know the measure of where I
am financially I can’t set goals financially. If I don’t know the measure of where I am spiritually or vocationally
or relationally, then I can’t grow in those areas. I have to evaluate humbly and assess my current state. I can only manage what I measure.
I humbly assess my current state. I can’t know where I need to go unless
I know where I am right now.
3.
Principle of
Cooperation. I must get group
support.
You will not make all the changes you
need to make, you want to make, you’d love to make, you plan to make, you
desire to make by yourself. If you
could, you would, but you can’t, so you won’t. You need a group.
The Bible says God wired the universe in such a way that we need each
other. We get well in community. I need you; you need me. Fifty-eight times in the New Testament
the phrase “one another” is used. Love
one another, care for one another, encourage one another, support one another,
pray for one another, greet one another, share with one another – fifty-eight
times. It is the mutual ministry
and support of each other through life.
You need a spiritual family and you need to be specifically in a small
group. A Sunday school class. A bible study group. Something like that.
The Bible says this in the next verse,
verse four: “Just as our bodies have many
parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body and
each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ,
we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.” Circle
“we belong to each other” and “we need each other.” That’s why people who say I can be just as good a Christian without
going to church are way off base.
God says no way! You need me,
I need you, you need the other people around you, they need you. We belong to each other. Change requires community.
It is not a solo issue. You change faster, you change better,
you change longer, you change more completely, you change permanently, through
community. There are a lot of good
self help books that will tell you the right thing to do, but they don’t provide
the two things the Bible says you must have: God’s power and community. That’s what you need to really change –
God’s power and community.
The Bible says this: “In Christ there is no difference or division between Jews and
gentiles, free people and slaves, male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. It is our love in Christ, it is our love for each other that
brings us together which is greater than any kind of ethnic or any other kind
of difference.”
4.
Principle number five is
the Principle of Affirmation. I must fill my life with love.
If you want to have lasting change, if I
want lasting change in my life I must fill my life with love. Why is this? Because love can change the unchangeable. It is the only thing that can. Love invigorates. Love revitalizes. Love renews. Love refreshes.
Love is the most powerful force in the universe because God is love. It doesn’t say he has love; it says he is
love. Love heals what cannot be
healed otherwise. Love uplifts. Love strengthens. Love energizes. Love empowers when you don’t have the
power.
The Bible says in Song of Solomon, “Love is stronger than death.” Think about that. If love is stronger than death it means
that love is stronger that debt. Love
is stronger than divorce. Love is
stronger than discouragement. Love
is stronger than depression. Love
is stronger than disease. Love is
stronger than doubt. Love is
stronger than anything else. You
must fill your life with love because it is the strongest power in the universe.
Verse 9 says this: “Don’t just pretend you love others. Really love them.
Hate what is evil. Stand on the side of the good. [You’ve got to love enough
sometimes to confront.] Love each other
with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
I love that – take delight in honoring each other. Here’s the amazing thing. God has wired the universe that when you help other people, God
takes care of your problems. God
says, when I look down and I see you
helping other people, I’m going to help you. So you want help with your goals? Start helping other people with their goals. Show love. Give yourself away.
There is healing in giving back.
There’s one last principle. 6.
Principle number six is the Principle of
Motivation. I must nurture my enthusiasm.
In other words, I’ve got to figure out how
to maintain my enthusiasm over the long haul in order to reach my goals. How do I nurture my enthusiasm? Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing great is ever accomplished without
enthusiasm.” I believe that
with all of my heart. I have found
it to be true in my life. Nothing
great is ever accomplished without passion, without enthusiasm. You’ve got to have passion, you’ve got
to have enthusiasm, or you’re never going to make it to the finish line. Not, I kind of want to get out of debt. You’re never going to get out of debt. I
really want to get in shape… Pass me some potato chips. It isn’t going to happen. If you’re just kind of ho-hum, half-hearted,
no energy, no enthusiasm for this goal, you’re never going to do it. You’ve got to be passionate. You’ve got to have enthusiasm or you’re
never going to do it.
For a lot of people, it’s very easy for
people to get excited at the beginning of anything. But would you agree that it’s pretty easy to lose your
enthusiasm after a few days or a few weeks. We get distracted by other things.
So how do you maintain your enthusiasm
not for weeks, not for months, but for the rest of your life? How do you maintain enthusiasm so you
can set goals that are not just one year goals, ten year, twenty year, thirty
or forty years, but lifetime goals and reach them. I told you last week most people set their goals too low and
try to accomplish them too soon. How
do you set goals for your lifetime and then maintain the enthusiasm to actually
reach them. They’re so big that
they keep pulling you and you don’t give up on them? How do you do that?
The way you stay enthusiastic for a
lifetime is found in the word “enthusiasm.” The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek word en theos. En is the Greek
word for the English word “in.” Theos is the Greek word for “God.” So en
theos means to be “in God.”
When you get in God you will be enthusiastic. And it’s the kind of gut level enthusiasm that fills your
heart with such enthusiasm that it doesn’t matter whether the economy is
tanking or it is soaring. Or whether
it’s raining or it’s shining. Or
whether things are going good or bad.
Or whether you feel healthy or sick. Or whether things are bad or good. Your enthusiasm is not dependent upon
your circumstances. It is not
dependent upon your circumstances because you are tied to the Rock of Ages. You are tied to the Eternal God. You are in Christ. You are in God and you are eternally
enthusiastic. I am in God. Enthusiasm.
Paul tells us how to do this in the last
verse. Verses 11-12. He says, “Never be lacking in zeal, [that’s enthusiasm] but keep your spiritual fervor. [That means nurture your enthusiasm. Then he tells you the
three ways to do it in serving the Lord.
He says…] Be joyful in hope,
patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
That’s how you keep your spiritual fervor. You be joyful in hope so that even when things are going wrong I can
still know God’s plan. He wins in
the end. God’s plan is good. I win in the end.
Be patient
in affliction. Because I know that even in pain God’s going
to bring good out of it. And I can
be patient even in the pain.
I can be faithful in prayer.
Why? Because in every
problem I’m either going to pray or I’m going to panic. I’m going to worry or I’m going to worship. I’m either going to get on my knees or
I’m going to fall over and faint. Those
are the options. Those are my choices.
When you are joyful in hope, when you are
patient in affliction, when you are faithful in prayer then you get God’s gps. Gps is God’s Power
System. You know that gps in your car? Gps
corrects mistakes. If I’ve got to
go to somewhere and I make a wrong
turn it just says “You made a wrong turn. Make a U turn. Go this way.” And it corrects it. It’s no big deal. It just gets me back on the path real
quickly.
This new year hopefully you’re going to
set some goals in your life. And
you’re going to mess up and so am I.
Why? Because we’re human. I am a sinner and so are you. You’re going to mess up. And you’re going to get off the right
road. But with God’s gps, he says ok, make a U turn and get right back on. It’s not a big deal. You get God’s power by being joyful in hope, being patient in
affliction and being faithful in prayer.
Friends, what you need above all else is
you need to get in God, en theos,
enthusiasm.
Prayer: pray in your heart and mind
Dear
God, I don’t want to go another day without you in my life controlling every
room and every part of my heart. So
I want to take these initial steps for change. I offer you my body.
I dedicate myself to you. In
light of all you’ve done for me, I give myself as a living sacrifice to you, as
a spiritual act of worship. I
don’t want to think the old patterns any more. I want you to help renew my mind. I want to be transformed. I don’t want to be a caterpillar any more. I want that metamorphosis. I want to be that butterfly – set free. I don’t want to be conformed to all the
pressures of what other people want me to be. I want to be what you want me to be. Over this year I want you to change my
mind. Help me to think the way you
want me to think. I ask you to forgive
me for my pride and I humbly want to admit that I need help and I want to
change in a lot of areas. I don’t
want to think more highly of myself than I should. I admit that the measure of my faith needs to grow. Help me to set goals that can be
measured so I can manage them. Forgive
me for trying to do the changes on my own. Help me to get group support. I want to fill my life with love. I want to fill my life with you. Help me to take delight in honoring other people, to focus on
giving my life away so that you can take care of my needs. I want to nurture my enthusiasm by
being in you. Help me to be joyful in hope, patient
in affliction, and faithful in prayer.
I give myself to you. In
your name I pray. Amen.
