The Church of Eleven22 - Week 9: Comparison Trap

Episode Date: August 13, 2023

Comparison kills. When you see yourself the way God sees you, then His love for you will be more than enough.

Amen and amen. Church, if you got your Bibles and I hope you do, James Chapter 3 is where we're going to be. We're going to talk a lot about comparison. So I know this doesn't apply to you, but maybe you could forward this on to somebody else. By the way, have you liked James? You've been into James, the book of James? It's good, isn't it? You realize it's always been there, right?

It's just always been right there. Just as a reminder, the reason that we're studying the book of James is because we're in the middle of this 10-10 life initiative. And this year we're really focused on what it means to live the abundant life. In John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus says that he came that we may have life and have it abundantly. And so James is like the wisdom literature of the New Testament. And so James, it's written by James, he didn't have any kind of like incredible education. He's homeschooled by Mary. That's a big deal.

He's classmates and brothers with Jesus. So he picked up a few things. And he's very, very practical. because you can love God like crazy and train wreck your whole life if you don't have the wisdom to be who God has called you to be. You ever know anybody like that? Like a really great church person. And their whole life is a dumpster fire.

And they love the Lord with their heart, but not their mind, not their strength. You understand? And so what he's doing, he gets very, very practical with us. That's why we're studying this. James chapter 3, verse 13, says this, Who is wise and understanding among you? Now don't raise your hand. Nope.

Because not everybody's wise and understanding, right? If you'll remember, okay, again, this is part of the wisdom literature of the New Testament. James is kind of like the Proverbs of the New Testament. We're going to study five weeks in the Proverbs later this fall. The way James started out this book in chapter 1, verse 5, he said this, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives wisdom generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Now, most of the time, we don't ask God for wisdom.

Most of the time, we ask God for knowledge. Knowledge is, Lord, what do I do? Wisdom is who am I to become. And God does not say, just ask me what to do, because here's the thing. God won't always tell you what to do. But through his word, he always instructs us on who we are to become. And the reason that wisdom is so important, because no matter what comes our way, when we have wisdom to see things the way God sees this world and trust that he's a good dad,

then we will be prepared to do whatever it is that he calls us to do. I hope that makes sense. That wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is who I am to be no matter to the situation. And then oftentimes, do you know what you have to do when you don't know what to do? You just pray, you guess, and you go. And I know that doesn't sound very spiritual, but that's just what it is. Now, again, occasionally, every once in a while, the Spirit of God will overwhelm you with a word or a burning bush or some kind of prophetic dream.

And God bless you if that happens to you all the time. For most of us, what happens is we don't know exactly what to do, but we want to trust God. And so instead of being so caught up on, do I go to this school or that school, what you've got to be really concerned with is am I being molded into the image and likeness of Christ, and then I'm going to pray about it like crazy. And at some point, I just got to guess. And then I'm just going to go and I'm going to trust God so much that if I go in the wrong direction, if he has to, he'll send a big old fish to get me and just go puked me up wherever I'm supposed to be. That's how much I trust God. That's what wisdom is. He says, so who is wise and understanding among you?

By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. This is his summation of what we've been talking about for a bunch of weeks in the row. It's not show off, it's just be a doer of the word under the control of the master. Verse 14. But, so there's one way to do life, and that's in wisdom and understanding. then there's another way to do life that will completely derail your whole life. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, let me just stop here, because that's where it is.

See, you think you're jealous of that person because it's out there somewhere. You think that this striving to make much of yourself is just a part of what it takes to be in the industry that you're in. And he's going to say, Noel, actually, bitter jealousy, and selfish ambition, it starts in your hearts. Do not boast and be false to the truth. All right, let's just start with the lowest hanging fruit ever, okay? Everybody just pull up on your own Instagram, ready go.

That's it, man, I'm being serious. Have you ever scrolled through your own Instagram? Ask yourself this question. What story does it tell? What story does it tell? And let's start here, because it says, here's what bitter jealousy and selfish ambition lead to. It says, in that, do not boast and be false to the truth.

So is your Instagram even true? Some of you're like, oh, is it supposed to be? If you're a believer, God is. And then secondly, is it boastful? I mean, is that really what it's all about? One way to think about it is if you were arrested tonight for being a Christian, and the only evidence they had on you was your, Instagram account? Was your social media? Could you even be convicted of being a follower of Jesus

based on what you have put out for the world to see? So what story does it tell? Is it boastful? Are you just, because the reality is bragging and lying are just fruit of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. Because here's the reality about these little things, man. I mean, sometimes they're wonderful. About 0.01%, man, just love them, don't you? But they are killing us. I knew Frank would get to love that one. You're killing us, man. I mean, one of the primary illustrations of a worldview that is rooted in this world instead of in heaven is jealousy and selfish ambition,

which is at the root of most of the things that we post at and look at on this thing. I'm telling you, comparison kills. Comparison kills. There are so many studies. right now of people, the more time you spend all these things, looking at the life of everybody else, the worse you feel about yourself. Comparison kills. Part of the reason comparison kills, this is how smart the enemy is. It's always only a lose-lose proposition. There's no winner when you compare. Because your only two options is you're either puffed up with pride or you're

beaten down with condemnation. I mean, I know sometimes you look at your life and you feel cruddy about your life and then you scroll through Instagram and you're like, well, at least I ain't got that life. I mean, look how terrible that guy is, okay? Yeah, that's called pride. That's the granddaddy of all sins. Or, or you begin to compare everybody else's highlight reel to your B-roll. You begin to compare everybody else's filtered life to your unfiltered life.

You begin to compare what you don't know about everybody else to what you know about. about yourself and you get beaten down with condemnation. Condemation is a building term. It means unfit for use. And you begin to think less about you. And either way, whether you're puffed up with pride or beaten down with condemnation, either way, the enemy wins. You know this to be true.

I got a birthday coming up next month. And so just based on the timing, we celebrated it at the beach this past week. So we spent the week at the beach, which is a cool thing to do. Just a little life hack if you live around here. Just do a little staycation right here. People come from all over the world to hang out where we hang out. This is where Jesus lives and love. So it's pretty cool.

And one of the things that we always see, like when we spend a long time at the beach, this is when all the Yankees come down and do their Christmas cards. You ever see them? You can tell, too, man. They show up real early. I'm just out on the – I was actually writing this sermon out on their little porch looking at the beach, man. And here comes the little family, and they always got the white shirts and the khaki pants. It makes sense when we do it.

We live here, it makes sense. But when you live in Pennsylvania, the only reason you're doing that is so when you shuffle that thing out to everybody on your Christmas is, we're like, we go to the beach. Where do y'all go for vacation? Not as good as where we go. Okay. So they come in. There's this weird thing happening with the tide right now where this little like river of water

has formed before the ocean, okay? I don't know what's going on. It's just happening, all right, where we were. And this family, here they're coming. It's probably three or four kids, a mom and a dad. I could hear them coming before. I could see him. And it was mom going, stay clean, stay clean, stay clean.

There's a little boy maybe, I don't know, whatever that tall is. Bro, when he hit the sand, boom, straight into that river, and she was, no. Okay. Well, they dried little Timmy off and got him up there. And at one point, I literally hear her go, shut up and smile. All right. And that poor photographer, think about the work this photographer. is going to do.

I mean, they're going to clean it up and they're going to get the seagulls out of there because surely they're feeding seagulls. They've got to crop it and filter it and, you know, put smiles on people's faces if they don't have it. And I'm telling you, what's unbelievable, I'm watching this family be miserable and melt down on the beach. And some other person is going to receive this card from the Joneses and think, Oh, what a beautiful family. Because you've heard it, man. We're just keeping up with the Joneses.

I wouldn't do that. The Joneses are going to hell. Don't follow the Jones. All right. Now, and if you're a Jones, just surrender to Jesus, then you'd be good to go. That's bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. Let's hang out for those little phrases.

Here's what we have to understand. Bitter jealousy is an affront against the Lord. Do you realize that when you're jealous towards somebody else? here's essentially and fundamentally what you're saying because listen like greed envy and jealousy are all like first cousins all right but that bitter jealousy is in a front against the Lord you're saying sovereign king of the universe you didn't get it right you didn't get it right I should have got that truck not him

I should have got that job not him the other thing it does man it will it will make you bitter that this is like when jealous jealousy ferments and you can't even celebrate other people that you are supposed to love, that you're supposed to appreciate. It begins to rot your own soul and you can't appreciate the gifts that God has given you because you're not even taking time to appreciate what God has given you because you're so focused on what it gave somebody else. It's like losing your taste. You can't even appreciate good meals anymore. And bitter jealousy goes deeper because you're just.

This bitter jealousy, some translations call it envy, this is when you get to the place where you begin to think and feel and believe, not only do I want what you have, but I'd rather you not have it. Yeah, man. You see, when you begin to want what others have, and when you begin to get to that weird place, I don't even want you to have it, it will begin, because you're making yourself the center of the universe, you'll get to that place where you even begin to take a little delight in other people's pain. You ever done this? Don't move or say amen on this one. You're going to say, I can't believe he's going to say this out loud. You know that family that you think it's just perfect? And then eventually you get the call and they're like, pray for us.

Timmy just got suspended and you're like, yes. Oh, we hate Timmy. He's so perfect. You ever? Man, what kind of bitter jealousy do you have when the people that are supposed to be your friends? You can't celebrate the promotion or celebrate the raise or celebrate whatever the thing is that's going on. It is bitter. And then what will begin to rot your soul in your relationship with the Lord is you with bitter jealousy in your heart that comes from the devil himself.

What will begin to happen is it will rot your relationship with the Lord, and you will begin to try to hold the Lord accountable to what you think you ought to have and why they shouldn't have what he has given them. And didn't get serious, man. God, why do you give him the promotion? that guy's the worst sleeps around with everybody everybody in town knows he's a liar and every time I see him he's just in another new car because he's trying to figure out to do

with all that money Lord you know I would just tithe if you would give me more money you watch people's vacations but like how are they affording all this stuff see here's the thing you have no idea they may be the most miserable human beings on the planet or you're just scrolling through

Instagram and your friend Tammy she's like look at these brownies and you've hated her. Not because of the brownies, but you can see her new kitchen in the background with all those little fancy knobs and the microwave that opens when you just wave at it. And you're like, what?

Sometimes it's more, like, you want to be married? And you ain't married? Which is a fine desire. Listen, man, there's nothing wrong we want to be married for righteous reasons. And then every one of your friends from college, man, they're just getting married, married, and they're the worst.

They're the worst. and you're like, Lord, what are you doing? She's going to ruin his life. What are you doing? Here's another real one, man. You want a baby? I mean, what a wonderful desire. Honestly, one of the biggest head scratchers in 30 years of ministry for me

is the people that struggle with infertility. That's the one where I have to go, Lord, I don't understand what you're doing here. Because it seems to me some of the people that would make the best parents on the planet can't have babies, and then those people that are the worst. They just got like 11 of them, okay? So, but think about what's happening in the human soul when you can't celebrate with your girlfriend when she got pregnant and you didn't.

This is the enemy at work here. And listen, man, just fill in the blank. That's called bitter jealousy. And then he uses this other phrase, selfish ambition. Selfish ambition is when it's all about me and my own self-determination. That's what selfish ambition is. Philippians chapter two, the Apostle Paul is going to say this, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,

but in humility, count others more significant than yourself. He begins to give us a clue on what it looks like to live in the upside-down kingdom where our king tells us how to treat one another, which is different than how the king of this earth tells us how to treat one another. He says, do nothing from selfish ambition, like I'm not the center of the universe, or vain conceit is the way I memorized it, but in humility, count others as more significant than yourself,

that you and I are supposed to treat each other as if the other person is more significant than you. He doesn't say you're actually more significant. He says, just count them that way. And here's the thing, man, you know how to do this. If you've ever been to a wedding, you know what you realize? It's not about me. It's all about that bride, right?

So you bring a present for her, You stand up when they say stand up. You sit down when they say sit down. You get it in a line just to walk by and be like, you look so pretty in your dress. Even if it's not true, it doesn't matter. That is what you do. Every single one of us have the ability to count someone as if they are more significant than us. But you know what most of us do?

Most of us treat everybody else as if they should treat us with all the significance. Start with your family. Imagine this. I heard this pastor say this one time. It's brilliant. Imagine whoever the person you would want to meet the most in the whole world showed up to your house today. To your house. How would you treat them?

Like if you were in the office trying to work and on your phone and whoever, so for me, we couldn't do it anymore because he's dead, but Billy Graham. I got to eat dinner with Billy Graham one time. That's who I always wanted to meet, one of the greatest preachers in evangelists of all time. And if I was in my office on the phone and the door just opened up and Billy Graham was there, I wouldn't be like, what are you doing? Don't you know I'm writing a sermon? How are you just going to walk in here? Would you? No.

You would put down everything you were doing. You're like, Dr. Graham. That's what anybody would do. So think about who that person is for you, okay? Could be, I don't know who it is. And then imagine, imagine. Like take a piece of duct tape like they do in football practice and put it right on the helmet or the head of your family members

and write the person's name that you would want to meet before anybody else. and then I dare you to begin to treat those people, your family, as if they were that famous person. This is what it's talking about. Listen, teenagers, if you're a teenager, listen to me. Think about whoever the person that you want to meet is, okay? We think they're dumb, but whatever, okay, you don't. You think they're awesome. You're going to find out one day we were right, but that's fine.

That's a different sermon. Okay, however, if that person walked into your room and you play an Xbox or on the phone or whatever you're doing. And that person said, well, man, nice room, but it'd be cool if you cleaned it up. You'd be like, ah, no. But that's how you just treat your mom. You know why?

Selfish ambition. Because deep in here, you think the world revolves around you. And I ain't just talking to teenagers. That's every single one of us. So then he goes on, he's going to get some commentary to it. He says this, and this means bitter jealousy and selfish ambition is not the wisdom that comes in. down from above. So you've got two basic world views. One worldview comes down from above. Think about

what comes down from above. The Spirit of God comes down from above. Jesus Christ came down from above. The voice of the Heavenly Father came down from above. That's one type of wisdom. Now there's this other type of wisdom that does not come down from above, but it's earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. It's interesting that this is how these words gets translated. They're right, earthly, unspiritual, demonic. The early church fathers in early church history, they used to call temptation. They said it came from the world, the flesh, and the devil.

That's what this meant. Earthly is world. Unspiritual is the flesh. Demonics, the devil. And it's a trick of the enemy. And the trick of the enemy is this, man. When we begin to try to get everybody to treat us like we're the center of the universe because of our own self-truth and our own self-wisdom and our

own self-determination, the Bible says that's nothing but the world, the flesh, and the devil. And all this world can offer us is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And you better war against it because it is at war against you. This is why Paul is going to say in Romans, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Like which worldview are you going to live in? Because when we are full of, at the heart level,

when we are full of jealousy, and when we are full of self, it leads us to compare, and it's earthly, man. It's of the world. Here's what this means. Is it all of our attention, all of our energy, all of our effort is on horizontal, and we're looking around, comparing ourselves to everybody else on this earth, and you cannot simultaneously look down your nose at some other people

and set your eyes on Jesus, the author, and the perfector of our faith. You just can't do it. And it is what we are taught in this world. This world teaches us to treat other people as commodities to be used, and when you are done with them, cast them away, and then look for the next one. That's our culture. He's going to go on to say it's also unspiritual. Some translations will say carnal, literally of the flesh.

Like if you're not like a body with a spirit, but you're a spirit and a body, when we do these things, when we're full of selfish ambition and jealousy, which leads to comparison, it is unspiritual. It will rot your spiritual life. One of the best ways to grow your relationship with Jesus, One of the best ways to cultivate the fruit of the spirit in you is to love people around you. The way we say it around here all the time is this. The best way to deepen your relationship with Jesus is to help somebody else discover theirs.

Listen, when my truth is keen, there is no truth anymore in your life. And Jesus said he was the truth. Truth is not just a set of facts that we agree on. Truth is a person. His name is Jesus. He says, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. We begin to require everybody else to orbit around us as if we are the center of the universe and our felt experiences are what is most valuable. I'm telling you, there is no truth left.

That is unspiritual. And then the third one, listen to this, that when we compare ourselves to one another, it's demonic. Demonic. Which makes a lot of sense because think about this. if the words he's using here are bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, what's the first time that ever showed up in the heavenlies? When Lucifer, the choir director, who if you read the book of Isaiah, Isaiah writes it in this kind of Hebrew mystery where it's hard to tell

if Lucifer is like wearing trumpets and shiny stones or if he's made of them. And he was in charge of the angelic host. he led worship. And what was supposed to happen is that God, the source of light, was supposed to shine through him and refract through him to the angels. And then at some point, he got tired of being looked through and wanted to be looked to. And the devil was full of two things. Bitter jealousy. I want to sit on that throne.

Why do you get to sit up there and I don't get to sit up there? And selfish ambition. And so there's a coup in the heavenlies, which leads him to get thrown down here to the earth. And then what is the first thing that he does once he hits here is he goes after the thing that is closest to the heart of God, which is the image bears of God. And you know what he begins to, the seed that he begins to plant in Adam and Eve? I mean, think about how good God is, man. Good. God creates everything. He says it's good, it's good, it's good, it's good.

but he's better than good so he wants to create something that's very good image bears he creates Adam gives him a wife Eve if you think God is into rules then you've never read Genesis 1, 2, and 3 he's into relationship he had a whole bunch of thou shouts

a whole bunch of thou shouts I mean how good is it he's like see all these trees eat from every single one of them okay how about one of his commandments was be fruitful and multiply because if you If you don't know, in Hebrew, that's Hebrew for bowel, chicken, wow, wow.

That's what that means, okay? Yeah, God is good, man. All the time. That's it. And so what does the enemy do? You know who the first critic on the planet was? The enemy. He began to criticize what God says was very good.

And he's like, is this really good? I don't trust the system that set this thing up with him in power and you hear. Maybe he's withholding real goodness. from you. He begins to put that little bitter jealousy in there. Right? He says, did God really say, because ultimate wisdom comes from the Word of God, and he begins to chip away at their security and the authority of the Word of God? Did God really say? And then he goes with selfish ambition. You know what the real problem here is? God knows if you eat from that one tree that he told you not to eat from, then you are going to be like him, and they believed it.

And I'm telling you, it's unbelievable to me, how we, with some generational snobbery, can look down our nose at our very first parents and say, how could they? And yet we fall for the same tricks every single day. You see, the enemy only wants to kill, still, and destroy. Comparison does all that. In fact, think about what Jesus prayed for in what we call the high priestly prayer of John 17, is the longest recorded prayer. And he even tells us the reason I'm praying this out loud is so my disciples can hear this

and jot it down so my church can do this until I've returned. And the primary thing that he prays for is unity. And that unity around the blood of Jesus, around the gospel, would be the primary mode of evangelism. And when we are jealous and critical and tearing down and from, trying to promote ourselves at the expense of others, the Bible calls that demonic. And it's crushing the church right now. I'm not talking about R one little expression of the local church here.

I'm talking about the church universal. I mean, imagine this, okay, with as much disunity as there is in the world. Imagine if every single Bible believe in Jesus following human being on the planet were completely and perfectly unified as the father is with the son, his words not mine. Can you imagine the light it would be in the darkness it is our world right now? People would say, I don't even believe what they believe, but I want to because look at who they are. That's what he's talking about here. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, is what you can count on. There will be disorder in every vile practice.

Yeah, that's why we call this world a dog-eat-dog world or a rat race. KJV, the King James says it this way. for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. So think about this. That means the opposite of this is also true. Where there is humility and selfless service, there will be order and best practices. Think about that in your business. Men and women, y'all run all kinds of things.

Like, what's the vibe in your office? Is it jealousy and backbiting and selfish ambition? Because if it is humility and selfless service, there is some fruit to that. Let me tell you, one of the best ways to fight against jealousy. I don't know how to make yourself feel a thing. Like when you're at work and you're obviously smarter than your co-worker, and they continuously land the job, and you're like, oh, okay. Again, man, I don't know.

The Bible says take every thought captive. But you used to go to the Lord and be like, Lord, what is wrong? What is wrong with me? And it could be that Roman 7, that battle between your spirit and flesh on the inside of you. But let me tell you, one of the best ways to fight against that kind of jealousy is you make it a habit to publicly bless and publicly brag on other people. Every single time you can, you look right out in front of everybody. And you just publicly bless them and publicly brag on them. Why?

Because you remember this when we talked about the power of words. Words create worlds. And if your mouth says blessings over somebody, your ears might hear them, your heart might feel it, and your mind might believe it. Another thing is you could pray for them, not about them. Do you know the difference? When you pray about somebody, that's when you're like, dear God, I just want to pray for Ted. And when you'd help him not to be such a jerk that he is. Ted, I've been praying for you.

Have you? No, no, no, no. You've been praying for you, and you want to use, you want the Lord to use Ted as a pawn in your own grand scheme of your own selfish ambition. That is different if you begin to verbalize between you and the Lord blessings over Ted and his family, and you begin to watch what happens in your own heart. See, there is this self-centered worldly wisdom that always leads to disorder and confusion in every vile or every evil practice. This self-centered worldly wisdom is what bubbles up in the culture that we live in. This is different than this Christ-centered wisdom from above.

And when we, when we buy into this self-centered worldly wisdom, we put ourselves at the center of the universe thinking everything must revolve around me. And if you think you're the center of the universe, everything just comes crashing down on you. That's what happens. Here's what I mean. in your marriage. If you think that your wife exist for your happiness, she will never be able to live up to that kind of pressure.

Because you realize, you realize that's not the point? That God put you two together for some mutual submission. He put you together so that iron, sharpen iron, he put you together so like in Psalm 34, that you can magnify the Lord together. That's why she is. is there in your life.

She is not there to just submit and serve you for your own goodness. That's not why it works. And if you begin to lay that pressure on her or, ladies, if you begin to lay that pressure on him, he just can't live up to that kind of pressure. And the moment you realize that humility and selfless service is what ought to drive your relationship, then you're free. Then you're free. You're free to just please God and actually love your spouse.

It will kill your parenting. This kind of self-centered worldly wisdom will kill your parenting because it's too much pressure on your kids when their performance is your functional savior. I mean, is that how God loves you? Thank God the answer is no. What if he watched your game film every week and then critiqued it? Uh-oh. It'll kill you at work. The reason it'll kill you at work is because there'll never be enough money.

There'll never be enough status. ask the people that have made it. Ask the people that used to think if I could just make this much money and be the assistant to the general manager, then I'll be fully and finally satisfied. It's never enough, man. It's never enough. And the reason it's never enough is because God put eternity in your heart.

So if your job is your functional savior, whatever you idolize when it lets you down, you will demonize it. That could also be true of your children or your spouse. Listen, man, Jesus is the only one that has what it takes to be our functional Savior. However, when you realize that your marriage and your parenting and your vocation is a means to a God glorifying in, then you're free. Then you're free of comparison. Then you don't have to be jealous. You can rejoice with everybody else that's success around you because you know it's not you in charge, but he's in charge.

Then instead of selfish ambition, you can have selfless service. And you can do what Jesus said in John chapter 13, knowing all authority in heaven and earth had been given him to him. He stood up from the table and showed his disciples the full extent of his love. And you know what he did? Not a miracle. He didn't be like, all right, you want to believe it? And just levitate everybody up. Except, you know, except Judas.

And he didn't do that. He didn't preach another sermon. He just humbled himself. And he watched his disciples speak. And then he goes on to say, I have set for you an example. and you'll be blessed if you do likewise. And then he goes on to say, and I'm going to call you friends,

not servants anymore. And that's what we are supposed to be like. Verse 17. But there's another way to do life. And that's one that's focused on the Lord. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits,

impartial, and sincere. Now, does that describe? you? Does that describe your life? Does that describe your relationships? Because I'm going to be honest, not like I've been lying to you for 40 minutes, but I'm going to just tell you, there's parts of this where I read it and feel like I'm not a bitterly jealous person. And I have great ambitions, but they seem in my mind to be kingdom-oriented. And people do ask me all the time, like, how do you keep your ego in check by being the pastor of a level? and all that the Lord has done it.

And I'm like, look here, Scooter. When a mosquito grabs onto a freight train, the mosquito does not feel bigger. You understand what I mean? I mean, it is very clear that me and everyone around me that this must be the Lord, because we're not this good. He's just doing his thing, okay? But these little lists in the Bible, they kick my butt. I mean, do you just read that and like, check, check, check, check?

All right, sweet. Anything else? Wisdom from above is first pure. Is that how, like if I said, hey, ask your friend, tell me about Ted. He's pure. Is that what people say about you? Is your intake pure or full of trash? And I'm not trying to get all SBC on you until you can't watch radio movies and stuff.

That's not what we're doing. But if Jesus said a couple weeks ago, we talked about this, if out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, when you get shook up is just pure love come out of your mouth. I'm like, God, I love you so much. Is that what comes out of your mind? The next one is peaceable. Peasable. Could you say about your life, regardless of the circumstances, I lay my head down on the pillow, and I can say it is well with my soul.

Or you just bound up with worry and anxiety? Because that's not peaceable. Or how about this one? When you walk into the room, just peace walk in with you? Here's another question. It may be harder. Do you want it to? Or do you like everybody kind of getting like, oh, he's here, she's here?

There might be, you might be, you dang right now. Well, that's one way to do it. It's just not wisdom from above. It's earthly. It's unspiritual. It's demonic. How about this one? Gentle.

Are you harsh? Again, do you even want to be gentle? Or are you more concerned with being right and in control? Here's how much I love you. I shouldn't write any of these questions down. Because I'm the worst, man. Again, I have to look at this. What these things are, these are like the check engine light on your dashboard.

Anybody have a check engine like come on this week? You didn't do anything about it? Raise your hand high just so we can, all right, God bless you in your ministry. All right, that's cute. And a part of the reason we don't do anything about it, we don't know what to do. the check engine light comes on and even if you're like not all these people but you get out like okay you pull over and then you open

the hood and be like I'm checking we're looking for the breaker that switched off and go all right let's get back in right what do you Tesla people do do anyway I don't do you even want to be gentle open to reason does that describe you

or are you ruled by emotion Do you constantly find yourself defending yourself? Or are you coachable? Are you full of mercy? There's no more full than full. Are you full of mercy? Like when you see somebody sin, when you see somebody fail,

when you see somebody fall, is your first instinct mercy or disgust? Because I'm telling you, if your first instinct, does it look down in your nose and be like, How dare they? Jesus never did that. I mean, he met a woman caught in the act of adultery,

who according to the Levitical law was to get stone, and he gets down on his knees next to her and calls her daughter. You know why? Because he was full of mercy. Now, he's also full of truth and full of grace. But are you full of mercy? Do you have good fruits? In other words, are you merely a hero of the word and deceiving your self?

are you a doer of the word? Are these things growing in you, love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control? How about this one? It says that you'll be impartial. Are you impartial? Or have you bought into the devil's scheme to divide us and polarize us? Dude, he's kicking the church's butt right now. because we live in a place right now that says,

no, no, no, no, you're either rich or poor. You're either have or have nots. You're either white or not white, people of color. You're either Republican or Democrat, conservative, liberal. These are all man-made categories, man. That Jesus came, that through the gospel, he would tear down the dividing wall of hostility and create one family, one church, one new man.

That's why we're a movement for all people. There are two categories, but it's not these man-made categories. You're either a son of Adam or a son of Jesus. Read Romans 5. You're either lost or you're found. You're either a sinner or a forgiven sinner. Those are the primary categories.

And then one day, through the blood of Jesus Christ, this doesn't mean that we disregard who we are, where we grew up or who our parents were or what our heritage is. No, no, no, no, no, man. There is unity in that kind of diversity, but it's all gathered one day, every tribe, every tongue, every nation, at the feet of Jesus, and ain't nobody looking at everybody else talking about how different we are,

we're only joining with angels going, nope, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. Can you not see how, when you let the enemy divide you by CNN and Fox, that you're not playing Jesus' game, you're playing a different game that is earthly and unspiritual and demonic? And the last one he says, and you'll be sincere. Don't you love that? Not perfect, but sincere. Let me ask you, are you faking it? There's no place to fake it, man.

Fake you's doing just fine. Leave her on Instagram, okay? A real Jesus down on the real cross for the real you, and he really means it. Now, by the way, when you see this list, pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits, impartial, and sensational, and sincere. sincere. Who does that describe? Jesus alone. That Jesus is the perfect wisdom that came from above. And when we follow him, there's a promise, verse 18, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Does that describe your life regardless of your circumstances? Or do you spend more time and energy sowing in complaint and comparison as opposed to

gratitude and peace because there's a there's a sewing and then there's a harvest many many times now think about this every year about this time because my birthday's coming up many many times I've invited you to make a gratitude list I just made it up there's not a Bible worse about it there's a lot of Bible verses about gratitude but I don't know what is wrong with my mind and my condition other than I am not yet fully sanctified by a long way where I can begin to feel sorry for myself. You ever do that? You get so focused on what you don't have

instead of appreciating God for what you do have. And so I just decided and I've encouraged you, implored you to do this, is to make a gratitude list for every year you've been alive, write down one thing that you could be grateful for to the Lord.

It doesn't have to be the year it happened, but again, I'm turning 50. I know I don't look a day over 55 or whatever. It's bad. You people did this to me, so don't, I was young and fun until y'all, so whatever. And then the moment, man, the moment, the moment you begin to feel that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, you bust out your gratitude list.

You should keep it on your phone. You should keep it with you. When you begin to feel sorry for yourself, what of a terrible condition for a believer when God Almighty sovereign king of the universe has invested way more into you than you have? And you're like, oh, I have my master's. Oh, that's cute. He said his only begotten son and gave all of his blood to redeem you and take you into paradise to make you a co-air with him. him, okay? He's fully invested in you, and we would feel sorry for ourselves. And the point of the gratitude list is not the things you write on the list.

Those things point you to the giver of all good things, which come from above. Every once in a hour, I read this. Part of the reason I'm going to read it is because some of you come from other churches, and you're going to think some things on my list are sins. That's great. Don't put them on your list, okay? So I'm still working on number 50 because my birthday isn't here yet. So here they are.

50 blessings from above, 409 and a half. Ready? My Salvation. Gretchen. J.P. and Reagan. The church of 1122. A mom and dad that loved me. Health.

Wealth, globally speaking. A staff team that I get to work with that follows and respects me. Being American. Amen? Being Southern. More amen. The elders of our church. Friends.

like Ben and Charles and Jeff and Sean. A sharp mind, Pastor Jerry and Beach UMC, coach bully in Camp Pine Hill, the gift to preach. I get to work with my friends, religious freedom, Mert, that's my grandma, Lynn Turner, she invited me to serve

in youth group for the first time. The Woods of South Georgia at the retreat center. Dr. Bill Ross for hiring me out of seminary, the life and legacy of McKenzie Wilson, my in-laws, modern medicine. I had an appendect me that would have killed me 100 years. ago. Sunday, fun day

and my family friends. People that consistently pray for me. Clean running water, cool fall mornings, living in Jacksonville, the beach, ministry connections, good bourbon. That's the one's going to bother some of them. It'll bother me at all. Good bourbon. My neighborhood. My wife's gifts of singing and devotional writing.

Feasant hunting in South Dakota. Our home, my children's friends, my truck, my calling, grace that accounted for me. God's word being so accessible, an opportunity to invest in other pastors, all of our campuses and our campus pastors, the opportunity to impact one more generation, being able to take the gospel into prisons, my dad's salvation, my brother Russ, I'm so proud of him, Friday night lights, 50 I don't know yet. It might be birds in the backyard and it might be back-to-back national championships. I haven't decided, but we'll see.

So let me just tell you what that does when the enemy beginning. to like selfish ambition and bitter jealousy and compare and compare and I can feel myself begin to lose I can get this thing out and I can just be reminded man he's a good dad he's a good dad he's a good dad he's a good dad and if he didn't spare his own son but gave him up for us how much more would he give us every good and perfect thing that we're asking for in him because what we need is not more stuff to put on the list we just need more of him and he says a harvest of righteous is sown in peace by those who make peace. Peace is not a set of circumstances.

If you're looking to find peace in a set of circumstances, you're going to live one exhausted, frustrated, worn out, and disappointing life. Because you'll constantly feel like you're out of control. You know why? Because you're completely out of control. Control is such an illusion, man. Peace has never been found in a set of circumstances. Peace is found.

in a person. He's called the Prince of Peace. We actually get to experience a peace that transcends our understanding, that transcends our circumstances around us. One of the most beautiful invitations in the whole Bible, I think, is in Matthew Chapter 11, and Jesus says this, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am.

gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. You know what that is? That's a peace, regardless of the circumstances. There's an account of this happening in the lives of the disciples in Mark chapter 4. They're in a boat. Most of them are professional fishermen. They've left everything to follow after Jesus, and I'm telling you, something happens in the human psyche when we lay some things down to follow after Jesus, to begin to think, Now he owes us smooth waters.

Now we don't say that out loud, especially like a disciple group, right? But we begin to think that a little bit, don't we? That's called jealous. That's called bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. And the wind and the waves began to pick up. Mark four says this, and on that day when evening came, and Jesus said to them, let us go across to the other side and leaving the crowd. He looked, he took them with him in the boat just as he was,

and other boats were with him. and a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. You know why? Because his life was not dictated by his circumstances. He had a peace that transcends understanding. And so they, the disciples, they woke him. And here's what they said, teacher, do you not care?

that we are perishing. You see, when we put ourselves at the center of the universe and when we're driven by jealousy and selfish ambition, then we can make this theologically inaccurate leap based on our feelings, and we can look at him and go, do you not even care? Now, we have a great advantage over the disciples.

Because we may not know what he's doing. I think that's a fine question. What are you doing? But we know what he's done. And he has demonstrated his love. for us once and for all at the cross. But they don't know this yet. And so they say, do you not even care we are perishing?

And he awoke and he rebuked the wind and he said to the sea, now here's what I think happens, okay? Again, the Bible's over there, I'm way over here. This is conjecture on my part. It's going to say that he says to the sea, peace be still. But I think he goes eyeball to eyeball with the disciples. And he goes, peace be still. And everything comes down.

Everything comes down. And I think the disciples like, was he talking to the wind and the waves or talking to us? Yep. Because he's the Lord of the wind and the waves and he's the Lord of us. And the wind ceased. And there was great calm. And he said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you no faith?

And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this? That even the wind and the sea obey him. And if you'll turn the reins of your life over to him, your heart can obey him too. And he can rip out that bitter jealousy and that selfish ambition from your heart. And he can give you a new heart. It's his. And that's what he came to do. Avoid the comparison trap.

It's a lose-lose every single time. And instead, fix your eyes on Jesus, the author, the finisher, the perfector of our faith, who thought so highly of you for his own glory. that he came and he laid down his life for you. And when he did for anyone who would believe, you were given righteousness. And peace is right there available to you. If you'll just find it in him and him alone.

Should please stand and pray with me. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you. And we praise you. For a peace is not found in circumstances. It's for a peace that's not earthly and it's not unspiritual and it's not demonic. But you offer us a peace found in the person and work of Jesus Christ for anyone who would believe. And that kind of peace, it's heavenly. And it's spiritual at the soul level.

And it's angelic. So God, just like we did earlier in the service, would we release all of those things, all of those obstacles, the sin in our life and those things, just those distractions that, so easily entangle us and would you help us lift up our eyes over the horizon over the waves in the sea fix our eyes on you and god would you give us some kind of supernatural holy spirit driven ability to see ourselves the way you see us it's fearfully and wonderfully made sons and daughters are the most high king friends of god and may that change everything about everything about every everything about everything.

And we pray this in Jesus' name. Church, we're going to respond. We're going to sing the song, gratitude. So you better sing it like you're actually grateful, which you do, man. You're so good, okay? And we're going to pray. We're going to cast all our cares upon him because he cares for us, and we're going to bring our first and our best. Out of a response, a love, worship-filled response for all that he has done for us.

So let's pray, let's bring, let's sing, let's respond.