Live Free with Josh Howerton - The Key to Thriving Relationships | Ep. 83 | Wednesday May 31, 2023

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

In a world where everyone is vying for power and control, it's easy to forget the importance of mutual submission in relationships. In this episode, Pastor Mike Breaux reminds us that putting others before ourselves is the key to thriving relationships. It's not about establishing a hierarchy or power dynamic but about serving one another with love and humility. In a world where selfishness reigns, let's choose to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and practice mutual submission in our relationships. 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. slash Daily Drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, hope you having a great day. Thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive podcast. My name is Mike. And together we are getting to know God a little better every day just by hanging in his word. And we are in chapter three. You have a little book in the Bible called Colossians.

You can find it toward the back of the New Testament section. It's right after the book of Philippians. We actually walk through that little letter in some previous episodes. And these are actually letters written to encourage people who were some of the very first followers of Jesus, and not surprisingly, they were a whole lot like us. Yeah, I love how God's Word is just as fresh in 2023 as it was when these people in the city of Colossay first received this letter. I mean, God's Word is living and active and it's fresh and is true and it's absolutely life-changing. So I'm so stoked that you're making it a regular part of your day. And if this is your first time with us, man, welcome. You just started a streak. You now have one day in a row.

And, man, we are so thrilled to have you with us. Like I said, we are in chapter 3, where the writer Paul has been describing what this new life in Christ actually looks like. And we left off last time with verse 17, which is such a great verse to stick in our hearts. It's one of those verses that I call tattoo worthy. It says this, whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God, the Father. And then Paul gets real specific. He talks about how this all plays out in families. For instance, he says, in this new normal, it goes like this.

Verse 18, wives submit to your husbands as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. Husbands love your wives and never treat them harshly. Now, he's not talking about authority and who's on first here. He's not talking about drawing up some family org chart. He's simply saying that in this new normal, mutual submission is what rules the day. He talks more about this than another letter he wrote called Ephesians, where he says that wives ought to submit to their husbands and husbands need to love their wives, just like Jesus loved the church and gave himself up for it.

The God of the universe, the one who really is at the top of the org chart, voluntarily gave up his life. So Paul's not advocating some, you know, men should be the big and bad boss of the family. He's saying in this new normal, humble submission is what makes every relationship work. And we've talked about this a bunch, and you know as well as I do, selfishness and that whole who's on first mentality. That's what wrecks relationships. It wrecks family units. But when you and I put our egos on the altar, and we put our power games up on the shelf and we truly honor one another above ourselves,

the home front thrives mutual submission mutual respect mutual dying to self is the stuff that great marriages are made of my wife debby and i just celebrated our 45th anniversary we got married we were eight i'm just kidding but we had been together a long time

and she is the only girl i've ever dated i played basketball with her brothers growing up and once i got in the high school i noticed hey you guys have a really cute sister so debby and i started dating in high school and we We've never stopped. And we certainly don't have a perfect relationship, but I've got to be honest with you, it is pretty great. She is my best friend, and I think I might be hers.

And any bump in the row that we have hit along the way, I'm telling you, it's because of selfishness. I mean, she can be so selfish sometimes. You know that's not true. It's almost always me. But the conflict always finds its root in self-centeredness, where it's my way, my wants, my ideas, my control. my rights. That's why both of us have to continually and intentionally die to self. No, when I say die to self, I'm not talking about unhealthy, codependent type of thing.

But in a Jesus, I honor you above myself kind of way. That's the way relationships thrive. Paul goes on to say, and the same's true for you kids. Verse 20, children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. And fathers, don't aggravate your children, for they will become discouraged. You know, I love this so many students. I tune in regularly to the Daily Drive. You had no idea the admiration and respect I have for you. To know that you're trying at a young age to get to know God

and to stick his word in your heart, man, it just floods my soul with joy and gratitude. And you know what? As much as I love students, Paul did too. And in fact, he loved them enough to tell them in this letter, kids, listen, you need to respect your folks' authority because God put them in your life to guide you. So unless they tell you to do something as contrary to what God would have you do,

well, do what they ask you to do. Don't be rebellious. Don't be complaining. Don't be hard to get along with. Don't be all caught up in yourself. Submission to someone else's authority is a healthy thing. And it helps all of us grow, and it will serve you very, very well in the long run. And then he's reminding parents.

Remember that true authority, according to Jesus, is humble, servant leadership. never ever power up on little souls. Don't fly off the handle as I'm the head of the household. Gently lead them, encourage them, praise them, discipline them when you need to, but always do it with love. Be authentic, be strong but vulnerable. Let them see that you two depend deeply on a heavenly father

and that your entire home is built on mutual submission. You know, I may have told you before at time. We were on a family vacation in Holden Beach, North Carolina, that was kind of our go-to spot, well, actually still is. And I was walking down the beach, and I could hear my youngest son, Drew. It was probably about fourth of the time, giggling behind me. And I turned around and said, Drew, what are you doing? He said, nothing.

I walked a little further, and the giggling started again. I turned around and smiled. I said, Drew, what are you doing? He said, nothing? I walked a little further, and the giggling started up again, so I spun around quickly, and I caught him with his little leg in the air. And I said, Drew, what are you doing? He laughed and said, I'm walking in your footprints.

And I thought, oh man, he really is. And they are. So parents walk in the footprints of Jesus. Model his humility, and as they follow you, the authority you've been given will be expressed in a healthy, life-giving way. Families that intentionally practice this new normal of mutual submission, those families go the distance. And I don't know, but I'm just guessing somebody need to hear this as much as I did today. Hope you have a great day. 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.combe.combe.com slash daily drive.