Today on Daily Hope with Pastor Rick Warren, we continue in our riveting journey
through the series The Invisible War. In it will explore the unseen world of
good and evil and see how it impacts our day to day existence. Join
us for eye opening biblical insights into the spiritual dimensions that influence our lives in
ways we never imagined. Right now, here's Pastor Rick Warren with part one
of a message called making the Hard Changes in Me. This week I learned
two new terms. One of them was called unavoidable defects and the other was
called the zero defect mentality. Now, unavoidable defects is a term that the
FDA uses to refer to the amount of contamination they allow in your food.
And since some of you are having a difficult time with the Daniel Plan,
I thought that I would provide a loving service and inform you of some of
the contamination in your favorite junk food. Then maybe you wouldn't want to eat
it as much anymore. For instance, you like pizza, Oh, you
love pizza. The FDA allows thirty fly eggs per one hundred grams of pizza
sauce. You like chocolate and one hundred grams, the government allows sixty insect
parts. You like potato chips, The government allows up to six percent of
the chips in a bag to be rotten. You like pasta, I love
pasta, not anymore, they should call it pasta rick. But the FDA
allows in six samples of pasta, two hundred and twenty five insect fragments.
M yummy. So you're getting protein then with your pasta. So now,
how about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread. I mean,
what could be better than that? Okay, now, peanut butter and jelly
sandwich and wheat bread. You're not gonna love it anymore. You hear this?
Cherry jam can have up to thirty percent mold. One hundred grams of
peanut butter, the government allows twenty five milligrams of dirt, thirty insect fragments,
and two rodent hairs. Yummy, all right, And in every kilogram
of wheat, the government allows nine milligrams of rat poop. How many of
you are now going to go on the Daniel plan with me? Mass your
hands. Yeah, that's what's called unavoidable defects. At the same time,
I read another term that I hadn't heard of, and that is zero defect
mentality. It actually started about twenty years ago when a guy named Philip Philip
Crosby. He wrote a book called Quality is Free and it's a very famous
book on manufacturing, saying that we should have zero defects in manufacturing, but
really, can you do that? This week I was reading a book on
software programming and it was saying there's no way you can have zero defects in
software program and I read this quote. I thought that was interesting. It
said, the fastest way to kill motivation, The fastest way to kill motivation
is what the army calls the US Army calls having a zero defect mentality.
Now, zero defect mentality is an atmosphere that tolerates absolutely no mistakes. Perfection
is required down to the smallest detail. And the Army considers a zero defect
mentality a serious leadership failure because it kills the initiative necessary for success on any
battlefield. Now you see, if you apply this to your life, you
try to live a zero defect life, you will always be paralyzed by indecision.
You will run from responsibility because you're afraid of making mistakes. You have
a difficult time making decision. You'll have a difficult time accepting responsibility. You
will live with unrealistic pressure and unresolved guilt because everybody has defects. Nobody's perfect.
Nothing is perfect on this planet except the word of God. It's all
broken. Every relationship is broken, every body is broken, the weather's broken,
the economy is broken. And if you try to live with this zero
defect mentality, you're going to be frustrated your entire life. The Bible tells
us this. Look at a couple verses up here on screen. The Bible
says, there's not a single person all the earth who's always good and never
since. There are no no defect people, not a just bent upon the
earth that does good and sins. Not James three verse two says this on
the screen in the message prayerphrase, none of us is perfectly qualified. We
get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. Anybody want to agree
with that part? Yeah, okay. If you could find someone whose speech
was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person in perfect control of life.
The truth is we're all defective. We all have parts of our lives,
parts of our personality, parts of our relationships that simply don't work. We're
all defective. The Bible says it like this in Romans chapter three, twenty
three. All have sinned. That means you, me, the Pope,
everybody else, all of sin nobody's perfect, All have fallen short. None
of us measure up to standard of perfection, none of us bat a thousand
and so to pretend like you got it all together when everybody knows you don't
have it all together, it's kind of silly. In fact, the Bible
tells us it's actually self deception. We have an amazing ability to lie to
ourselves. And in First John, chapter one, verse eight, says this,
if we claim to be sinless, claim to be without sin, we
deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. We've all got our
flubs, we've all got our failures, We've all got our mistakes and faux
pause and sins, and shoot, I don't measure up to my own standards
much less Gods. Now, what I want to say as we begin this
weekend is you will never be sinless on this planet, but it is possible
to sin less. You're never gonna be sinless, but it is possible to
sin less, and it is possible to deal with your defects. And that's
what we're gonna look about at this weekend. And I want us to just
look at a couple of things. Why is it so hard to change stuff
in me that I really don't like about myself that i'd like to change?
Why is that so hard? And then what does it take to change?
And we're gonna look at the classic passage in the Bible on this, Ephesians
chapter four, which gives us the six requirements for personal change. Takes to
change those deeply ingrained defects in your life that you don't like, you don't
want to carry on with you the rest of your life, you really would
like to change them. What does it take to change those things? First,
why is it so hard? Why is it so hard to change the
stuff in me that I don't like? Well, there are four reasons.
I put a little space there at the top of your outline. You could
just write these in there. Four reasons why it's hard to change some of
the defects in our life. That's what we're talking about, the hard stuff
that just seems to be stubborn and resistant. Number one, the first reason
is because I've had them so long. I've had my defects so long.
I'm actually pretty comfortable with them. Now. You didn't get the way you
are overnight. I mean, it took a long time for you to get
as messed up as you are. It didn't happen overnight. It took years.
Some of the patterns that you have, your fears, your anxieties,
your faults, and the way you act in self defeating ways, you know
you developed them in childhood. Maybe you know, in resistance or to a
pain, or to as a stress coping device, and maybe it was a
survival tactic as a kid. But you're an adult and you still act that
way and you're not a kid anymore. But the truth is, you've had
these defects in your life for a long time, and they may be self
defeating, but at least they're familiar and you're comfortable with them, and you
know what it is. The second reason that I have a hard time dealing
with my defects is because I identify with them. I not only have had
them for a lifetime, but I identify with them. And this is a
real big problem because we often confuse our identity with our defects. You are
not your defects. You are not your faults. You are not your sins.
They may be something you do, but they're not your identity. In
other words, a lot of people, rather than saying I work too much,
will say I'm a workaholic. Or instead of saying, you know,
I have a tendency to put off and procrastinate, they say I'm lazy.
You create it as an identity and you may say, you know, I'm
timid, or I'm shy, or I tend to just say what I want
to think, or I'm aggressive or I'm passive or I'm fearful, and you
start identifying with your defects. You are not your defects. This, by
the way, is the difference between Celebrate Recovery, which is Saddleback's biblical based
recovery program, and something like say Alcoholics Anonymous. In Alcoholics Anonymous, a
person will stand up and they will say Hi, I'm Joe, and I'm
an alcoholic. In other words, they identify their identity with their defect I'm
Joe and I'm an alcoholic. But in Celebrate Recovery, we will stand up
and say hi, I'm Joe. I'm a believer in Jesus Christ who struggles
with alcohol. You see the difference. You are not your sin, you
are not your defect. You see a lot of people think, because I
have a certain tendency, a certain lust, a certain attraction, a certain
fault, a certain habit, then that is me, And they say I
am and then name it. No, no, you're not your identity.
Now this is so important because when you see yourself connected to your defect,
you set yourself up to perpetuate it. In other words, if you say,
you know, I'm always nervous when I get on a plane. When
you get on a plane, guess what's gonna happen, You're gonna be nervous.
It's a self fulfilling prophecy. And if you tell yourself I'm always late,
guess what You're gonna always be late, or I'm this or I'm that,
and you're going to act and according to your identity, And then that
keeps you from changing because unconsciously, I think, you know, if this
is me, then if I change, who am I? And all of
a sudden your identity is kind of messed up because you have identified yourself with
a particular way of acting, thinking, attracting, desiring, lusting, or
whatever. It's hard to change because I've had my defects all my life.
It's hard to change because I tend to identify with them. Number three,
it's hard to change because my defects have a payoff. There is a reward
to everything you do. People don't do things that aren't rewarded, and whatever
is rewarded gets repeated. And if you're doing something that you know isn't good
for you, or it's self destructive, or it's ruining a relationship or messing
up your marriage, or it's destroying your finances or whatever, it's because there
is some kind of payoff, an emotional payoff or relational payoff. And maybe
you don't see it, but we don't do things that aren't rewarded. Anytime
a negative behavior gets repeated over and over and over, maybe in a little
kid, maybe in a grown adult. You see something being done over and
over and over. Maybe say I don't like to do this, but I
do it anyway, you're still getting some kind of payoff. And part of
what you've got to figure out. The Bible Talls tells us to examine ourselves,
figure out what's the payoff? Why do I keep doing this? Because
you don't do things without a payoff, maybe temporary. You know, kids
set their moms up to yell. I mean a mom says, kids come
down to dinner. Nobody comes down to dinner. Kids come down to dinner.
Let me come with you. Guys get down here right now, and
the kids come down. They are training their mom to yell. Why because
she learns the pay off is if I yell, I get action. Okay,
Now, that's true in every area of life. Now, I don't
know what the payoff is for the defects you have in your life. Maybe
it's to mask your pain. Maybe it's to cover up a fear. Maybe
it's to give you an excuse to fail. Maybe it's to compensate for guilt.
Maybe it's to get back at somebody, a former spouse or a parent.
I really don't know. It may be giving you attention. But there
is a payoff to everything you do. And that's why it's hard to change,
even stuff we don't like about ourselves, because we don't often know why
we do it. Now, there's a fourth reason why it's difficult to change
these hard, ingrained defects in our lives, and that is because Satan discourages
me. Satan discourages me. He wants you to stay stuck in your stuckness,
and so he's constantly suggesting negative thoughts. As I've said to you many
times, when you know God gives you an idea, we call that inspiration.
When Satan gives you the idea, we call that temptation. When you
get an idea, we call it stupidity. No, I'm just kidding,
But the truth is, you get thoughts in your mind all your time,
and Satan is constantly Once you start trying to work on something in your life
that you want to change, he starts saying, who do you think you
are? You're never going to change. You haven't been able to change in
the past. You think you're going to be able to change. Now,
what do you think you're doing. You can't change. It's hopeless. It's
not going to work. And when it starts working, you say, it's
not going to work very long and you may as well give up. And
then sometimes Satan starts putting fears in your mind when you start trying to change
some things or letting God change you, and he starts saying, you know,
if you rock the boat, something really bad may happen. If you
rock the boat in this relationship, they may walk out on you. If
you rock the boat in this relationship, they may not love you anymore.
If you rock the boat, nobody's going to like you. Where do you
think those fears are coming from? They're being planted in your mind. Now,
these things keep us from wanting to change, or keep us from changing
the ingrain, things that we know are not good for us, that are
unhealthy. So what does it take to change those deep patterns in my life
that I really don't like about me? It takes six things. There are
six requirements. We're going to look at them today. From Ephesians chapter four.
If you have a Bible, turned to Ephesians chapter four, if you
know what all of the verses are written out there on your outline. Ephesians
four, verses twenty one to twenty seven says this, since you have heard
all about Jesus and you have learned the truth that is in him, throw
off your old evil nature and your former way of life that's rotten through and
through full of lust and deception. In other words, we deceive ours Instead,
there's got to be a new, a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and
your attitudes. You must put on the new nature, he says, put
off the old, put on the new. Put on the new nature,
because you're a new person, created in God's likeness, righteous and holy and
true. So put away all falsehood. I means, stop faking it,
stop posing, stop pretending you got it all together, put away all falseness,
and tell your neighbor the truth because we belong. We belong to each
other. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry, for anger
gives a mighty foothold to the devil. Now, in this passage, it
talks about the six requirements for personal change. There are six requirements. You've
got to have all six of these in your life to make these changes.
Number one, change requires learning the truth. That's the first requirement. Change
requires learning the truth. Now, you know this famous quote of Jesus.
Jesus said, when you know the truth, the truth will what set you
free. Yeah, and you're not going to be free until you know the
truth. Now, Paul starts in this very same thing. In verse twenty
one, he says, since you have heard all about Jesus, and you
have learned the truth circle that the truth that is in Him. Now,
if you don't get anything else, I say today, get this. The
secret to personal change is not a pill. It's not a program, it's
not a process. It's not therapy. It's not a book, a seminar.
It's not positive thinking or psychology or anything else. The proof of personal
change is found in the truth. You've got to know and face the truth.
You got to know and face the truth about yourself before you can change.
You've got to know and face the truth about your relationships before you can
change. You've got to know and face the truth about your past before you
can change. You've got to know and face the truth about God. Before
you can change. You've got to know and face the truth about your habits,
your hurts, your hang ups. You've got to know and face the
truth about your potential and your talents. You've got to know and face the
truth about others, brothers, sisters, parents, everybody, all those kind
of things. You've got to know and face the truth about God's purpose for
your life. Nothing changes until you start with a bedrock of truth. If
you don't know the truth about these things. You are building on a phony,
fake, false foundation, and it's going to crumble when you hit the
rogue winds of life. Now, why is it so important to learn the
truth for anything I want to change in life? I'll tell you why.
Because behind every self defeating behavior in my life is a lie. I'm believing.
Behind every self defeating behavior in my life is a lie I'm believing.
If you're deeply in debt right now, it's because you believe some lies.
You thought you know, I can just keep charging it forever and then get
away with it. Oh really, the entire world governments now know that delayed
gratification doesn't work. And maybe you thought I have to have this house?
Oh really, do you really have to have this? Is it true?
Can you prove it's true? How do you know it's true? Every time
you get yourself into problems because you have believed some lie, like I have
to do this in order to get ahead. I have to do this in
order to be liked. I have to do this in order to be happy.
Oh really, we lie to ourselves all the time. We have an
amazing ability. The biggest liar in your life is you to you okay,
because you tell yourself all the time it's no problem, when it really is
a problem, and you tell yourself it's not a problem, and you tell
yourself it is a problem, and sometimes it's not. What is it in
your life you're pretending isn't a problem, the big elephant in the living room.
You got to deal with the truth. I have to know and face
the truth first of all, if I'm going to change now, Jesus said,
the truth will set you free. But first it makes you miserable,
and it makes you miserable as long as you deny it. Now, the
moment you are honest with the truth about you and everything else in life,
then it starts setting you free. Now, who is the truth? Jesus
said, I am the truth, Not I have it, not I point
the way, not I teach it. He said, I'm it. I
am the truth. So you can trust his word. And his word is
the Bible. The Bible is good for four things. The Bible tells us
what it was given for why God gave us. Look at this next verse
two Timothy, chapter three. All scriptures inspired by God, and it's useful,
and it tells us for four things. Number one, to teach us
what is true. You got to build it on truth to make Number two
make us realize what's wrong in our lives. Number three it straightens us out,
and number four it teaches us to do what is right. It's God's
way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God
wants us to do. The Bible in that passage says that it was given
to us for four things. It's like a path, and it shows us
the path to walk on. It shows us when we get off the path,
it shows us how to get back on the path, and it shows
us how to stay on the path. The theological words for this are doctrine,
reprove, correction, and instruction, and righteousness. It says God's word
does four things. It shows you the path to live on. You stay
on that path, you're going to have a pretty good life. It shows
us when we get off the path you messed up. That's called reproof.
It shows us how to get back on the path. That's called correction.
It shows us how to stay on the path. That's called instruction or training
in righteousness. So change requires learning the truth. You're listening to Pastor Rick's
Daily ho We're so happy you've chosen to study along with us. Today,
here's Pastor Rick with a letter from one of our listeners. Today, I
want to share with you a note I got in the mail from Alyssa.
She wrote, Hi, Pastor Rick. I'm a thirty three year old living
in Jamestown, North Dakota, and I'm married with three kids. I just
want to thank you so much for your Daily Hope broadcast. I listened to
them regularly and I've learned so much. You know. I realized very quickly
that I needed to have a notebook journal available to write down all the notes
as I listen to you. I love the convenience that the podcast have,
and I turned them on as I'm getting ready in the morning, while I'm
cooking, or I'm in the car traveling, and even when i'm working out,
which is great. Eight I've also been sharing them with several people.
I often think of specific people that I want to share your podcast with after
I've heard your message. I don't know if they've listened to them or not
after I've shared them, but I do know that one of my friends has
been regularly listening to you now and I ran into her at the park when
she was jogging and when she stopped to say hi, I could hear your
voice in her earbuds. That's great. She's been struggling with a verbally abusive
relationship for many years, and I know that your Daily Hope has helped her.
Rick. God has really used you to reach so many people, and
I thank you for being obedient to Him and He's calling to you. I
will continue to pray for you. Thank you for impacting my life. Alissa.
Well, Alissa, thank you for sending this message. You know we
live to hear these stories, and I'm so glad to hear how God is
using Daily Hope not only in your life, but in the life of your
friends because You've cared enough to pass it on. So thanks for sharing that
podcast with others. I know you're being a blessing to them, and I
want to say to the rest of you, have you shared the news of
Daily Hope with anybody? Would you find one person today and recommend that they
start listening to Daily Hope, either on the radio or on a podcast or
getting the daily devotional through the email. We are here to help you fulfill
your mission in sharing Christ with other people. So tell one person today about
Daily Hope. If you'd like to bless Pastor Rick by letting him know how
much this broadcast has helped you, please send him an email at Rick at
pastorrick dot com. That's Rick at pastorick dot com. Be sure to join
us next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope. This
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