Live Free with Josh Howerton - Freedom From Self-Obsession | Ep. 99 | Thursday June 22, 2023

Episode Date: June 22, 2023

It is all too easy to let self-obsession shrink your world. Tune in as Pastor Mike reminds us that loving God and serving others is the antidote to self-obsession. Feeling the love and acceptance of God comes from focusing on the right things. So today, shift your gaze from yourself, and instead, fix your eyes on the One who perfectly loves. This is a game-changer. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up everybody? Hope you're having a great summer. We're talking about reclaiming our true identity for the next few weeks.

And man, it's a big deal because so many people don't know the truth about who they are because they buy all the lies that the original hacker uses to mess us all up. I bought them all. Lies like, I am what I do and how well I do it. I am what I've done. I'm never going to get over this. I am what people say about me. I am what the mirror tells me.

And in the last few episodes, we've been pushing back against the cultural image of beauty. And we talked about how it's so important to know what God says and to see how God sees. And today, we got to love who God loves. And Jesus said, here's the greatest thing you can do in your life.

Love the Lord or God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. And I'm learning that when you throw yourself into loving God and serving other people, it keeps you from being so obsessed about yourself. I'm not sure who wrote this, but I've always liked it. For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her

fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you will never walk alone. I love that. If you find yourself obsessing about the way you look, get up and love your neighbor. I'm telling you, when you were clipping the toenails of a 90-year-old woman in a nursing home, you aren't thinking about your split ends or your tan lines. When you're under the hood of a single mom's car making repairs for free, you're not thinking about getting those much-needed calf implants. One of the things I love about mission trips, and many times some of you've been on them, you're playing with, you're holding impoverished kids, you're working hard, you're taking a shower

in frequently, and everybody pretty much looks and smells the same. You're covered in sweat and mud and concrete, and in those moments, in those moments, nobody's thinking about their clothes. Nobody's thinking about their love handles. Nobody's counting carbs or fat grams. They're just losing themselves in loving other people. I love what God says in Isaiah 58. He's talking about religious sacrifices and stuff that people are giving him. He says, isn't this the kind of fasting I've chosen? Isn't this the kind of religion I'm after? To loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke to set the oppressed free and break every yolk? Is it not to share your food with the hungry, and to provide the poor wonderer with shelter? When you see the naked to clothe him and do not turn away from your own flesh and blood, you do that, then, then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear. Then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. I just love that. You live another centered life? If you do that, then, then your light will come on. Here's what I take out of that. There is healing for yourself by not focusing so much on yourself. When you love those who God loves, it puts life in proper perspective, and you start to live

as someone who is made in his image, and the cultural lies about body image and such start to fade away, and you find healing and the freedom to be you, and starts to rush into your life. And Jesus said, love your neighbor as yourself. If you're going to love who God loves, not only do you need to love the people around you, you've got to love yourself as well. You've got to love yourself. Eating disorder, counselor Monica Dixon writes this. I have stared into the hollow eyes of a catatonic young woman who subsisted on a half a bagel a day

while practicing gymnastics for three hours a day. I have held the dried and withered hand of a 21-year-old who ran 10 miles a day on two balls of special K with skin. milk. I have hugged the shaking bodies of young women who drove endlessly from one gas station to another in the middle of the night buying candy bars, eating them in the car and throwing them up at the next stop. I've been awakened in the middle of the night by young women terrified by the seizures of vomiting they brought on by themselves. I have watched beautiful, bright, young women die. And so will I. You know, if you find yourself there, I really want to encourage you to get help.

There are people that care. There are people that love you. There are good counselors or treatment centers with hospitals, but don't deny the problem. Get into a community where the talk is healthy and not so focused on the externals. I have a young friend who just had to quit her championship cheerleading team because all the focus was on staying under 100 pounds

and was taking her down the wrong path. Get somebody to help you start grasping God's love for you. There really is healing in this word, and there is a bunch of good people who really, really care. A girl named Becky, a 20-something friend who wrestled with body image and body shaming and such. She wrote this little poem, and she sent it to me. And she called the poem in the arms of my father, and this is what she wrote, so beautiful. I sat on the couch, coffee, music, Bible, sadness, feeling unworthy, unloved, discouraged, broken pieces of myself all around me.

Unwilling to love, unwilling to believe, waiting, waiting, wanting, needing, feeling. The arms of my father are around me, blanketing me, loving me, assuring me, comforting me, accepting me. You are worthy, daughter. You are loved. You are my most beloved daughter. Believe, believe. As I leaned into his arms, I heard him speak those words, and in that moment I loved. I love myself and I believed.

Know what God says. See how God sees and love who God loves. Hoping you do all of that today. See you next time. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m.

and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe. Church slash daily drive.