9 Habits of Highly Effective Christians (2)

Good morning, CHURCH!

(Opening joke)

What time of day was Adam created?

Just a little before Eve.

Of all the people named in the Bible, who would you consider to be the fastest runner?

Adam. He was the first in the human race.

The Bible tells us that Mary was the virgin girl that the Spirit impregnated with Jesus.

The Bible also tells us that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So, if Mary had Jesus and Jesus was the lamb, does that mean that Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb …

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Let’s go to the book of 1 Peter 4:10-11 for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination

1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

This passage is telling us that each and every one of us has at least one spiritual gift from God.

Spiritual gifts include things like prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, generous giving, leadership and acts of mercy.

God has given us everything we need to accomplish what he wants in us and through us.

It’s up to us to uncover the gift or gifts in us and to learn how to use them properly to bring about edification, encouragement and comfort to benefit our entire community.

Today’s message title is:

9 Habits of Highly Effective Christians Wk. 2

As we started last week, I’ll start this week. Habits are behaviors, patterns and rituals that we perform automatically.

The small decisions and actions we perform daily.

And if our habits account for about 40% of our behaviors on any given day, we are basically the sum total of our habits.

I didn’t say this last week, but I will say it today.

We do get to choose our habits.

Everyday from the time we wake up to the time we fall asleep, we are making choices.

Every moment of our waking consciousness we are constantly making choices.

These choices are forming our daily habits and these daily habits are forming our lives into who we decide to be.

Question?

Are your choices on a daily basis forming who you say you want to be?

I want to be a godly, loving husband or wife.

I want to be successful on my job or in my business.

I want to be an asset to the kingdom of God.

I want to stop loosing my temper with; you fill in the blank.

Week #1’s habits were regular church attendance, keeping good company, reading and studying the Bible.

Habit #4

Habit of fasting

Matthew 6:16-18 NIV

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

It's almost as if this passage is assuming that you will fast.

That is because fasting was a habit of those that followed God.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary defines fasting as the deliberate, temporary abstention from food for religious reasons.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines fasting as eating sparingly or abstaining from food altogether, either from necessity or desire.

Certain foods are thought of as pleasures of life and they tend to get us addicted to them.

By fasting, it allows us to take back control of our temples and willingly give that control over to our heavenly father.

The Baker Encyclopedia goes on to say that in medical terms, fasting is the detoxification of the body through the restriction of food.

Detoxification means to cleanse the blood by removing impurities from the blood in the liver where toxins are processed for elimination.

The body also eliminates through the kidneys, intestines, lungs and other areas.

If detoxification is good for the health of the body, wouldn’t it make sense that detoxification also be good for the health of our souls. (Minds)

How good would it be if we decided not to indulge in certain television programs or social sites sparingly or altogether for a period of time?

How good would it be if we decided not to indulge in certain mind-altering drugs or alcohol?

How good would it be if we decided not to indulge in our negative belief systems about each other?

How good would it be if we decided not to indulge in remembering with the intent to get back at someone we feel as hurt us in the past?

If we want to be highly effective Christians, it would do us good to practice the habit of fasting.

Habit #4 was the habit of fasting.

Habit #5

Habit of forgiving

We don’t often think of forgiveness in terms of being a habit.

If forgiveness is not a habit, it is likely that when you feel hurt by something or someone, you will allow it to get so rooted in you that by the time you decide to forgive it’s probably going to be so hard to accomplish it that most people never do.

Let’s establish that forgiveness is a must.

Matthew 6:12 ESV

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Jesus said that we should ask God for forgiveness just as we forgive others ourselves.

Allowing room for error or weakness in people makes it easier to forgive them when needed.

After all we have weaknesses and at times need to be forgiven for something we have done or said.

Jesus went on to say:

Matthew 6:14 ESV

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

Being willing to forgive is the issue.

Sometimes we think being able to forgive is the issue.

It’s not a matter of the ability to forgive but it is a matter of being willing to choose forgiveness above the right to sentence.

Let’s be honest, it feels good to the flesh when you punish someone for what they have done.

However, it is not good for the health of the relationship when we give in to what the flesh wants in this regard.

What are some punishments that feel good to the flesh but are harmful to the relationship?

*I don’t like what you did or said so I’ll just not talk to you for a while. Let’s call it a communication time out.

*I don’t appreciate that you withheld something from me that I wanted so I’ll withhold something from you that you want.

Let’s call it revenge which is a dish best served cold.

*You said something about me that I don’t like so I yell at you and say something about you that I don’t like about you.

Let’s call it the sticks and stones treatment.

Our heavenly father is nothing like this and as believers we should be nothing like this.

Psalm 103:8 ESV

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger abounding in steadfast love.

When something doesn’t feel good to us, we should respond in ways that don’t destroy the relationship.

*When I don’t like what you did or said but instead putting you in a communication timeout, I will exercise mercy.

*When I don’t appreciate that you withheld something from me that I wanted, instead of serving you with cold hard revenge, I extend mercy like my father does.

*When you say something to me that I don’t like, instead of yelling at you because of the sticks and stones truth, I stay slow to anger and abound in steadfast love.

I’ll end the forgiveness habit with this.

Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack; improving cholesterol levels and sleep; and reducing pain, blood pressure, and levels of anxiety, depression and stress.

You know it’s been said that not forgiving is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.

If you want to be a highly effective Christian, you must develop the habit of forgiving.

Habit #5 was the habit of forgiving.

Habit #6

Habit of faithfully serving

To serve simply means to be of use.

To be reliant and trusted upon.

Philippians 2:4-9 ESV

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

I want to point out 3 things that serving does for us.

*First, serving humbles us.

Our identity should not be in what we do, but it should be in who we are and whose we are.

It is serving others that keeps us from getting the big head and becoming prideful which stinks to our God.

*Second serving helps others.

Let us not look only on our own interest but on the interest of others.

By Jesus’ act of humility coming to earth in the form of humanity, he served all of mankind by giving us an opportunity to be redeemed back to a holy and loving God.

*Third, the more that serve, the easier it is to get the work done.

When the majority of the work falls on the minority of the people it can cause a stress and strain on those faithful few that ends up burning them out.

But when we have more than enough help, it is easier and less stressful to get done what needs to be done.

(Closing illustration)

I remember when I first started serving in the house of God.

I started as a children’s worker assistant because I love kids.

I went from there to ushering.

I joined the drama department where I did everything from helping entertain children to playing Jesus on the cross.

But one thing I can say about it all is that it kept me connected to the community and kept me accountable to the house of God. And during that time of connection and accountability, I grew to become someone who now knows how much he is loved by God and that helps me to love the people I am in relationship with. Especially the love of my life, my wife.

If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?