Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Growing in Consistency

Episode Date: July 31, 2022

Are you tired of failing to reach your goals? If you have a lot of good intentions but struggle to follow through, you won't want to miss this message. We're learning how to be consistent and achieve every goal God puts on our hearts.ABOUT THIS MESSAGEThis message was originally presented as a part of a series called Pre-Decide. Find out more about the series here: www.life.church/predecideOur current series, At the Movies, can only be seen at a Life.Church location or at Life.Church Online. Each week on YouTube, we’re highlighting one of our favorite messages—but you can check out www.life.church/atthemovies to find a location or attend Life.Church Online anytime. See you At the Movies!WE’RE OPENWe’re continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering in a safe way. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more: https://www.life.church/updatesFind a time and attend a service with us: http://www.life.church/locationsNEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what’s next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://www.life.church/nextABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.church. Find locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/app. FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/life.churchTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/lifechurchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/craiggroeschelFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel #growinginconsistency Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does it mean to pre-decide? Well, we understand that as followers of Jesus, our decisions are incredibly, indescribably important. We know that the direction of our life is determined by the quality of our decisions. We make our decisions and our decisions make us. The problem is, many of us, we're not very good decision makers. So what we're doing, instead of waiting for a moment in the future when faced with a situation that we know we're likely to face, instead of waiting for that moment and that time in the future to try to decide,

then we're going to decide now, we're going to pre-decide. And we have a little statement we've been looking at for a few weeks, and the statement goes like this, when faced with such-and-such scenario, and you in your own life will be able to determine what that is. When faced with this in the future, I have pre-decided to take this very specific action. an incredibly powerful tool that can impact your life.

And we are making six pre-decisions and spending one week talking about all of them. Last week, we know that the devil attacks, and we're going to be ready for his attacks. This week, we're going to pre-decide to be consistent. Next week, we're going to talk about being devoted. Then we're going to talk about pre-deciding a life of radical generosity. We're going to pre-decide when so many people are faithless. we're going to be faithful, and we're going to pre-decide just like Jesus who said it is finished that we are a finisher. What I need is I need a little bit of help today because I don't want to be

doing this by myself. I need all of our campuses and even those of you online, you can type it in the comment section. Let's talk about what we are pre-deciding that we will be. What are you? You are ready. Say it with me. You are consistent. You are devoted. You are generous. You are faithful, you are a finisher. What we're doing today is we're pre-deciding, and here's the key. It's not on your own, but it is with God's help, I am consistent. Would you just say that with me? Would you say, with God's help, I am consistent. You can type that in the comment section if you want one more time. It's not on our own. It's with God's help, I am consistent. Why does consistency matter because successful people do consistently what other people do occasionally.

We know this is true. Successful people do over and over and over again what other people do every now and them because we are not what we repeatedly do. We are what we do consistently. It's not what we do occasionally that makes the difference. It's what we do consistently. And so what I want to do today is I want to show you in scripture why, consistency matters and show you how to grow in your consistency in a way that would honor God. If you're ready, say I'm ready. Are you ready? We're going to look at a Bible character from the Old Testament who was maybe one of the most consistent spiritual leaders of all time. This guy was ridiculous. His name is Daniel.

And he was consistent morally. He was consistent relationally. He was completely consistent spiritually. he was consistent in his leadership. And to give you a little background on the story, it's really interesting. Around 605 BC, this was about 18 years after the evil Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, and the Babylonians, they came in there, and the government abducted a lot of young boys.

They did three deportations where they took all these people, but they specifically picked the best and the brightest young boys, often around the age of 12, with a goal of indoctrinating them. So we're going to feed you our time. the food, we're going to teach you our education, we're going to teach our values so that the best of the best can become part of us and maybe future leaders, and that was kind of like a slam on the

enemies and also a way to build up leaders. And so Daniel stood out. The king, his name was King Darius. He noticed that this young kid, Daniel, displayed unusual consistency. Consistency is contagious. It's attractive. It builds great leaders. And so King Darius, said, hey, this is a kid that's got it. I want to raise him up to promote him. Well, some of the Babylonian leader said, we don't want this guy, we don't want him getting our spot. So they decided to dig up some dirt on Daniel

and try to get him canceled. So they went into his life. They talked to maybe his old girlfriends. Hey, you know he trashed on this guy? They looked at his old social media post. Let's see what he tweeted seven years ago. You know, they tried to find fault in his character. And oddly enough, Daniel 6'4 says this.

They couldn't find anything to criticize. or condemn. How crazy is that? They said of Daniel, he was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. Those are powerful qualities. What was he? He was faithful. He was always responsible. He was completely trustworthy. What do you need to have to have those qualities? You need to have consistency. And so these enemies who didn't want Daniel getting their job, they said, okay, the only way we can get this guy is he's so devoted to God, we're just going to attack that. And so these guys went to the king and said, hey, king, we got an idea for you. You are the man, you're the goat, you're the best, and you look good in those shoes.

So we think you should issue a decree that if anyone pays to any God besides you in the next 30 days, that we throw them in the lion's den. And the king looked on and goes, oh, well, thank you. I am the goat, and I do look good in these shoes. And your suggestion is good. Let's make a decree that anyone who prays in the next 30 days to any God besides me, will be thrown in the lion's den. And what do you think Daniel, who was faithful and consistent to God,

did in that situation? Daniel 610 answers that question. And watch the consistency in his relationship with God. Scripture says this. When Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room. With the windows open towards Jerusalem, He prayed three times a day, just like he had always done, giving thanks to his God.

Daniel did what he always did. He consistently pursued the heart of God. And so the leaders found out that he had disobeyed the king's orders, and so they said, you have to throw him in the lion's den. And the king wasn't happy about it, but he stood by his word, and he threw Daniel into a pit with hungry lions, game over. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, this is over. But what happened is God sent an angel, and the angel closed the mouths of the lion.

Now, that's cocky. And here's what happened to Daniel. Verse 23. When Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him. Why? Because he had trusted in his God. Question. When did Daniel learn to trust God?

And the answer is, he didn't learn. in the lion's den. He learned in his prayer closet. His faith wasn't built in the battle. His faith was built when he was on his knees. He had consistently sought after the heart of God three times a day, day after day, week after week, month after month, he consistently sought God. Why is it that some of us are inconsistent with our relationship with God? It's because Daniel prayed consistently and we pray occasionally. It's not what we do occasionally that makes the difference. is what we do consistently. So, how do we grow in our consistency?

If we want to be an encouragement to our spouse, but every time he walks in the door, we pick them apart. How do we grow in our consistency? And I want to give you a game plan today with three important thoughts, and we're going to pre-decide that we are consistent. Three big thoughts would be this. The first thing we're going to do

is we're going to start with the why. Everybody say start with the why? second thing we're going to do is we're going to plan to fail. Everybody say plan to fail. Third thing we're going to do is we're going to fall in love with the process. Everybody say fall in love with the process. What are we going to do all together now? This is no fun without you at all of our churches. What are we going to do? We're going to start with the why, plan to fail, and fall in love with the process. Let's start at the top. Number one, if we want to grow inconsistency, we're pre-deciding that we are consistent. We're going to start with the why. Answer the question, why did Daniel pray consistently? And I'll tell you, it was never about an outward show. It wasn't like the Pharisees.

He went, look how spiritual I am. I'm praying on the street corners, long prayer, so you'll think I'm spiritual. Daniel went to his closet, privately knelt down three times a day because he was devoted to his God. That's why he did it. He was devoted to his God. He pre-decided that three times a day, he connects with the heart of God. It was born out of devotion.

And this is the very reason why so many New Year's resolutions fail. Let me tell you why. Because the result of desire, not devotion. Oh, come on, somebody. I'm preaching good right now. You're being kind of quiet. It's a result of desire, not devotion. There's a big, big, big difference.

If you just have a desire, you might not have a why, A Y pulls out the devotion. If you don't have a compelling why, you're not likely to succeed. And the reason why I know most New Year's resolutions fail is because you waited until January 1st to do it. That's just stupid. You don't really have a why. If you've got a real why, you're not going to wait until, hey, I'm going to start eating goods. So for the next two weeks, I'm eating everything.

January 1st. Oh, look, a salad. Okay. That's stupid. You're not a player. You're going to go back to change. chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate, cocoa puffs for breakfast in about three days. Because your Y is not compelling enough.

If you have a real Y, you're not waiting until January 1st, right? If your doctor tells you in October, hey, you need to quit smoking or you're going to die. Oh, okay, I'll wait until January 1st to stop smoking cigarettes. No, you got a strong Y, which compels you to start now. If you want a growing consistency, you start with the Y. Where do you want to be more consistent? Where do you want to grow? Some of you might say, well, I want to be closer to God.

Thank God for that. You might say, I want to have a better marriage. Great. I want to have financial stability. I want to quit this bad habit. I'm going to say, why. Why? What is your why?

If you say, well, I want to be closer to God. Well, this is a right thing to do. That's what church people do, right? No, your why might be because I'm sick and dang tired of the devil distracting me. I believe I'm created by God for his glory, and I want to serve him. wholeheartedly with everything in me. So generations to come would know his grace and his goodness. That Y drives devotion, right?

I want to have a better marriage. Why? Because my spouse is a jerk. Sick of them. Pray for him. Pray for my spouse. No, no, no, no. Because my why is I want to honor God with the vows that I said before him.

And I want to show my children a godly example of what marriage can be and leave a spiritual legacy for my grandchildren, that we are people of faith and we have a marriage of faith. What's your why? What's your why? Well, I want to have financial stability. Why? So I can buy a purse so I can get them shoes.

I can go on vacation. No, no, no, no, no. What's your why? Because I am sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck. Because I'm not going to worry if I pay this bill. I can't pay that bill. I want to be financially free. So I can be generous and make.

a difference in the lives of other people. Which is your why. The why moves it from desire to devotion. You might say, well, I want to quit this bad habit. Why? Because it's expensive. It's bad for my health. No, no, no, no.

This has been maybe something that's been in my family for generations, and this generational curse stops with me. That's a why. That's a why. That's a why. I'm not talking about willpower. I'm talking about Y power. Come on somebody.

This brings out devotion. This is when the king says, King says you can't pray. No, I got my why. I need my God three times a day. I seek God in prayer. Because I promise you, when you want to be consistent, you're going to have some obstacle, some resistance,

something that's hard. You're going to be a lack of support from friends. And you're going to say, I don't feel like it today. I don't want to do it today. But listen, when you know your why, you will find a way. We're talking about why power. Y power. And there is a why

that Amy and I pray consistently. We didn't before. Because we didn't have a why. My why then was, well, you're a pastor, so you're probably supposed to. Well, I've been a pastor long enough to know that the devil don't take a day off. And so I better be seeking God together with my bride

every single day. What I know is that everything that we do depends on the spirit of God, the presence of God, the presence of God, the power of God. Our marriage needs the grace and work of God. We need leadership for our kids. I need wisdom to lead the church. Why would I ever not seek God with my bride?

So when the why becomes, when your values are clear, your decisions are easier. If you want to become more consistent, define your why. You start with the why. Daniel knew his why. His faith wasn't built in the lion's in, it was built in the prayer closet. You start with the why. The second thing, and this sounds really counterintuitive,

but I promise you this is important, is you plan to fail. You actually plan to not be perfect. Think about this. Daniel prayed three times before. We read that, just like he did before. Here's a question. Do you think he ever missed one of his daily prayer times? Think he ever did?

Don't sit there like, he's perfect. He's a person. Of course he did. Don't over spiritualize this guy. I guarantee you he missed some of his three prayer times. I promise you, promise you, promise you, promise you. How do I know? Because he's a human being that lives in a very real world.

King Darius one time said, Daniel, you got to stay late for work. And he missed his evening prayer time. Or another time, he was caught in traffic. The camel threw at a standstill, right? It was nose to butt as far as the eye could see. I don't know. Work with me on this, okay? His friends were over at the big game, and somebody ordered wings, and he stayed up too late, he got gas, he overslept the morning.

I don't know. I promise you, he missed one of his prayer times somewhere along the way. Why is it that so many of us are inconsistent? It's because we have an all-or-nothing mindset. It's because if we fail one time, we think we are a failure. I fail, so forget it. And that's why we have to remember that being consistent isn't the same as being perfect. There's such a big difference.

You want to give yourself grace to fail because being consistent is not the same as being perfect. Here's what we know. I was talking about praying with your spouse. You're talking about that a lot. Well, maybe it's because there's somebody here and I don't know who it is, but you need to hear this. Maybe someone needs to hear this. When I teach on how to pray with your spouse or how to pray with your children, I always say, Keep it simple, keep it short.

If you miss one day, don't miss two. Why do we do that? People criticize. Why keep it simple? Because if you make it complicated, you're not going to do it. Why keep it short? Because if you think you've got to do it for an hour, you're not going to do it. I'm lower in the bar.

I want you to get started. Does it mean you can't pray longer? Of course not. If you start praying shorter, you might pray longer. If I tell you to pray longer, you're not even going to pray shorter. And then I tell you, if you miss a day, don't miss two. Why? Because you're going to miss a day.

And you have to plan to do it. And I also tell you, because sometimes we miss a day, it makes me feel better. because I gave you permission to miss it too, right? Here's the thing, is you're going to mess up, plan to allow for it. Know that a momentary failure is actually a part of the process. And here's the problem for many of you. It is the illusion of perfection that's keeping some of you from getting started. Well, I'll never be great at that, so I might as well not try.

I would take it all the way down to following Jesus. There are some of you who are not following Jesus today because you think, well, if I follow Jesus, then what if I mess up? I'm going to say cuss word or I'm going to give somebody the bird or whatever it is. And the answer is you probably will. But don't let that stop you from starting. You want to follow Jesus. I'll illustrate it this way.

One of my favorite things I've done in the last year, I've been taking some jiu-jitsu classes with my sons. And here's a photo of us. There's two things cool about this. Number one is I'm spending time with my sons. sweating on each other. The second thing is that we have Life Church rash guards, which is just cocky. And if you want one, I can't get one for you, they were made, but that's just, that's just cocky. Just so you know, that's cocky. And what's fun about Jiu-Jitsu is so much, the learning process,

it's really hard to get a belt. So you start with a white belt, and then you have a blue belt, then a purple belt, then a brown belt, then a black belt. And you get little stripes along the way. So So once you go for a while, your instructor says, you did good, you get a stripe. And like, you're so excited. That's like second grade. I got a gold star. I got a stripe. Okay, anyway, it's kind of cool.

But by instructor was when he put the first stripe on a while back, he's a black belt, by the way. He won Worlds. And so he's really, really good. He put my first stripe on there. And he said, which belt do you think is the most difficult to get? And so, obviously, the black belt. And he said, no, no, no. The most difficult is the white belt because most people never start.

Most people never start, which I didn't for 10 years. I wanted to, but I wouldn't be any good, and I don't want to start. And then he said, what is a black belt? And I said, that's someone you run from. That's what you do, just run from them. And he said, no, a black belt is a white belt that was consistent. A black belt is a white belt that never gave up.

Do you think I've missed any lessons? I got another stupid injury. God, I haven't been in two months. I've missed some and you're going to miss some or you're going to eat the wrong thing or you're going to oversleep and not work out or you're going to buy something stupid that you shouldn't have bought while you're trying to get out of debt or you're going to look at something you shouldn't look at or you're going to be reading the Bible every day on your version Bible app you're going to miss a day and you're going to lose your streak.

Oh, oh and I did hear a rumor that if you reset the date on your phone to a previous date and read the Bible on that day your streak may come back but I don't know if that's true, and I've probably never done that at least twice. I cannot confirm or deny if that's true, but oh, you're not going to be perfect. You're not going to be perfect. Don't confuse being consistent with being perfect. Here's what we're going to do is we're going to start with a why. We're going to plan to fail, and here's what we're going to do. We're going to fall in love with the process. We're going to fall in love with the process. Daniel wasn't praying because it was a duty. He just loved time with God.

He loved the intimacy. Here's what I know about him because I know his character. He wasn't saying, hey, if I'm all this stuff, I'm going to get promoted. He was just consistently living his life in a way that honored God.

And here's the mistake that so many of us make is we obsess about the goal. I got to get a blue belt. I got to lose 20. pounds. I've got to pay off both credit cards. I've got to read through the whole Bible, whatever it is, whatever your goal, and then we're inconsistent. And we feel like that we don't succeed until we hit the goal. And the goal is so far out there in the future, and the path

is often more difficult, and the road is often windy. And that's why we don't obsess about the goal. We fall in love with the process. And that's why, when I, I, roll with my boys, my win isn't the next belt. That may be two years away. My win is when I show back up. Because if you haven't noticed, I'm 54 years old, and I'm rolling with 22-year-old brown belts, and I get sore, and I'm showing back up. What I know is, if I'm consistent, I will make progress. And here's what's so important about whatever your goal is, is you're not successful when you achieve the goal in the future. You're successful when you honor God today.

That's when you're successful. So here's what we're going to do is we're going to pre-decide. Before we face that decision, we pre-decide. With God's help, I am consistent. Everybody say, with God's help, I am consistent. With God's help. And here's the key is, It's with God's help.

Meaning, you can't be consistent on your own. Paul said, I don't even understand myself. He asked the question later in the text, who can deliver me from this body of inconsistency, this body of death? And he said, praise be to Jesus Christ. He is the one who can empower us to live a life that honors God. We pre-decide with God's help,

whatever it is for you. With God's help, I don't drink soft drinks. With God's help, I walk three times a week. With God's help, but I need his help, but I'm going to put $50 extra a month to paying off my credit card debt. With God's help, I'm going to read God's word every single day. I am a devoted follower of Christ.

We're pre-deciding. So our decisions aren't made in the future, but we're deciding today what we're going to do before God. What do we do? We pre-decide. So my question to you is this, where is God calling you to be consistent? And what area of your life?

Take just a moment and be open. You might even, if you want to, close your eyes and just say, God, where do you want me to be consistent? where could I honor you more, be more faithful. Show me, God. Maybe in your giving, maybe in your prayer time, maybe in your words, maybe in your attitude, maybe in the time that you go to bed,

maybe in what you look at or what you don't look at. Maybe in the way you treat the people around you. God, where do you want me to be consistent? Let him speak to you because he will speak to you. And he'll show you the values that matter to him and should matter to you. And when your values are clear,

your decisions are easier. So what do you do? You pre-decide, I'm consistent. Three times a day, Daniel said, I seek the Lord. I pre-decide. That's not going to happen by accident. It's a decision I made ahead of time.

And you start with the why, and you know you're not perfect, so you plan to fail, and you fall in love with the process. And the great news is you're not successful when you achieve the goal in the future, but congratulations. Before God, you are successful when you honor him today.

So with God's help, may you honor him in consistency in the area that brings him glory and makes you more effective in this world. With God's help, with God's help, we pre-decide to be consistent. So Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would do surgery on our hearts today, and we'd be open to what you want to say.

God, help us to overcome even our sin nature of inconsistency. By the power of your spirit, when we're weak, you are strong. Help us be consistent in all we do. We decide, we pre-decide. And God, I thank you in advance that there will be some people that are watching this message today that years from now, they will recognize their life has been changed by pre-deciding

to honor you consistently in some area of their life. And all of our churches today, if there is an area you know you can grow in consistency, you know what that area is and you want to take it before God, would you just lift up your hand right now, just lift up your hand. all of our churches, fantastic. Those of you online, you can just type it in the comments section.

Help me be more consistent. Just type that in. And now, Father, I pray that your spirit would empower us, that you would give us a clear and compelling why connected to glorifying you. Got to help us to understand that because we are fallen people, we're not going to be perfect. But we're going to fall in love with the process of honoring you, doing what you called us to do,

and we will trust you for the results. God, build our faith that we're not successful in the future when we achieve what we hope to achieve. But, God, we are successful and we honor and live for you today. Empower God, your church, to consistently show your love, consistently be full of grace, consistently be generous, consistently confess our sins, consistently be righteous before you, consistently, God.

be your light in a dark world. May we honor you with consistency pre-deciding this is one way we worship you and live empowered by your spirit. As you keep praying today, as we talk about this, I think one of the things most of us can recognize is that we can be really inconsistent

in some of the bigger, what I might call, moral areas of life. We tell lies, we cheat, we hurt people, we're selfish, we can be mean, we can be cruel, we can be hateful, we can be deceitful, we can be full of pride, we can be lustful, and the list goes on and on and on. And you find yourself sometimes saying, hey, you know, this God thing, I mean, if there is a God, he seems pretty good, and I'd kind of like to know him, I'd kind of like to belong to him, but if I do commit my life to him, I'm not going to be perfect.

And so that illusion of perfection keeps you from surrendering to Jesus. And let me tell you right now, Jesus, the son of God, the sinless one, God sent his son, Jesus. The only one who's ever perfect, he sent Jesus for imperfect people. That's why Jesus came. He sent Jesus for sinners. Jesus was the Lamb of God who shed his blood, died, and God raised him from the dead so that your inconsistency or the biblical term, so that your sinfulness, so my sinfulness, could be forgiven. And here's the amazing thing.

When you surrender to Jesus, he forgives all of your sins, past, present, and future. He forgives your sins, and you become new. Wherever you're watching from today, there are those of you, you recognize that you're not the person. Maybe you hoped you be, and you feel guilty. You may feel ashamed. And you may think, well, maybe I can come to God later once I clean up my life. That's not how it works. You come to them right now.

You come to them right now. You come to him right now. You come as you are. Come as you are. Scripture says, Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Anyone who hears his voice and lets him in him, he'll come in. He's there. He's waiting for you to say yes.

When you say yes to him, he says no to your sin. He forgives you. He makes you brand new wherever you're watching from today. Those who say, I know I've been inconsistent. I know I've fallen short. I want his forgiveness. I don't just want his forgiveness. I want to follow him.

I want to know him. Today by faith, I surrender my life to Jesus. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now. All over the place. Lift them up. Come on somebody. to give God some praise as we see people at all of our churches

coming to faith in Christ. Those of you watching online, just type into the comment section. I'm giving my life to Jesus, and we're going to pray wherever you are. Just pray aloud. Pray Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins. Jesus save me. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you and I serve you and I could walk with you.

consistently showing your love and making you known. Thank you for new life. I give you all of mine. In Jesus' name I pray, with somebody celebrate big, worship loud, the goodness of God.