Who am I? Wholeness
Notes
Transcript
What do I want them to know? That we are to live from Christ-esteem
Why? It brings LIVE, JOY, PEACE
What do I want them to do? Live from what God says
Why? It brings LIFE, JOY, PEACE
ME/WE
Who are you? We have all gotten this question before and will get again.
How do we often respond?
Name, Live (the city or neighborhood), vocation, and family
If we turn the corner, you might not this someone you don’t know, but you would be surprised how often people are more willing to answer this question honestly with strangers.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF?
HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND?
WHAT DOES THE AVERAGE PERSON SAY? I AM AWESOME, I AM PRETTY AMAZING, I AM GIFTED,
NO, at best we will say we are just an average JOE or JILL, I am an average, I am just and average guy or girl
But the majority of us don’t that way about ourselves.
What do we mostly say about ourselves
It is negative things
I am not that good, I am not smart, I am unattractive, (we might even say swear about our selves) I am less than, I am not enough
The average person when they look in the mirror what do they say? Positive things? No, I am ugly, fat, I need to get rid of these wrinkles
What are we to do? How do we change this?
The world says there are two things you can do
Self talk saying your awesome, best, est E.S.T
est, best, smartest, move beautiful
We say this to ourselves to build ourselves up
We see a lot of popular preachers who are on YouTube, Social Media say for us to use this approach....but who’s often missing from this self talk about how great you are? God…It’s all about you
We see this mentality alive and well amongst TWO of the NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLERS LIST 5 books in SELF HELP SECTION of you, they have both been there for almost 5 years.
You are a badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck:
It is all about you, forget the noise, build yourself up with self talk, tell yourself how awesome you are.
The problem with this is three fold
One is quiet plainly I can say some things about myself that are not true, ONE I CAN SAY I AM THE SMARTEST OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER, BUT THEY REALITY IS EDUCATION WISE I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN YOUR B-C STUDENT WITH AN OCCATIONAL A OR TWO....I get great ANXIETY over my lie.
Two, those who act like a BA, become a A to everyone else…narristic, not loving other people
Third
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Let’s move away from the EST and onto the ER
2. This revolves around achievement.
If I can prove to others that I am BETTER, WISER, SMARTER, MORE BEAUTIFULER then I will get the applause form others. People say we are great.
The problem with this when we do this we base our self worth and identity on our achievements and when we are winning this seems like a good option, but the reality is we do not will all the time…we fail on a work project, we are not faster, (I had this when I was younger with sports,
I got to get a win and
Vogue magazine interview with Madonna, in which she was talking about her career. Here’s what she says.
She says, “My drive in life comes from the fear of being mediocre. That’s always pushing me. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being, but then I feel I’m still mediocre and uninteresting unless I do something else, because even though I’ve become somebody, I still have to prove I’m somebody. My struggle has never ended, and I guess it never will.”
TENSION
So what are we do to?
This the question Paul face in Corinth
GOD
Corinth was full of people who trying to make a name for themselves, were about the ER and EST, there were great philosophers there, innovations happened there, it was a place of forward thinking and alongside of the that great competetion insued about who was better and best…Who had the best ideas, who was richer, etc.
This mentality crept into the church
there was this great debate over who was better pastor leader, PAUL or APPOLOS
How does Paul respond to this? I am better, NO
Here’s the deal anytime we say we are better than someone else we make ourselves a winner and them a loser, is that the heart of God?
For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
Paul says we are nothing, we are just servants
Appolos is not better nor is Paul
Then he continues
So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,
and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Paul says let no one boast in men, but in Chrsit
but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
If we are to boast it is in Jesus not ourselves
Then Paul furthers this
This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.
For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
What does Paul say?
1. My self worth and identity is not going to come from what you say
Paul had fans who loved him
Paul had people who hated him or thought he was than the super Christians
Paul realized if I live by what they say I will be a pendulum swinging from one view of himself to other and often staying stuck in the negative side, because we dwell on the negative side of things.
2. My self worth and identity is not going to come from me
though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Acts 22:3 says he was taught by Gamaliel, the teacher of teacher
Paul can say I am pretty good! Look at me!
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
I am the worst
We’ve here, right
One minute we think we are something (look at what I did at work or at my house) and the next minute I am the worst (I lost it again on my kids, I looked at that thing on the internet again)
What Paul says is I am not going to get my self worth and identity from what I think
3. Instead I am get my self worth and identity from what God says
Some of us are like don’t want to do that, God’s standards are way up here, their standards are way down here, my standards are lower…I can’t reach God’s standards, and you can’t.
None of us can achieve God’s standards
Why does Paul think this a good thing?
Because their is this great exchange that happened
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The great exchanged happened
What happens is we have a status change, from sinner to saint, holy ones. righteous ones
When God looks at me He looks me in light of what Jesus has done for me...
God says to me I AM LOVED, FORGIVEN, ACCEPTED, YOUR MASTERPIECE, ADOPTED, GIFTED, CHOSEN AND THE LIST GOES ON.
Paul says I tuning out the noise of what you say about who you think I am and my worth.
Paul says I am tuning out the noise of who I think I am, instead I am living by who God says I am
Loved, accepted, adopted
NOT PERFECT
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Discover, dig deep into who God says you are
I will link a indentity in Christ verse list
Read God’s Word over you
Tune out the outside and inside noise.
Pray