Joel Osteen Podcast - Dealing With the Root of Our Problems | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

If we want to see real transformation, we have to be willing to examine our lives on a deeper level. Don’t just look at what you do, ask yourself why you do it. Once you get to the root of the problem, God will help you break free from anything that’s holding you back.Believe big! Believe for more! Our March offer, This Time Next Year: Believe Big Journal, combines faith-building stories from Scripture with space to record your own reflections of the amazing things God is doing in your life. Be reminded each day that the God who breathed life into you is a more-than-enough God! Request your copy now, https://bit.ly/3IebX0B. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's so great to have you with us today. We love you guys. We're praying you're going to have a beautiful month of March and just speaking blessings in favor of each one of you. This time of year is just new beginnings, new spring seasons, and so we are believing that this will be a newness of joy in your heart. So know today we are praying for you and we love you. Well, God bless you. It is always our joy to come into your homes. We love you. We may not know you by name. but we just believe that you're a part of our extended family. So thanks for tuning in. If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and see us. I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. These are the finest people in all of Houston, Texas, right here at Lakewood.

So you come out and be a part of one of our services. I like to get started with something funny each week, and I heard about this hillbilly family. They've never left their small town, never watched TV, never listened to the radio. But one day they decided to take a vacation to New York. City. And on the first day, the father took his son to see one of the huge

buildings. And they were so impressed by it, but they were especially intrigued by the elevator. They didn't know what it was. And they saw this older woman walk up and punch the button, and all of a sudden the walls opened up. She stepped inside this little room. When the walls closed,

they were standing there just kind of contemplating what they had just seen. Well, a few moments later, those walls opened back up again and outwalk this beautiful 24-year-old woman. The son, almost in disbelief, he said, Dad, what happened? Dad said, I don't know, son, but go get your mama. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. Ready?

This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess, my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same. In Jesus name. God bless you. We've been talking about how important it is that we face the truth about ourselves and not go around making excuses for our behavior. It's so easy to want to pass the blame and to try to just justify the way we are. But as long as we're not taking responsibility, we're not going to experience God's best.

And too many people today just live on the surface. they never really look inside and get honest with themselves. In other words, they don't ever get down to the root of the problem. They just deal with the fruit. They're negative. They can't get along in relationships. They've got low self-esteem. And so they're always trying to fix their behavior.

They're always trying to fix the bad fruit. And that's good that they're trying. But many times, that's only temporary. Because as long as we've got a bad root, we're going to continue to produce bad fruit. And the scripture here in Hebrews 12, verse 15, it talks about how we should not let a root of bitterness spring forth and contaminate our whole lives.

I think of it like a weed. You can go out and pull that weed all day long. But if you're just breaking it off at the surface and you're not really getting down to the roots, then in a couple of days, you're going to have that same weed to deal with again. And I'm challenging us today to go deeper. And not just look at what we do.

We need to ask ourselves, why do I do this? Why am I always so defensive? Why do the smallest things set me off? Or why do I go around feeling like I always have to prove myself to everybody? When we really get to the root and start dealing with the source, then we can change. Then we can get free. Now, I heard about this man that owned a bunch of horses. And one day, one of these horses accidentally kicked a wood fence and scraped its leg very badly,

just tore that leg up. And so the man took the horse to his barn, and he cleaned the wound up and bandaged that leg real good. A couple of weeks later, he noticed that the horse was still being very bothered by that leg. So he called his veterinarian up, and they got the horse started on some antibiotics, and he began to do much better. But a month or two went by, and he noticed that that wound. just still had not healed up. Matter of fact, it looked worse than ever. And so he started him on some more antibiotics. And he was fine for a few weeks, but then it happened all over again. The

wound just wouldn't heal up. And this happened like three or four times over the course of that year. Finally, this guy loaded up his horse and he took him down to the veterinarian's clinic. He knew he had to go deeper. He knew he had to find out why this wound wouldn't heal. And so the veterinarian put the horse under anesthesia, and he began to examine the wound. And while he was digging around, he reached in there, and all of a sudden he pulled out this big chunk of wood, about the size of a golf ball that had been buried way up inside the horse's leg. So every time that horse went off the antibiotics, that infection just kept coming back. See, really, they had been treating the symptoms rather than treating the true source. And this is what we do many times. We just

try to fix the surface things. Well, let me just clean up my behavior. Let me just turn over a new leaf and I'm going to try to start being more friendly. I'm going to try to not manipulate people anymore or I'm going to try to not get so angry and get so upset. And again, it's good that we're trying. But so often, just like in this situation, we're not dealing with the real source. And so no matter how much we try, that issue just keeps coming back. No, we've got to learn to get to the real source. And we need to examine our lives. And let's find the areas that we constantly struggle in. Is it really our spouse at fault? Is it really our circumstances? Or could it be that we have something like this horse, something that we're not dealing with that's causing

us to, quote, be infected? And this is especially important in relationships. A lot of people today have a root of rejection. They've been through hurts in the past. They've been through hurts in the past. somebody did them wrong, and rather than letting it go, they hold on to it, and it ends up poisoning their entire life. I know people that have a root of insecurity. This causes them to go around all defensive, and they're always trying to prove to everybody who they are. And sure, we can try to correct all these things on the surface, but really, that's just like trying to put a bandage on that horse's leg. It's going to keep coming back until we get to the real source. I knew this couple.

They were always having problems in their marriage. And the main thing was they just had a terrible time communicating. And almost every time they got into a discussion and this husband didn't agree with the wife, then this lady would get very defensive. She'd get all upset, loser cool, and they'd end up having a great big argument. And the husband was constantly saying,

why can't you just let me have my opinion? Why do you have to get so upset when I don't agree with you? This went on year after. a year and was just tearing them apart. But one day, this lady decided to really get honest with herself. She decided to really look down on the inside. And she began to realize the reason she was all defensive was because she was so insecure. She had been through a lot of hurts and pains in her own life. She'd had a lot of rejection from a previous relationship. And now every time this husband didn't agree with her, she felt like he was rejecting her.

She took it personally. And so she would try to control him and manipulate him to keep that from happening. But as she began to realize the true source, wasn't that they couldn't communicate, it was the fact that she was so insecure. And over time, it didn't happen overnight, but as she began to deal with these feelings and as she began to ask God to help her, little by little, things begin to change. But see, the whole key was she got to the root of the problem. and once she took care of the bad root, then eventually the fruit took care of itself. And we have to understand that most of our problems have deeper roots. Not all of them.

I know sometimes it's just our lack of self-control. But I think we'd be amazed at how many times things affect us in a negative way, and we're over here just trying to deal with the fruit. We're just trying to deal with the surface, and so we end up going year after year having to face these same difficulties. I think about the children of Israel. They never got to the root of their problem, and it kept them out of their promised land.

They wandered around in the wilderness for some 40 years for what should have been an 11-day journey, and it was in part because they never got honest with themselves. And the root cause of their problem was that they had a victim mentality. They had been through a lot of unfair things, spent years in slavery, and so now they're going around with the children, chip on their shoulder. They were always blaming Moses,

blaming their circumstances, blaming the past, blaming the food, blaming their enemies. It never dawned on them that they were a part of the problem. It never dawned on them to look inside and really get down to the root. And do you know they kept going around the same mountain year after year after year never making any progress. And some of you today, you have been stuck at this same place in your life far too long. Negative, hard to get along with, defensive, critical.

No, it's time to get up and get going. And our attitude should be, God, show me the truth about myself. I don't want to be at this same place next year. And God, if I have things holding me back, show me what they are. God, help me to change, help me to get to the root. See, I'm challenging us to get on a journey

to really get honest with ourselves. Not make excuses, not try to pray everything away. No, let's go deep. deeper so we can get to the source and really get free. Now I believe that God is knocking on the door of new rooms in our hearts. Maybe rooms that we haven't let him in before. The only way he'll come in is if we invite him. The doorknobs on the inside. And I've found we can allow God in some rooms of our heart, but we keep him out of these other rooms. It's because some of these rooms can be painful. It's where our hurts and wounds of the past are. It's where our weakness

is and shortcomings are. So a lot of times we just keep these rooms all locked off. In other words, we make excuses for our behavior. We blame other people. We're negative, critical, hard to get along with, low self-esteem. Hey man, that's just the way I am. No, God continues to knock. And if we want to come up higher, if we want to really get to the source and not have this reoccurring infection like that old horse, then we've got to look inside and allow God in every room of our heart. And by that I mean, when we have these feelings that we don't like, rather than just hide them and try to bury them away in one of these rooms, the best thing we can do is just be honest and say, God, why do I feel this way? Why can't I get along with my spouse? Why do I try to manipulate

everybody? God, why do I always have to have my way? Or why do I get upset so easily? and if you will be honest and be willing to face that truth and not hide behind all these excuses, let me tell you, God will show you. And as you begin to act on that truth, then you can come up higher. And I'm asking us to let God in every room of our hearts. If you're impatient, just be honest and say, God, show me why I'm so impatient.

If you get around somebody and you feel resentment toward them, you start to want to be critical and have a fault-finding spirit, first thing we should do is say, God, show me why I don't like this person. What's wrong on the inside of me? I don't know about you, but I don't want to go around that same mountain another year. I want to come up higher. I want to enter into my promised land. I heard about this young lady, she'd gotten married. For the first several years of her marriage, she could not have a healthy relationship with her husband. for some reason she could not physically give herself to this man. She loved him very much, but she just couldn't seem to stand for him to get close or to even touch her. And of course, it was just ruining their relationship. And she had tried time and time again to change,

but she just couldn't do it. And one day she really got honest with herself. She allowed God to come into that room of her heart. And she said, God, why do I feel this way? What's wrong with me? why can I be a normal wife? And she told how not long after that, she had a dream. And in this dream, God reminded her of something that had happened to her when she was a small child.

She saw herself down at the lake swimming. And all of a sudden, these boys came over and took advantage of her. They did her a terrible injustice. And she was so angry and so filled with hatred toward them, she began to scream out, I hate you.

I hate you. you and I'll never let another man touch me as long as I live. When she woke up from the dream, she began to realize she still had all this hatred in her heart toward those boys. It was buried way down here on the inside. And now it was affecting her relationship with her husband. And she knew it wasn't going to be easy. But if she was going to have a right relationship, she was going to have to deal with that unforgiveness. And she was bold enough to just make a decision right then and there to release all that hurt and pain. She said, God, you know it's not fair. You saw what they did to me, but God, I'm not going to let it continue to poison me. I'm going to let it go. I forgive them right now.

She said from that moment on, she was able to have a healthy relationship with her husband. But see, she could not get free by just trying to deal with the fruit. She had to get down to the root. And once she got rid of that bitter root, then she could break out of that bondage. And I'm not saying that we should go back and relive every negative experience. I'm not saying to go back and open up every wound of the past. But I am saying we have to make sure that we're not carrying around all this junk on the inside. And if you have areas in your own life where you constantly struggle and you just can't seem to get free like this lady, then you need to ask God to show you what's holding you back.

Ask God to show you if you have any bitter roots that you need to get rid of. And if God brings something to light, then you've got to be bold enough like this young lady to just deal with it. Friends, God wants us to come up higher. You can be happier. You can have better relationships. You can break free from anything that's holding you back. But you've got to do your part and be honest and face the truth about yourself. And let's not be like the children of Israel and go year after year thinking it's somebody else's fault.

And I know some of you today. you've had some very unfair things happen in life. Maybe you've had some bad breaks like this young lady. And I'm not minimalizing that. But if you will handle that in the right way and not get bitter and not start making excuses and God's promised, he'll not only turn it around, but he'll use it to your advantage.

He'll bring you out better off than you were before. And I know digging out these roots can be painful. The easy thing is to just stay up here on the surface. the easy thing is to not change. Because let me tell you, there's a pain associated with coming up higher. It's uncomfortable to be honest and really deal with these issues.

It can be uncomfortable to have to forgive when it was somebody else's fault. And it's hard sometimes to admit I'm holding on to the bitterness or I'm defensive because I'm so insecure or I'm hard to get along with because I'm dragging all my baggage from the past. As we shed these superficial layers and really get honest, we're going to feel a little pressure.

But please understand, that discomfort is only temporary. It's like a growing pain, because once you get past that, you're going to go up to a new level of victory. And I found the pain of change is much less than the pain of staying in mediocrity. Are you allowing God in every room of your heart? He won't come in unless you ask. But if you ask him and just say, God, show me why I am this way. God show me what's going on in my life. If you do that, God will show you.

That's when you can really begin to get free. And some of you today, you've gone year after year not really being happy. Well, you need to be honest enough to just say, God, show me what it is. Am I relying on other people to make me happy? Do I have unrealistic expectations? Am I only going to be happy if I get married? married? Am I allowing my circumstances to keep me down? God show me the truth about myself. You got to get the source. I was talking to a man not too long ago and he told how whenever he went to enjoy his life

and just relax and have fun, he felt guilty about it. He kind of felt condemned like he was doing something wrong and he didn't know why. But over the years, since he didn't understand this, he just engrossed himself in his work. He became a workaholic, not taking any time. He's for himself, not taking any time for his family. And it was all because of these feelings of guilt. His life was so out of balance. This went on year after year. But one day, he decided to let God in that room of his heart. He decided to really get honest. And he said, God, why do I feel this way? And he began to realize that growing up, his father was very strict. He came from a military family. And this dad didn't allow any fun in the house. Everything was serious. And he didn't really know

what it was like to have a normal childhood. He was just taught to work, to be serious, no playtime. And he realized he'd become just like his father. Those thoughts, those attitudes, those habits were what he had learned early on. Not that they were right,

but that's all that he had known. And once he recognized what the source was, and he recognized what was going on, he was able to break that heaviness and really start enjoying his life like God wants us to. But we have to understand there can be a lot of bondages that have been passed down from previous generations.

It doesn't mean that the people weren't good people, but a lot of the things that we struggle with today, we can look back and see how they've been in our family line for years and years. Bad habits, negative thinking, wrong mindsets, addictions. And unfortunately, those things can just keep getting passed down from generation to generation. Some of you, no doubt, you can look back in your family line and see, divorce as far as you can see. Or maybe you can look back and see addictions, strongholds, you know, low self-esteem, anger, violence. And today, you're struggling with those same things. It's not enough to just deal with the surface. You've got to really get down to the root and say,

God, I'm taking authority over these things in the name of Jesus. We're not going to be bound by these bondages anymore. And I know some of you have come out of a family where there was abuse. maybe somebody else caused you a lot of heartache and pain. The people that raised you or somebody you were in a relationship with they made very poor decisions and now you're having to deal with it.

I know that's not fair but please don't let that be an excuse. You can come up higher. You can set a new standard. And we hear a lot today about the generational curse but we need to talk more about our generational choice. Somebody may have made bad decisions

but thank God, we don't have to perpetuate it. We don't have to continue that on. We can be the one to do something about it. We can be the one to change. And just remember, with every right choice you make, you begin to overturn the wrong choices of those that have gone before you. And your parents, your grandparents, your relatives,

they may have struggled with addictions and low self-esteem and anger, but your attitude should be, this is a new day. I'm drawing that line in the sand. As for me and my family, we're going to live under the blessing and not the curse. See, you've got to get down to the source of that thing. And you can't just sit idly by and be passive.

I have people tell me, well, Joel, this is just the way we've always been. Now, you know what I've found? You'll never change what you tolerate. You've got to get fed up. You've got to come to the point where you say, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. And we may have been this way a long time, but I'm not going to dance around this issue. I'm going to get to the source, and I'm going to start making better decisions for me and my family. And the sad thing is, that junk will keep getting passed down until somebody rises up and does something about it.

Why don't you be the one? You can make a difference for generations to come. But one of the first things is we've got to quit making excuses. We've got to quit blaming the past. You may have been through a lot of junk. That may be the reason you struggle with bad habits. and you have trouble in relationships and you have low self-esteem. That may be

the reason, but don't use that as an excuse to stay the way you are. Take responsibility. I know too many people today they've had unfair things happen and they go their whole lifetime allowing that to poison them. They're angry. They've got a chip on their shoulder

just like the children of Israel. They go around hard to get along with and they always use that as an excuse. Well, Joel, if you've been through what I've been through, you would act this same way. No, that may be the reason you act that way, but thank God you don't have to stay that way. You can come up higher. But if you got to take responsibility, you've got to be willing to face the truth and say, you know what, this is not right. They may have done me wrong, but I'm not supposed to live upset and angry. I'm not supposed to

live hard to get along with. God, I'm asking you to help me to change. If you have that attitude, God will always help you. I was thinking about this lady. She came up to me in the lobby one time. She said, Joel, I wish you would pray for me. I'm about to get married again for my fifth time. I didn't laugh like y'all did. And she said, I want you to really agree

that this man will be the one that finally starts treating me right. I wanted to ask her, have you ever thought about what the common denominator is in all these marriages? It's you. Something wrong on the inside. But after we prayed, her, does anybody else in your family struggle with these same kind of difficulties? She said, oh yeah, Joel, my mother's been married four times, and she's just about to get another divorce.

And I thought, that's just what the enemy loves, for us to keep passing this junk down for generation to generation. It's like a negative cycle that he sets up. And if we don't take responsibility and do something about it, it'll just keep repeating itself. And our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, will all have to deal with it. I don't know about you, but I want to put a stop to everything that I can. If I have bad habits, if I have insecurities, if I have wrong thinking, I want to be honest and open enough to deal with it. And not make excuses, not blame my past, not blame my parents, not blame my circumstances,

not blame my spouse. No, you know what? I can't change any of that, but I can change me. Hey, you said, Joel, if you just knew my family, we are, dysfunctional. We have so many bad habits. We got so many messed up people. No, I say this very respectfully, but I really believe today almost every family has a little bit of dysfunction. Don't use that as an excuse. We all have things to deal with. I mean, I come out of a good family, but y'all know my brother Paul. We all have things to overcome. You know, I hear people

tell me, Joel, you know, I'm all depressed because my parents were so depressed. Or I'm hot-tempered, just like my father. I'm a worrywart because my mother always worried. No, that's a cop-out. You can change. Let me tell you, you are a child of the Most High God. You have on the inside of you right now the greatest power in the universe.

You can break any addiction. You can overcome any stronghold. You can defeat any bondage. The scripture says in 1 John 4-4, greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. That simply means there is not an obstacle on this planet that you cannot overcome. You can fulfill your God-given destiny. You can accomplish your dreams.

And yes, you may have had a negative history, but please understand you don't have to have a negative future. What's important is not where we've come from. What's important is where we're going. One of the main ways we can honor God is by taking responsibility for our actions. Not blaming our past, not blaming our circumstances. No, look inside and say, God, show me the truth about myself. Show me where I need to change. See, we got to get down to the root so that we don't just go through life trying to pick off the bad fruit.

Some of you keep going around that same mountain again and again. And until you get to the real source and do something about it, nothing's going to change. I'm asking you to let God in every room of your life. Don't just live on the surface. Go a little deeper. Take time to find out why you do what you do. And yes, it may be because of what you've gone through. It may be because of what somebody has passed down, but don't use that as an excuse.

Take responsibility, rise up and do something about it. Let's pass down good things to the next generation. Friends, I want you to enter into your promised land. I want you to experience the good things of God. And I know if you'll do your part and face the truth about yourself, get to the source of the issue and make adjustments when you need to, if you do that, then I can promise you, You'll have better relationships.

You'll be more fulfilled. You'll be happier. You'll live that life of victory God has in store. Amen. If you receive it, can you give the Lord a shout of praise today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins.

Come into my heart. I make you, my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple purpose, prayer. We believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take your places that you've never dreamed of. It starts with just a tiny seed. From it, tender bud sprout. The miracle of new life blooms and thrives. But how do you experience the same miraculous and extraordinary growth in your own life? Sometimes our life is limited because we're believing too small. Faith is like a seed. When you believe, all the

things are possible. That's when you'll see new growth, opportunity, and healing. We don't have to figure out how it's going to happen. All we have to do is belief. There may not be a way in the natural, but our God is supernatural. We'd like to send you our new, this time next year, Believe Big Journal. It'll help you to enlarge your vision and stretch your faith. Where would you like to be a year from now? Who knows what God will do in 2024 if you'll take the limits off of him and believe for the great things he's placed in your heart. Azar thank you for your gift of any amount this month. We want to send you the this time next year Believe Big Journal,

along with our new Believe Tea. As you begin to believe big, you'll see God move in powerful ways. The impossible made possible. Growth, provision, and new opportunities will burst forth above and beyond what you can ask or imagine. Also, for the first time ever,

We want to present you with our new Believe T-shirt, created exclusively by our friends at CopperFit for the viewers and partners of Joe Lohsteen. We invite you to wear and declare what you are believing God for in 2024. It's a gift from Copperfit as they extend their support of the message of hope. Many of you have watched us a long time,

but you've never been to Lakewood. We have a perfect time. We're calling it Homecoming Weekend, April 13th and 14th. We'd love to meet you. I'll introduce you to my family. You can see the facility and enjoy a service. We'd be honored to have you. We'll make you feel right at home.

Remember, you can watch the services live online every Sunday. Download our podcast, watch on YouTube. We'll keep you inspired and encouraged. Be sure to request your copy of this time next year. Believe Big Journal and the CopperFit Believe T-shirt as our gift of thanks today. Visit joelowstein.com or call us toll-free.