WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.280 I meet people who are discouraged all the time, and 2 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:06.280 they're ready to throw in the towel. They're at the 3 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:08.480 end of their rope, they're ready to give up, and 4 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:10.640 they're discouraged about a lot of things. And people go, 5 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:12.599 you know, there's so much bad in. 6 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:13.679 The world right now. 7 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:16.519 Well, I hate to tell you this, but there always 8 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:21.719 has been. It's not like it's worse. It always has 9 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:25.160 been bad because the Bible says God gives us a 10 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:28.160 free choice, and we often choose to not follow what 11 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:30.839 he says to do. The Bible calls that sin and evil, 12 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.240 and so people get discouraged. And I thought this week 13 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.960 we would look at how do you defeat discouragement in 14 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:42.000 your life. Now, I don't know what's discouraging you, but 15 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:44.920 if you've been discouraged by your finances or your health 16 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.719 or relationship, and you picked a good week to come 17 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:50.520 to church, because that's what we're going to look at. 18 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:54.799 If you take out your message notes, it's inside your program. 19 00:00:55.079 --> 00:01:00.439 So we begin to look at defeating discouragement. You know, 20 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:05.719 discouragement can be quite debilitating. It can cause you to 21 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:09.879 give up trying, you can give up hoping, you can 22 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.719 give up caring, when you get discouraged. When you get discouraged, 23 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:17.040 you can give up believing. And the Bible has a 24 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.000 lot to say about discouragement. I put a couple of 25 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.680 examples there at the top of your outline. Exodus chapter six, 26 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:28.280 verse nine says this, Moses told the people what the 27 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:33.920 Lord had said, but they wouldn't listen anymore. They had 28 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:39.519 become too discouraged by the increasing burden of their slavery. 29 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.959 I wonder what you feel is enslaving you. I wonder 30 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.280 what burden is getting you down. I wonder what problem 31 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:49.560 you've had. You've had it for so long. It's been 32 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.640 so chronic as you get discouraged that like these people, 33 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:56.840 they wouldn't even listen to God. They couldn't hear God 34 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:00.560 because of their discouragement. The burden was too heavy in 35 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:03.319 their life. And we all know the times in life 36 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:05.920 you come to a point where you just go, I'm 37 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:09.960 so burdened down, I'm so overwhelmed, I don't even know 38 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:12.240 what to think, what to believe, what to care about. 39 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:14.159 That's discouragement. 40 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.319 David felt this and Psalm forty two, verse five, David says, 41 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:18.840 why am. 42 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:19.840 I so discouraged? 43 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:25.879 Why am I sad, and then he answers his own question, 44 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:32.319 I will put my hope in God. Anytime you feel discouraged, 45 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:33.360 you need. 46 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:35.240 To change your thoughts. 47 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.159 You need to change your focus, you need to change 48 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:40.360 your mind. Now, what we're going to do today is 49 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:44.319 look at a great example from Paul on how to 50 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:48.439 change your thoughts so you're not discouraged. Paul, of course, 51 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:52.000 had many, many reasons to be discouraged. Paul had a 52 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.879 very tough life, certainly a whole lot tougher than your life. 53 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:57.360 If you don't believe that, look at this on the screen. 54 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.000 Let me read this to you the Bible, the second corintheans, 55 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:05.360 this is Paul's testimony. I've worked much harder. I've been 56 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:09.560 in prison more frequently because of preaching the gospel. I've 57 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.039 been flogged more severely. I doubt you've ever had that. 58 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:16.360 I've been exposed to death again and again. 59 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:18.120 Five times. 60 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:20.840 I received thirty nine lashes, you know, with a whip. 61 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:22.520 Three times. 62 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.000 I was beaten with rods once, I was stone nearly 63 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:30.360 stoned to death. Three times. I was shipwrecked. I spent 64 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:33.439 a night and a day in the open sea. And 65 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:35.800 I've been constantly on the move and I've been in 66 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:40.680 danger from rivers, from bandits, from my own countrymen. 67 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:41.159 I've been in. 68 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:43.560 Dangers from the gentiles, in danger in the city and 69 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:47.879 the country, at sea, and at dangerous from false brothers. 70 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:52.520 He says, I have often gone without sleep. I've known 71 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:56.639 hunger and thirst, and I've gone without food. I've been cold, 72 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:00.680 and I've been naked, no clothes. Besides, it's everything else 73 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:04.240 I faced daily, the pressures of my concern for all 74 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:05.199 the churches. 75 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:09.639 And you think you got problems. I wanted to read. 76 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:11.680 That to you because if anybody had a right to 77 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:15.960 be discouraged, I would say, it's that guy. If your 78 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.040 life was that, you would have a right to be discouraged. 79 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:24.839 And yet in Second Corinthians chapter four, Paul gives us 80 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:30.120 the seven secrets of defeating discouragement. This is going to 81 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.439 be a very hopeful and very helpful message today. So 82 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:35.399 if you take the message notes out, and if you 83 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:38.519 look at Second Corinthians chapter four, let's get right into 84 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.800 what Paul says, and he just goes we're going to 85 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.160 go verse by verse. First, the first secret of defeating 86 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:49.199 discouragement is this, never forget how much God loves me. 87 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:56.079 Never forget how much God loves me. You have to 88 00:04:56.199 --> 00:04:59.560 keep this constantly in focus if you're going to be 89 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:03.759 immune discouragement, because everything in life flows out of the 90 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:06.879 love of God, out of the mercy of God, out 91 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.000 of the grace of God, out of the kindness of God. 92 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:12.040 It all flows out of His love. Now, of course, 93 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:14.040 you know. 94 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:15.839 God loves you. 95 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.120 You've heard it probably all your life. You've heard me 96 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:20.199 preaching on it week after week after week. You know 97 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:24.920 God loves you, But do you feel it. When you 98 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.639 stop feeling the love of God, you can't feel it 99 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:32.439 in your heart, that's when you start to get discouraged. 100 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:35.720 And so you've got to know the mercy. You've got 101 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.439 to know the grace. But you've got to feel God's mercy. 102 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:41.120 You've got to feel God's grace. Here's the first verse, 103 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:45.439 Second Corinthians, Chapter four, Verse one, God, in his mercy 104 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:47.839 has given us this ministry. 105 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:49.120 And work to do. 106 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:55.160 That is why we do not become discouraged, and we 107 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:57.759 never give up. Now, in this whole chapter, about three 108 00:05:57.800 --> 00:05:59.399 or four times this chapter. 109 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:00.959 He goes, this is why we don't get discouraged. 110 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:04.600 This whole chapter is on discouragement, and he starts by saying, 111 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:07.959 I don't get discouraged because. 112 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:09.120 I remember how much God loves me. 113 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.639 I remember the mercy of God, the grace of God, 114 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:14.879 I remember the kindness of God. When I'm focused on that, 115 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:19.319 it drives a discouragement away. Now, he says, God, in 116 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:21.800 his mercy, has given us. Everything you have in life 117 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:24.480 is a gift of God's mercy. The breath you're breathing 118 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:28.480 right now, the brain you have, the health you have, 119 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.600 the body, everything you have, your life in itself is 120 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:35.720 a gift of the mercy of God. What is mercy, Well, 121 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:38.560 it's a lot of things. But mercy is God gives 122 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:40.600 me what I need, not what I deserve. 123 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:43.639 And mercy is when. 124 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:46.680 God knows every mistake I'll make in my life and 125 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:48.399 yet he still created my life. 126 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:50.360 That's mercy. 127 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.000 And that God knows every sin I'll commit in my 128 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:54.920 life and yet he. 129 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.000 Still loves me. That's mercy. 130 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.879 And Paul says, for me to not get discouraged, what 131 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:02.360 I have to do is I have to focus on 132 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.639 the mercy and the grace and the love of God. 133 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:08.839 And he says that keeps me going. When you get discouraged, 134 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:11.839 I guarantee you when you get discouraged. At that moment, 135 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:16.279 you stopped feeling the love of God because you can't 136 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:19.120 feel how much God loves you and be discouraged at 137 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.600 the same time. So it's either one or the other. 138 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:25.240 I don't know why, but a lot of people who 139 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:27.279 followed the Lord for a long time, they've been Christians 140 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:30.800 a long time, they don't feel God's love because they 141 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:35.000 only think God speaks to him in the critical voice. 142 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:39.279 They hear their mom or their dad, and every time 143 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:43.560 God speaks to him, it's always negative. Friends, if the 144 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:50.160 voice is always negative, it's not God. I remember there 145 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.079 used to be a woman who came to Saddleback Church 146 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:54.639 and every Sunday out on the patio, I'd walk out 147 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:56.680 and she'd come up to me with this little whiny voice, 148 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:59.959 and she said, you know how, Pastor Rick, today, God 149 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:01.040 God really. 150 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:03.759 Convicted me of. And it was some sin. 151 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.439 And the next week I preach it didn't matter what 152 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:08.399 to speak on on even as an encouraging message. 153 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.639 You know, Pastor Rick, today God convicted me of. 154 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:14.639 And she did this every week. It was like sin 155 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:19.720 of the week, okay. And and finally after six months 156 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:21.759 she came up to me and says, you know, Pastor Rick, 157 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.680 God convicted me of and I go, ma'am, does God 158 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:26.120 ever say anything nice to you? 159 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.480 And the truth was she didn't feel that. 160 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:34.039 She didn't feel the love of God in her life, 161 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:37.639 and as a result, I guarantee she was discouraged. You've 162 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:40.519 got to keep the love of God in your mind. 163 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:43.879 Remember that you were created to be loved by God. 164 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:46.000 God made you to love you. We've talked about this 165 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:48.919 so many times. And the number one purpose of your 166 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:50.480 life is not for you to do good. 167 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:51.440 The number one. 168 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:52.879 Purpose of your life is not for you and to 169 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:53.679 love God back. 170 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:55.960 The number one purpose of your life is to let 171 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.639 God love you. Let God. 172 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:02.879 Are you letting God do that? Are you letting God 173 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:06.840 love you? That's your first purpose. You were made to 174 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.360 let God love you. He made you to love you. Now, 175 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:12.320 this is what it means to have the mercy and 176 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:16.200 grace and love of God always in your mind. Two 177 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:19.799 of the benefits of always focusing on God's love and 178 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.919 mercy is number one, I don't have to prove my worth, 179 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:28.360 you can get off the performance cycle trap. And number two, 180 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:31.320 I don't have to wallow in my failures because I 181 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.399 know of God's mercy and grace and his love. 182 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:34.600 So Paul starts with that. 183 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.879 Now in the second verse, he gives us the second 184 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:41.679 key of defeating discouragement, and this is really important. Never 185 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:45.840 fake it, never fake it, be yourself. What I'm talking 186 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:49.919 about here is being authentic, being genuine, being real. 187 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:51.960 You got to be who God made you be. 188 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:56.879 Nothing is more discouraging than trying to be something you're not. 189 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:01.799 Because when you wear a mask, when you act, when 190 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:07.000 you pose, that gets tiring, and you're afraid that other 191 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:08.919 people might find out who you are, and you're afraid 192 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:10.360 that God might not love. 193 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:11.799 You, and all of these things. 194 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:15.440 Nothing's more discouraging than trying to be something that you're not. 195 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.440 I'll say it as clearly, as simple as again, God 196 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.159 didn't make you to be somebody else. When you get 197 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:25.960 to heaven, God isn't going to say, why wan't you 198 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.639 more like your sister or your mom or your dad 199 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.919 or your brother or Billy Graham, or why wan't you 200 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:41.519 more like pastor Tom or pastor Yea. God does not 201 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:47.240 bless fakes or phonies. God does not bless posers. God 202 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.440 does not bless when you try to pretend to be 203 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:50.279 something you're not. 204 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:51.559 If you want. 205 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.000 God's blessing on your life. You better just start being 206 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:57.600 who God made you to be. Stop trying to be 207 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:01.240 live for the pleasure or the pleasing of other people, 208 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.799 the approval of other people. God didn't put you on 209 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:05.559 earth for the approval of other people. 210 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:10.480 He puts you on earth to be who you are. 211 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:13.240 And when you be who God made you to be, 212 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:16.759 God looks at it and goes, that's my boy, that's 213 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:17.200 my girl. 214 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:18.000 That's why I made you be. 215 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:20.519 If you try to be somebody else, we don't need 216 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:24.720 two of anybody else. And if you're not gonna be 217 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:26.080 you got you, just go ahead and kill you and 218 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.240 take on to heaven, because we don't need a carbon copy. 219 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.799 Most of us start off as originals in life and 220 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:36.279 end up as carbon copies. When you try to be 221 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:40.480 something you're not, that's discouraging. Paul says, don't fake it. 222 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.000 Here's what he says in tewod Corinthians four to two. 223 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.240 We don't try to trick anyone. In other words, we're 224 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:48.679 not putting on a phony mask. We're not trying to 225 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:51.240 pretend we're something we're not, and we don't twist the 226 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.559 word of God. Instead, we teach the truth plainly showing 227 00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:00.960 everyone who we really are. That's an antidote to discourage me. 228 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:03.759 Who we really are. Then they can know in their 229 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:06.960 hearts what kind of people we are in God's sight. 230 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.360 Paul says, I'm just trying to be myself. I'm not 231 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.120 trying to please everybody else. I've got nothing to hide. 232 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:16.159 What you see is what you get. Nothing is more 233 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:21.279 discouraging than trying to please everybody. Why because even God 234 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:25.080 can't do that. If you realize this, even God can't 235 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:29.120 please everybody. Somebody's praying for the Rams to win, and 236 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:33.399 somebody's praying for the chargers to wink, and some is 237 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:35.720 praying for it to rain, and somebody's praying for not rain, 238 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:37.960 and somebody's praying ittle snow and I can stay home 239 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:39.440 from school, and I was. 240 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:40.840 Saying, please don't let it snow. 241 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:45.080 Even God can't please everybody, so only a fool will 242 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:48.039 try to do what God can't do. You know, just 243 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:50.519 about time you get crowd A, please, crowd B gets 244 00:12:50.519 --> 00:12:53.799 ticked off at you. And then when you get crowd 245 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:57.000 B please, crowd A's upset with you. You know, I've 246 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:59.080 been on the cover of Newsweek magazine twice. 247 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:01.200 Once is the heat and once as a zero. 248 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:04.960 One of them they were building me up, and one 249 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:08.000 of them they were tearing me down. That's life, folks, 250 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:13.480 that's just life, and so you can't fake it. You've 251 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:15.639 got to be who you're going to be. If you're 252 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:18.840 always trying to be something you're not, you're always going 253 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:22.000 to be under stress, You're always going to fear being exposed, 254 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:24.279 You're always gonna have to wear a mask, and you're 255 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:28.519 going to be prone to discouragement. What I'm telling you 256 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.399 as your pastor is you don't have to be perfect 257 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:33.720 for God to bless you, but you do have to 258 00:13:33.720 --> 00:13:34.360 be authentic. 259 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:36.559 You do have to be real. 260 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:39.480 So Paul says, first, I want you to remember that 261 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.799 God's never going to stop loving you, and then second, 262 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.919 be who He made you to be warts it all. 263 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:49.279 You know, I'm a very flawed man. If you don't 264 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.080 believe that, asked my kids are o Kay or Tom 265 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:53.919 or anybody who's close to me. 266 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:55.159 I'm very flawed. 267 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:59.120 But I actually think that talking to you about my flaws, 268 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:02.080 not trying to pretend like I've got it all together, 269 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.879 is a good thing. Because we don't grow from other 270 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:09.039 people's strengths. We grow from their weaknesses because you go, oh, man, 271 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:12.759 if God blesses Rick that much and he's such a dufus, 272 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:18.320 then maybe God could bless me because he that certainly 273 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:19.519 doesn't have it all together. 274 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:22.639 So maybe God could bless me like that. 275 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:27.759 And it is in our weakness we actually help other people. Now, 276 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:32.240 what keeps you from really being real? One word fear. 277 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:37.200 What keeps you from being honest about your weaknesses is 278 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:39.919 your own fear of rejection. And what's the antidote to 279 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:43.559 the fear of rejection? Point number one? Focusing on God's 280 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.159 unconditional love for me. And if I'm focused on how 281 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.559 much God loves me, If God loves being, I like 282 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:49.399 me and you don't like. 283 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:50.399 Me, that's your problem. 284 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:55.799 So it's really important these first two. Don't fake it, 285 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:58.519 but focus on the love of God. Now here's the 286 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:01.559 third secret to defeating discouragement. 287 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:07.200 Remember that it's not about me. Remember that it's not 288 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:08.159 about me. 289 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:12.120 The more self focused I am in life, the more 290 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:16.440 prone to discouragement I'm gonna be every time you forget 291 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.440 that life is bigger than you, that you're not the 292 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:22.360 center of the universe, you're not God's gift to the world. 293 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:23.320 You're not holding up. 294 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.440 You're not Charles Atlas holding up the world or whatever. 295 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:31.799 You think it's all about you. And anytime you forget 296 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:33.960 that it's not about you, you're going to get either 297 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:40.000 prideful or you're gonna get fearful, or you're gonna get bitter. Prideful, 298 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:44.200 fearful or bitter. Because God didn't make the world to 299 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.879 revolve around you. And not only that, when you think 300 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.399 everything's all about you, then you take everything personally and 301 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.320 you get your feelings hurt so fast. Now here's the 302 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:57.159 next verse, second Gradians four, verse five. He says, our 303 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:01.399 message is not about our It's not about us. It's 304 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:03.799 not about you. It's not about me. Our message is 305 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.159 not about us. It is about Jesus. Christis Lord. We're 306 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:12.679 merely your servants for Jesus' sake. Now says a couple 307 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:15.559 important things in that verse. First, he says, our message 308 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:17.360 is not about ourselves. 309 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:20.200 God has a unique life message for you. 310 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:22.440 He puts you on this earth, and he has a 311 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:23.919 message he wants to say. 312 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:25.240 To the world through you. 313 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:28.120 The message that God wants to say through you to 314 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:32.200 the whole world is called your life message. But your 315 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:36.879 life message is not about you. It's about him. God 316 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.360 didn't put you on earth to be about you. He 317 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:42.840 puts you on earth to be about Him. Is your creator. 318 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:47.039 Your life message is about God, and he says it's 319 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:50.080 not about you. You know, when I wrote Purpose Driven Life, 320 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:53.799 the first four words of that book are it's not 321 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:58.519 about you. And I intentionally chose those four words to 322 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:01.080 start the book it's not about you, because that's the 323 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:06.039 most counterculture message you could give in today's world, because 324 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:09.799 everything in our world says the exact opposite. It's all 325 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:13.160 about you. Have it your way, we do it all 326 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.319 for you. You deserve the best today. You're number one, 327 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.680 look out for one. I've got to do what's best 328 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:23.839 for me. Everything in society, every music song, every video game, 329 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.160 every TV show, you. 330 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:28.079 Know, the news, everything around you. 331 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:31.680 Every advertisement says you got to think about you. You 332 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:37.160 got to think about you. No advertisement says think about others. Certainly, 333 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:41.480 no advertisement says think about God. Everything says think about you. 334 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.799 It's all about you. You you, you you, And that's 335 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.039 why I put in there it's not about you. I'll 336 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:51.160 tell you personally. Sometimes I wish I hadn't put that 337 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:55.200 in there, because I had no idea I didn't know that. 338 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:56.880 For the rest of my life. 339 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:59.359 Maybe twenty times a day, I was going to get 340 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.640 tested person on that verse, on that phrase, it's not 341 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:05.799 about you, And sometimes I think I have to say 342 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:10.519 that to myself twenty times a day. Somebody gives me 343 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:15.920 a praise, it's not about you. Somebody gives me a criticism, 344 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.400 it's not about you. Somebody misjudges something that I did. 345 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.440 It's not about you. Somebody disagrees with me. It's not 346 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.480 about you. And I have often had to say it 347 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:32.839 to myself, sometimes every hour in a particular day. But 348 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:34.720 it's one of the things we have to learn. Remember, 349 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:37.920 it's not about me. When I focus on me, I'm 350 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.759 going to get discouraged. Now, the second part of that verse, 351 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:45.519 he says, it's not about us, but we're merely servants 352 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:49.079 for Jesus's sake. Now, this phrase for Jesus' sake, Paul 353 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:50.880 uses it twice in this chapter. 354 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.960 He says, we do what we do for. 355 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.039 Jesus' sake, And what he's talking about. 356 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:56.079 Here is motivation. 357 00:18:57.079 --> 00:19:01.400 Now, motivation and discouragement have a lot to go do together. 358 00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:05.920 God is always more interested in why you do what 359 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:06.559 you do. 360 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:11.000 Than what you do. Let me say it again. 361 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:13.880 God is always more interested in why you're doing what 362 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:19.000 you're doing than he is what or even how, Because 363 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.200 he cares about the motivations of your heart. 364 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:23.400 You can do the right thing for the wrong reason. 365 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:29.559 Why always determines how long in your life. If you 366 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:31.960 go out on a project, or you get a goal, 367 00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:35.200 you get an ambition, and you forget why, you'll get 368 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:39.359 discouraged and quit. A lot of people start off in 369 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:41.880 life knowing why they want to do what they want 370 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:46.240 to do this particular career, or marry this person or whatever. 371 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.920 When you forget why you married the person, when you 372 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:51.880 forget why you went into that career, when you forget 373 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.519 why you gave your life to Christ, when you forget 374 00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:58.720 the why, you're going to stop doing the how long. 375 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.400 Discouragement always happens when we forget the whych So let 376 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:05.720 me ask you before we go on, why do you 377 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:10.240 do what you do? Why do you do what you do? 378 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:10.799 Well? 379 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:13.720 I do it to put money, you know, in my pocket, 380 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:15.480 to put food on the table. That's not a good 381 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:20.440 enough motivation that that will wear out pretty pretty quickly. 382 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:25.079 So remember that it's not about me. Number four, the 383 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:29.000 fourth secret of defeating discouragement is in the next verse, 384 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:30.720 and it has to do with this. 385 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:32.480 I need to relax. 386 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:38.400 Excuse me, I need to relax in my limitations. I 387 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.799 need to relax in my limitations. Now, why is that 388 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.880 an important antidote to discouragement? Because you get discouraged when 389 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.799 you try to be superman. You get discouraged when you 390 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:50.839 try to be superwoman. 391 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:52.319 Get try. 392 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:54.720 You get discouraged when you try to do more than 393 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:56.599 you is humanly possible. 394 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.359 You have not relaxed in your. 395 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:01.640 Limitations, or I have not relaxed my limitations. What we 396 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:07.440 all need is a realistic view of you. I need 397 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:09.759 a realistic view of me. You need a realistic view 398 00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:13.400 of you. And and the facts are I mean, let's 399 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:19.039 just say them. You can't fix everybody's problems. I agree 400 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:23.759 with that, but sometimes you act like you can. You 401 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:26.039