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Andy Stanley - Living With Yourself: Surrender Your Will Part 1 · Andy Stanley Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So here's something we've all thought, and perhaps something at
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: some point along.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: The way you have said out loud after someone was
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: found out.
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  Speaker 1: You know, like every week, you know, somewhere in the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: news or whatever your news feed is or whatever you
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  Speaker 1: look at, there's somebody who's found out. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: they had a secret, they had something going on in
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  Speaker 1: the background, and now everybody knows. Or maybe it's someone
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  Speaker 1: in your personal life or in your family, or somebody
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  Speaker 1: at work and they're found out. It's just that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: suddenly it's been discovered that they've been living a double life,
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  Speaker 1: they had something going on nobody knew about, and harboring
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  Speaker 1: a secret or maybe you would even consider it like
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  Speaker 1: a secret sin and lying to the people that are
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  Speaker 1: closest to them, lying to the people that depend on them,
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  Speaker 1: lying to their family, maybe lying to their constituency, lying
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  Speaker 1: to the people at work. And now they've been discovered,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, they've been called out and they're caught.
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  Speaker 1: And when that happens and you get kind of the
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  Speaker 1: nitty gritty of the story and all the details you've thought,
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  Speaker 1: or maybe you've even said to someone, Ah, how.
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  Speaker 2: How could they how could they live with themselves.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, how how can you be this publicly and
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  Speaker 1: this privately? How can you be this in this group,
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  Speaker 1: with this with this other group. I mean, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know how those folks, I don't know how. I don't
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  Speaker 1: know how she lived with themselves? How how could they
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  Speaker 1: carry on for so long with that going on in
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  Speaker 1: the background. How could they carry on without melting down?
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  Speaker 2: You know?
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  Speaker 1: How did they keep up the charade? How did they
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  Speaker 1: keep up the facade for so long?
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  Speaker 2: How did they show up at dinner?
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  Speaker 1: How did they look you know, how does she look
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  Speaker 1: her husband in the eye or he look his wife
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  Speaker 1: in the eye, or how they look their spouse in
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  Speaker 1: the eye or their kids in the eye and try
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  Speaker 1: to be sincere knowing that this is going on and
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  Speaker 1: one day it's going to become public and it's going
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  Speaker 1: to just destroy the family or just undermine the company,
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  Speaker 1: or undermine their career or the people that depend How
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  Speaker 1: how did they live with themselves? Right? Or how did
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  Speaker 1: they you know, show up at church or let me,
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  Speaker 1: you know, bring it into my industry.
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  Speaker 2: How did they show.
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  Speaker 1: Up at church and preach and have that going on
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  Speaker 1: in the background, right? I mean, there's been a few
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  Speaker 1: of those stories because when the truth comes out out,
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  Speaker 1: you know, when the story breaks and the family's devastated
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  Speaker 1: and reputations ruined and careers destroyed, we think, how do
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  Speaker 1: how you know? How could they live with themselves and behind?
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  Speaker 1: How could they live with themselves? Is this assumption I
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  Speaker 1: couldn't live with myself. I mean, the reason it is
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  Speaker 1: so difficult to imagine how they live with themselves is
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  Speaker 1: you put yourself in their situation. You think, I couldn't
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  Speaker 1: live with myself and do what they did in light
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  Speaker 1: of how it was going to impact the people that
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  Speaker 1: supposedly they love, say they love, and the people that
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  Speaker 1: have put their trust in them. You and I we say, oh,
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  Speaker 1: my conscience, my integrity wouldn't allow me to live with
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  Speaker 1: myself with that going on.
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  Speaker 2: But the truth is you could live with yourself.
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  Speaker 1: You couldn't live with you. And this is what we're
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  Speaker 1: going to talk about. You couldn't live with your current self.
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  Speaker 1: But if left unattended, if neglected, your current self may
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  Speaker 1: not be your future self. When attended, your future self
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  Speaker 1: could be someone who wouldn't You wouldn't even recognize that.
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  Speaker 1: You might despise a version of you that you could
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  Speaker 1: in fact, live with your self in spite of the
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  Speaker 1: unhealthy version you'd become. And the reason this happens. You
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  Speaker 1: know why this happens, The reason this happens, this is
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  Speaker 1: so deep. Okay, the reason this happens is because people
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  Speaker 1: think it can't happen.
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  Speaker 2: That's why it happens.
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  Speaker 1: But this happens to people because they think, well, that
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  Speaker 1: could never happen. Specifically, that could never happen to me.
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't get to the point where my external life
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  Speaker 1: and what people see is so far afield and so
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  Speaker 1: far away from what I am on the inside, that
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  Speaker 1: couldn't happen to me. And the reason it happens to
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  Speaker 1: people is because the assumption is it can't happen to me.
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  Speaker 1: And the best way to keep that happening to you,
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  Speaker 1: and the best way for that not to happen to
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  Speaker 1: us is to ensure that it could, to assume rather
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  Speaker 1: that it could, and then to take steps to ensure
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  Speaker 1: that it doesn't. And that's what this series for the
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  Speaker 1: next three weeks is all about. Living with yourself. Three
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  Speaker 1: habits to safeguard your soul. Living with yourself three habits.
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  Speaker 1: Three habits to safeguard your soul, three three habits to
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  Speaker 1: ensure the self you're living with is the self that's
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  Speaker 1: on display. Habits to ensure that what people see is
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  Speaker 1: what they're actually getting. Now here's what you all know.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to live very long to know this.
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  Speaker 2: Life is hard on our souls.
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  Speaker 1: And when I say a soul, I'm just talking about
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  Speaker 1: your interior life, that inside part of you, the part
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  Speaker 1: that fears and worries and hopes and dreams and wishes
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  Speaker 1: and experience disappointment. And we put on a happy face
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  Speaker 1: and we go to work, and we go to school,
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  Speaker 1: and we hang out with our friends, and.
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  Speaker 2: We've got a public life.
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  Speaker 1: But your soul, that inner part of you that only
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  Speaker 1: you know about life is hard on that.
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  Speaker 2: And here's the thing.
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  Speaker 1: Healthy souls, even if you're super healthy right now, healthy
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  Speaker 1: souls if unattended to become unhealthy because nothing gets better,
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  Speaker 1: nothing gets better when left unattended. This is why when
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  Speaker 1: you woke up this morning, you looked in the mirror
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  Speaker 1: and you begin and.
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  Speaker 2: Attending to things right.
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  Speaker 1: You got up because for six hours or eight hours,
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  Speaker 1: ten hours, three hours, you know, your physical appearance, your hair,
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  Speaker 1: and your face went unattended to, and you got up
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  Speaker 1: this morning. You looked at it and you went, oh,
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  Speaker 1: that's been unattended to. I better attend to it, right.
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  Speaker 1: And here's the thing. Whether it's our appearance or our
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  Speaker 1: performance or our reputation, we attend to those outward things
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  Speaker 1: because well, people are watching and people are expecting, and
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  Speaker 1: we're competing, and we're competing for approval and acceptance in progress.
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  Speaker 1: So it's natural to pay attention to the exterior.
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  Speaker 2: We all do that. By the way, you all look fabulous.
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  Speaker 1: You're so well behaved, you're facing forward, you're daydreaming, but
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  Speaker 1: at least you're.
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  Speaker 2: Not talking amongst yourselves.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, that's why I don't speak to middle school groups.
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  Speaker 1: But anyway, but there is only come on, there's only
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  Speaker 1: one person, you know this. There's only one person who
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  Speaker 1: can be attentive to your soul. There's only one person
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  Speaker 1: that can be attentive to what's going on in your heart,
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  Speaker 1: and that's you.
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  Speaker 2: And here's why this is so important. Here's why we're
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  Speaker 2: going to talk.
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  Speaker 1: About it the next few weeks. And by the way,
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  Speaker 1: if you've already started day dreaming, just give me forty
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  Speaker 1: five seconds. Then you can go back to whatever it
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  Speaker 1: is you're thinking about this is so important.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, look up here. The health of your soul.
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  Speaker 1: The health of your soul determines your capacity for duplicity.
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  Speaker 1: The health of your soul, what's happening on the inside
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  Speaker 1: of you, determine your capacity for duplicity.
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  Speaker 2: Here's what I mean by that.
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  Speaker 1: Duplicity is I'm one person with this group, I'm another
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  Speaker 1: person with another group, or I'm one person on the outside,
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  Speaker 1: I'm a completely different person on the inside. And the
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  Speaker 1: health of your soul. How you care for your soul
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  Speaker 1: determines your capacity. That is, how much duplicity can you stand?
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  Speaker 1: How much duplicity can you live with? Determines your capacity
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  Speaker 1: for duplicity. Do your ability to live with a version
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  Speaker 1: of yourself that you don't really like, when you're no
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  Speaker 1: longer the self you used to be, when you're no
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  Speaker 1: longer the self you want to be, when you're no
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  Speaker 1: longer the self you always thought you would be, the
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  Speaker 1: you that people see, and again, the health of your
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  Speaker 1: soul determines your capacity for duplicity.
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  Speaker 2: It determines how.
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  Speaker 1: Why this is important, how wide the gap is between
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  Speaker 1: who you are and who you pretend to be, and
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  Speaker 1: how far that can expand before you finally crack or
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  Speaker 1: confess or break down. So the health of your soul
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  Speaker 1: determines your capacity for duplicity, which means a healthy soul. Listen,
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  Speaker 1: a healthy soul has very little tolerance for duplicity. A
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  Speaker 1: healthy soul realizes, uh, oh, what's going on on the
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  Speaker 1: inside isn't what's reflected on the outside, and what's reflected
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  Speaker 1: on the outside is better than what's on the inside,
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  Speaker 1: and I've got some work to do. That's what healthy
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  Speaker 1: souls do. They stay one, there's integrity, the inside and
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  Speaker 1: the outside are in sync.
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  Speaker 2: But when you neglect.
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  Speaker 1: The health of your soul, and I neglect the health
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  Speaker 1: of my soul, that inner person, then we create a
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  Speaker 1: capacity for duplicity that ultimately comes back to haunt us
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  Speaker 1: and to hurt us, and more specifically, to hurt the
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  Speaker 1: people we would say are most important to us. It
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  Speaker 1: determines how far things can go before your conscience just
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  Speaker 1: won't let you pretend any longer. And a healthy soul
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  Speaker 1: has a very active conscience, assuming there's any conscience left.
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  Speaker 1: If you let this go for very long, the health
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  Speaker 1: of your soul determines your capacity for compartmentalization.
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  Speaker 2: I know that's there, and this is here.
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  Speaker 1: It determines your capacity for hypocrisy, how willing you are
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  Speaker 1: to lie to other people, and how easy it is
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  Speaker 1: for you to lie to yourself, to posture and to pretend.
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  Speaker 1: It determines this is so important, and then you can
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  Speaker 1: go back to whatever you're doing. It determines whether you
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  Speaker 1: choose to close the health of your soul determines whether
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  Speaker 1: you choose to close the gap between who you are
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  Speaker 1: and who you should be or merely manage the gap,
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  Speaker 1: and managing it eventually breaks down and what's on the
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  Speaker 1: inside eventually breaks out. So here's the point. Do not
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  Speaker 1: kid yourself. And I won't kid myself, and let's not
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  Speaker 1: kid ourselves. But don't kid yourself. This is the bad news.
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  Speaker 1: You have the potential to become someone you would despise
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  Speaker 1: if you met them. You could become the unimaginable. You
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  Speaker 1: could do the unthinkable and live with yourself. People do
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  Speaker 1: it all the time, and they do it all the
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  Speaker 1: time because they think it could never happen to them.
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  Speaker 1: And the difference between those who avoid this and the
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  Speaker 1: difference between those who don't is the health of their soul,
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  Speaker 1: their willingness and ability to monitor and pay attention to
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  Speaker 1: what's going on on the ensign. So in this series,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to talk about three habits to ensure that
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  Speaker 1: that does not happen to you, even though you are
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  Speaker 1: a candidate, even though you have the potential, just like
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  Speaker 1: I do. Three habits to safeguard your soul. Now, before
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  Speaker 1: I tell you the first habit, we're going to talk
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  Speaker 1: about the first one to day. I want to set
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  Speaker 1: it up by reading to you some statements from a
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  Speaker 1: letter the apostle Paul wrote to Christians living in first
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  Speaker 1: century Rome.
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  Speaker 2: We call it the Book of Romans.
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  Speaker 1: Paul had never been to Rome, and he didn't know
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  Speaker 1: most of these people, but he kind of outlines and
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  Speaker 1: describes his version of what it means and what it
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  Speaker 1: looks like to follow Jesus. And in the passage we're
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  Speaker 1: going to look at, he asked these people he'd never met,
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  Speaker 1: to do something that on the surface seems so irrational
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  Speaker 1: and so illogical. I'm sure when they read it they
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  Speaker 1: kind of tap the braakes a little bit, like I
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  Speaker 1: don't know. And when I read it to you, even
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  Speaker 1: though many of you have read this before and heard
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  Speaker 1: this before, we've certainly talked about this before the temptation.
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  Speaker 1: The tendency is to kind of tap the breaks a
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  Speaker 1: little bit because this seems so unreasonable. But he's about
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  Speaker 1: to make the case that no, this is the most
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  Speaker 1: reasonable thing you can do. But to do that, it's
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  Speaker 1: going to require a shift in your thinking. Again, most
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  Speaker 1: of us have read this before. You've heard this before.
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  Speaker 1: If you're raised in church, you've heard this before, even
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  Speaker 1: if you've never read it. But the reason we miss
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  Speaker 1: it is because there's a twist. So I want you
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  Speaker 1: to try to hear this as if you've never heard
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  Speaker 1: it before. And it may be that you have never
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  Speaker 1: heard it before, and you are going to be tempted
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  Speaker 1: to think, I don't know if that's what it means
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  Speaker 1: to follow Jesus, I'm gonna tap the breaks.
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  Speaker 2: Here's here's what he says. Therefore, I urge you.
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  Speaker 1: He's leaning in, he's grabbing us by the collar and saying,
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  Speaker 1: come on, if you haven't heard anything else I've said,
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  Speaker 1: you know, don't miss this.
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  Speaker 2: I urge you.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of
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  Speaker 1: God's mercy, here's the twist, not in view of God's authority,
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  Speaker 1: not in view of God's you know, wagging his finger
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  Speaker 1: in our face. Not in view of God's rules and
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  Speaker 1: laws and commandments. He's like, no, no, no, that's not that's
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  Speaker 1: not how the Christian faith works. We don't do things
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  Speaker 1: in order to gain God's love and approval. We do
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  Speaker 1: that because He's given us his love and approval and
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  Speaker 1: his mercy and his grace. He's like, in view of
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: everything God has done for you, everything God has provided
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  Speaker 1: for you, and brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy,
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  Speaker 1: he says, here's what I want you to do, in view.
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  Speaker 2: Of God's mercy, to offer, to offer.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, a view of
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  Speaker 1: God's mercy, to offer, that is, use willingly, to present,
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  Speaker 1: to yield, to submit, to place at God's disposal your bodies.
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  Speaker 1: And in the context he's talking in, this is all
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  Speaker 1: of you. This is the inside of you and the
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  Speaker 1: outside of you. This is the exterior and the interior.
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  Speaker 1: He says, I want you to present your whole self,
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  Speaker 1: inside and out, everything about you to God. And then
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  Speaker 1: this is where it gets a little crazy, as a
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  Speaker 1: living sacrifice, which means nothing to us because we don't
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: do sacrifices. But in this culture it was a physical
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  Speaker 1: thing that people did all the time. In every pagan
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  Speaker 1: culture and in Jewish religion, ancient Judaism.
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  Speaker 2: There were physical sacrifices.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody had a visual of this that you took an
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  Speaker 1: animal and the animal died.
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  Speaker 2: Animals did not survive sacrifice. And Paul's going, okay, stay
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  Speaker 2: with me.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to consider presenting yourself to God as
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  Speaker 1: a living sacrifice. The good news is you don't have
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  Speaker 1: to die, but the bad news is you have to
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  Speaker 1: willingly submit yourself to God, to which we say, okay, yes,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: you're going a little fast. Okay, offer my entire self
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  Speaker 1: to God. I mean, like surrender everything, Like write a
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  Speaker 1: blank check with my life and say checks their rectangle
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  Speaker 1: pieces of paper, old people use them sometimes. Anyway, I
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: have to come up with a better word picture anyway,
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  Speaker 1: by Venmo account of my cash app, just give it
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  Speaker 1: to God.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't work either, but somebody will come up with something. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: somebody at home. Just just text me during the message.
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  Speaker 1: I'll try to get it right next time. Anyway, that's
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  Speaker 1: just too okay. But the point is that's just too
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  Speaker 1: much to ask how about because this is what most
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: religious people do, this is what some of you do.
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  Speaker 2: I'm picking on a little bit. I don't know. I
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: don't want to surrender my life to God. What if?
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  Speaker 1: What if I just call on God when I need him?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, isn't that good enough? Well, let me tell
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  Speaker 1: you about that approach. You know this, if your approach
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: to faith and christianities, I call on.
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  Speaker 2: God when I need him.
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  Speaker 1: Then you have to call on God more often than
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the people who surrender, because you need him more because
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: you keep getting yourself in trouble, keep doing that stupid thing.
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  Speaker 2: Over and over and over.
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  Speaker 1: You keep confessing the same sin over and over. Last relation,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: this relationship is starting to feel like the last one.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: This marriage is starting to feel like the last one.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, round and round I go. I And so
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  Speaker 1: I keep having to call on God for you know,
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  Speaker 1: for help, because I keep getting in trouble. Because when
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: you try to live an unsurrendered Christian life, it just
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  Speaker 1: doesn't work.
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  Speaker 2: And I can prove it.
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  Speaker 1: Because your greatest regret, and I don't know you obviously,
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  Speaker 1: but your greatest regret, or your greatest season of regret,
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  Speaker 1: that one you wish you could go back and undo
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  Speaker 1: that weekend, that week, that spring break trip. You know,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: that move to Boston and then you came back or
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: that move, maybe moved to Atlanta, that job, that relationship,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: maybe that marriage, or your greatest regret took place during
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: a time right of I'll call on God when I
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  Speaker 1: need him season. You were in an I'll call on
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  Speaker 1: God when I need him season. You were not surrendered
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  Speaker 1: to the will of your heavenly father. You were in
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: the I'll call on God when I need him season.
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  Speaker 1: And then because because you mistakenly thought, and I'm pushing
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  Speaker 1: a little bit, you mistakenly thought you could pray your
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: way out of a situation you behaved your way into. Oh, certainly,
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  Speaker 1: if I get in trouble, I'll call on God and
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  Speaker 1: I can pray my way out of a situation or
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: circumstances I behave my way into. Doesn't work that way,
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  Speaker 1: and God didn't come through, And you wondered, what's up
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  Speaker 1: with God? God wondered what's up with you? I already
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  Speaker 1: covered this. I look, I have sent my son into
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  Speaker 1: this world to pay for the sins that you just committed.
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  Speaker 1: That it is undermining your own success, your own relationships,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: your own future. You continue to sin, I have paid
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: for your sin, but I'm inviting you to live a
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: different life. I'm inviting you to follow my son. I'm
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: inviting you to surrender yourself to me and trust me.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: So there's nothing to up with me. I'm just hoping
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: you'll come to your senses.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Right then, Paul assures us that presenting ourselves to God
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: as a living sacrifice. As crazy as that sounds sound,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: especially to them, he assures us that this is not unreasonable.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: He assures us it's actually the opposite. So I'm gonna
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: give you kind of a little, i don't know, kind
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: of awkward, gritty, sort of literal translation of what he
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: writes next. And here I'm gonna throw a little Greek
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: word at you because this is so amazing. Here's what
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: he says.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Next.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: He says, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Oh,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: that's irrational, that's crazy. Who would do that? Which is
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: this is amazing? Which is the lagacane. This is the
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Greek word logacane, where we get the word logic. He says,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: this is the most logical and reasonable thing you could
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: possibly do. Wait, surrender my life, my body, everything about
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: me to God is the logical, reasonable thing to do.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: And Paul's like, absolutely, Oh, what do you well?
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: And Paul would say, here heavenly Father would say, because
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: God loves you, and God is for you, and God
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: created the human race, which means God knows what's best
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: for you, and he's he knows what's not bet for you,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: and he knows everything about you, and you should trust
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: him because this is the first time you were twenty
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: and this is the first time you were twenty five,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: and this is the first time you were thirty, and
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: this is your first marriage, and this is your first kid,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: and this is your first grandkid. This is your first
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: real job, this is your first big move. These are
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: all first for you.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: You've never done any of this before.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: So why would you not surrender to your heavenly Father,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: who loves you and invites you into a life where
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: the God who cares for you is willing to guide
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: and direct your life. But he is not going to
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: force his will on you. It's by the mercies of God,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: not by the power authority in the force of God,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: because love doesn't operate that way.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: Besides, as you read the.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: New Testament, you discover that Jesus, one another, and others.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: First, ethic is the best way to live.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: It's the best way for your family, your relationships, your
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: morality for the future. It's the best way for our nation.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: It's just the best way for people. That God has
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: laid it.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Out for us and invited us into it.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: So Paul says, look, I know the whole idea of
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: surrendering just you know, blank check life to your heavenly Father.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: I know on the surface that sounds like too much,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: but it is the most reasonable, logical thing you could
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: possibly do. This is the framework for the entire Christian life.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: That we respond not to God in order to gain something.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: We respond to God because He's given us so much.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: And light of all that he's given us, the most
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: logical thing I can do in the morning is to
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: get on my knees and surrender my life once again
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: to my Father in Heaven. Now, the apostle Paul, this
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: is such a big deal. He actually teased this same
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: idea out earlier in this letter to Christians who were
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: living in Rome for century Christians living in Rome in
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: chapter six of the Book of Romans. But there he
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: states that negatively. So let me read you this version
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: as well. Then we're going to talk about this first habit.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Here's what he writes in Romans chapter six. The first
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: one was do this. This is do not do not
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: offer any part of yourself to sin. This is so cool.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul personifies sin. He acts like sin is
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: an entity, a living, breathing entity, which makes it a
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: lot easier to understand sometimes what's going on inside of us,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: because there's somebody in there, right, I mean, what is
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: wrong with me? I do the very thing I say
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do. What is that Paul talks about that?
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: You know, I think the things I'm not supposed to think.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: I behave the ways I've I committed not to, and
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I did it again. What's wrong with me? Paul would say, Look,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: don't ask me to explain it.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: That's sin.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: There's that thing in you. Do not offer any part
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: of yourself to sin as an instrument of unrighteousness. Apparently
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: we're going to offer ourselves either to God or to sin,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: as according to the Apostle Paul. And the best way
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: to understand sin and the New Testament is this word selfishness,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: my way, my appetites, my appetites at your expense, my
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: appetites at your expense, my appetite at my wife's expense,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: My appetite it's being met at my children's expense, my
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: appetite being met at the expense of the people I
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: work with, My appetites being satisfied at your expense, and
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: your appetites being satisfied at mind. That is the nature
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: of sin, as described by Jesus and taught in the
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: New Testament.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: My appetites is your expense, he says.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Don't let sin rain in your body, but rather offer
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: yourselves here.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: It is what he said in chapter twelve.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Offer yourselves to God is those who have been brought
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: from death to life. And here's the applicable part. Here's
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: the application part. And offer every part of yourself. Imagine
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: if you did this, Imagine if you had been doing this,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: and offer every part of yourself to him. God is
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: an instrument of righteousness, he says. He's saying to this audience,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I want you to offer your ears what you listen to.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: I want you to offer your eyes what you look at.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I want you to offer your mind what you think about.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: I want you to offer your hands what you do
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: I want you to offer your feet where you go.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I want you to offer your resources that you've been
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: entrusted with. I want you to offer your hopes and
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: dreams and desires. I want you to offer everything to God.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: And see God.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: I see all these as instruments that you can use
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: for your will, and they are available to you. I'm
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: surrendering all of me with your intent and with your
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: purposes and your agenda in mind. And then but follows.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: This is one of my favorite little phrases in the
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: New Testament. It's easily misunderstood because the way it shows
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: up in our English text. He says, if you do this,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: this is amazing. Here's the promise, here's the payoff. If
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: you do this, then sin shall no longer be your master.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Maybe a better translation is for then if you do this,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: It follows right after that, for then sin shall no
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: longer be your master. Again, he personifies sin like sin
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: is a thing. Let me ask you a question. Don't
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: raise your hand, and if you're not a Christian, play along,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: because this is just a human thing, not a religious thing.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Do you ever feel like sin is your master? Yes,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: if you've ever dealt with an addiction, didn't you feel
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: like you had another master and it was destroying your
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: life and your family and your health and your thinking
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: and everything about you.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Just felt like, I feel like I feel.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Like I have another master and sin, and Jesus says look,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: and Paul says, look, I'm inviting. I'm telling you, if
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: you will step into this life of surrender, daily surrender,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: surrendering your entire body as instruments of God righteous, then
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: this is how sin is no longer your master.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: When you say yes to sin, sin becomes your.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: Master, and I'll make it more practical, less theological. When
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: you say yes to selfishness, selfishness becomes your master. And
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: do you know where Master selfishness will take you and
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: direct you and guide you and order you to the
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: land of self centeredness. Master sin will order you to
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: say yes to you every opportunity you can, every chance
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: it gets.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: In fact, that your sin.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: That's how master Sin defines freedom and liberation.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: You can be free. You are free to do whatever
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: you want to do.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: And because you're so smart, you'll never be caught. Because
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: you're so crafty, she'll never find out. Because you're so
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: you know, deceptive, they will never know you can do
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: whatever you want to do, say yes to your self.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Live in the land of selfishness and self centeredness. But ultimately,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: and most of us have lived long enough to know this,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: and still we fall for it. Ultimately, do you know
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: what self centeredness ultimately liberates you from?
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: From you?
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: You're divided. You wake up one day and you realize,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I'm two different people. I'm what they see, I'm what
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: they're actually getting. I'm what i'm I'm I'm the person
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: she thinks she married, but I'm not that. I'm the
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: person he thinks he married. But I what I am?
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: I I There is such a gap between what I
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: present and who I actually am. And I've gotten a
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: cuss them to living with myself in this duplicity. And
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: do you know what the person who's been there, done
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: that and clawed their way back and try to patch
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: their life back together. Do you know what they would
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: tell you? In fact, many of us have a story.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: This is some of our stories. Some of you are
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: listening going totally my story, totally my song. I can
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: stand up right now and give a testimony. In fact,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: I'd like to come on stage and say, I urge you,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: He's right, you know Paul's right because of your story. Right,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: We've all lived long enough to you know, taste some
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of this. But do you do you know what the
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: person who's been there and done that and then to
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: claw their way back out of it. Do you know
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: what they would tell you? I don't know their exact words.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: It would sound something like this.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: I urge you, I urge.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: You in view of God's mercy, because look up here, master, sin, master, selfishness, master,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: it's all about me has no mercy. Sin and selfishness
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: and self censeredness all always baits you to the threshold
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: of disaster, then stands back, and once you step over it,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: sin and selfishness shames you for what it baited you
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: to do to begin with. I mean, isn't this true,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: the shame that some of you live with. It wasn't
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: something somebody else did.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: It was a decision you made. It was the season
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: you entered into.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: And that's in the nature of sin and selfishness and
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: the apostle policying.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: Look, do you want sin to be your master?
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: No, that's why surrendering yourself to your heavenly father, all
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: of me, every part of me, inside and out, is.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: The way to actual freedom. Because God loves you.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: To offer to finish the text, I urge you, therefore,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: in view of God's versity, to offer your bodies as
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: a living sacrifice. This is what somebody has been there
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: and done that and came back would tell you that, Hollians,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: pleasing to God.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: This is your true and proper worship. This is the
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: English version.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: This is the most logical thing you could possibly do.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: Then he continues, continues, and again, here are some very
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: familiar words, but this is the context that they were
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: spoken into. And do not here's another. Do not and
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: do not conform to the pattern of this world. The
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: pattern of this world will split you in half. The
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: pattern of culture will split you in half. Not because
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: there's a group of.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: You know, angry old white men in a room somewhere trying.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: To destroy culture and society. He's like, no, you don't
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: even need that. It's just sin, and sin resides in
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: all of us. And if sin is your master, it
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: will eventually split you in half. You will become someone
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: you are forced to live with that you can't imagine
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: your having to live with. It will increase your capacity
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: for duplicity. It will put you at the center of
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: your life. And then you will become small because self
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: centeredness makes you and makes me small. He says, Butt
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: here it is be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: And then here's another payoff.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: And then if you do this, surrendered, allow God to
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: renew your mind, surrender every day, then you will be able.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: This is such a great promise, especially if if you're
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: in your twenties late twenties, you know, out of college,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: maybe getting out of college, or do you start in
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: your first career, got your life ahead. Are you trying
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: to decide should I date him? Should I ask her out?
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: You know you're trying to figure it out all out?
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: What is God's will for me?
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Listen to this? This is so powerful.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Then, he says, you will be able to test that
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: is discern through the options. You'll be able to test
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: and approve. Oh, I recognize what it is God's what
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: God's will is now here. If the notion of God's
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: will scares you, it's probably because you have never surrendered
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: to God's will and lived in that state for very long.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: If the notion of surrendering.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: To God and you know, I'll find out what God's
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: will is. If that scares you, you know that's gonna
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: you know, limit my options. Life's gonna stink. You know
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: it's not gonna be any fun. You know it's gonna
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: take away all these If the if the whole idea
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: of God's will scares you, it's because some religious person
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: has put some paradigm of God and Jesus in your
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: head that.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Is completely wrong.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Because it is sin and selfishness that should scare you.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: And if you are more afraid, if you are more
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: afraid of the will of God, then you are the
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: potential of what sin can do to you. You have
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: been deceived, and perhaps you've been deceived and confused by
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: religious people who put a religious faith paradigm out there
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: that in no way reflects the teaching and the life
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. You've been seduced and deceived. You have reduced God,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and you don't know when you did this. It just happens.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: You have reduced God to a sin forgiver when you
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: get in trouble, and a backup plan when you get
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: in trouble, a last resort. But the surrendered folks around you,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: the men and women who've lived a season or two
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: or three or four of their lives, to the best
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: of their abilities, surrendered to their Father in heaven, who
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: have surrendered to what it looks like to follow Jesus.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: They would assure you that God's will is everything. The
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: apostle Paul says it is. Here's what he says. It
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: is his good. It's good, his pleasing. You'll be pleased,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: his perfect will for you. And all of that brings
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: us to Habit number one is that we think about
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: taking care of and guarding and watching over our soul.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Habit number one is simply this. I've just said it
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: twenty different ways. It's to surrender your will. But here's
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: the catch. Every single day, at the beginning of every
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: single day, this has been a routine and a habit
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: for me out of these verses from Roman six and
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Roman Swell. For many many years, every single morning, Heavenly Father,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: here's my hands, it's my feet, my eyes, my mind,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: my ears, here's my resources, here's my opportunity, here's my
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: hopes and dreams. Here's everything I hope for God. I'm
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: presenting all of that to you every single morning. Here's
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: how Jesus said it. I bet you've heard this too.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: Whoever that's us, whoever wants to be my follower, must
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: say no to themselves and take up their cross annually
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: at the end of the year. In January at the
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: beginning of the year at camp, because the songs were
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: so good at the end of that sermon where they
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: did that alter call thing, he says, no, if you're
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: gonna this is important. You've been maybe a Christian a
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: long time, you've missed this. To follow Jesus requires a
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: decision every single day because of the world we live
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: in and the temptations we face and what's.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: Going on on the inside.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: Right, he says, take up their cross daily every morning
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: and follow me.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: And in the New.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Testament era across across symbolize the end of endependence. Jesus says,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: I want you every day to declare your d and
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: your independence from yourself and follow me.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: And then he concludes with a question.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: I don't really know how to create the emotion around
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: this question that it deserves is so powerful, and I
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: think Jesus paused, and he leaned in because he's the
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: brilliant communicator, and he says, let.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Me ask you a question. Think about it.
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: What good? What good?
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: I mean you want your life to be good, satisfying
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: and pleasing.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: But come on, what good is it for someone.
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: To gain the whole exterior world? Look at or go
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: look at him? Go wow?
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: What good is it? Really? This is a big question.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: What good is it really if someone gains the whole
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: world and yet at the end of the day they
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: forfeit their very self. Some translations you know this say
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: forfeit their very soul.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: Jesus is ain't come on, I.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Don't want you to get your third or forties or
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: fifties or seventies, or you retire, you you know, run
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: through another marriage and you realize I got all the stuff,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: and I got all the attention, and I got the thing,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: you know, whatever it is, and I got her and
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: got him. But inside I'm a mess. Jesus is saying, Look,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: you can't be happy. Let's just be selfish. You can't
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: be happy, you can't be satisfied because sin is a
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: horrible master. So for this first habit, here's what I
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: want to encourage you to do. And by the way,
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: please don't miss part two and part three. Okay, for
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: this first habit, here's what I want you to do.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: I want you tomorrow morning to get up and pray
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: a prayer similar to this one. I'm gonna read it
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: to you. I just made this up. Okay, you don't
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: have to use my words. You can, you know, take
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: a picture of this. You can find it later, you know,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: we'll put it somewhere. But in the morning, to simply
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: pray a prayer that goes something like this, Heavenly Father,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: I surrender myself to you, my hands, my feet, my eyes,
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: my ears, my thoughts and desires, my hopes and dreams.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: That's a hard one, especially if you're young and you
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: got so much ahead of you. My talent, my opportunities,
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: everything and anything about me. I surrender all I thy
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: will be done through me today. Now let me tell
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: you why this is important.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: We're gonna move on.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: Daily surrender, however you do it, however you say it.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Daily surrender sensitizes your conscience. You will be more sensitive
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: to and less tolerant of duplicity. If you do this,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: you will be more sensitive to. Uh.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm about to do.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: I'm about to say, I'm about to share, I'm about
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: to post, I'm about to react, I'm about to say
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: yes to I'm about to move in a direction that
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: is contrary to who I want to be on the inside.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: Uh oh, the conscience lights will light up, the conscience
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: bells will ring, the conscience siren and siren will blare.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: When you begin your days surrendered to the will of
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: your heavenly fire, and you will have less capacity to
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: put up with becoming someone that you ultimately don't want
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: to live with. Now, last thing before we go. I've
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: been doing this a long time. So here's what I
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: know about somebody here or watching. Here's what you're thinking.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: So I wanted to talk to you specifically. Hey, hey, Andy,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: this is great.
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: It's about six months too late for me. It's about
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: six years.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Too late for me. I wish i'd heard this when
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: I was twenty five. I wish i'd.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Heard this before I said Yes, I wish i'd heard
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: this before I moved in. I wish I But what
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: am I supposed to do? Here's what I want you
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: to consider. These three habits are the way forward for
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: you as well. They will take you from where you
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: are to where you want to be.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: But I need to warn you about one thing.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: The moment you say yes to your heavenly Father, Your
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: heavenly father is going to nudge you out of hiding.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Your heavenly father is going to nudge you into the open.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Your heavenly Father is going to nudge you to reveal
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: the self you've become to the people you've hurt and deceived.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: And it will be a mess. It will certainly be messy,
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: and it will be expensive. And you may hate me.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: But why in the world where whoa wa wa that's
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: what I thought. I can't believe you actually said that,
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: because that's what I was thinking. Why if God loves me,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: would he nudge me in that direction?
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: Glad you asked?
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Because God is love and you have been made in
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: the image of God, which meant you are created to
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: love and be loved. Look com here, and neither are
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: pass as long as your soul is in damage control.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: And if you are in the process of managing that
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: gap and hoping people don't find out and manage, manage, manage,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: you're in damage control, and you cannot love and you
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: cannot receive love because nobody really knows you. And that's
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: why your heavenly father is going to nudge you out
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: of your hiding place.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: And I just want to warn you.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: It'll be messy, it'll be a mess and it may
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: not feel worth it initially, but it will feel worth
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: it eventually.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: And here's why I say that, because.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: Selfishness and sin are horrible masters.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: Look what they've done to you.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: They have corralled you into hiding from the people you
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: love the most and who love you the most.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: They're horrible masters. And sin does not.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Have to be your master any longer. But when you
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: say yes to Jesus, going to say, then, come out
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: of hiding. Come out of hiding so you can be loved,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: so you can love, so you can experience the light
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: and the grace and the mercy of God.
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: Who loves you.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Selfishness is a terrible master because it does nothing for you.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: It simply takes things from you. It takes what's most
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: important from you. Following Jesus, as we say all the time,
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: will make your life better. And today we've explained one
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: of the reasons, or describe one of the reasons why
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: following Jesus makes your life better.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: Because he will lead you to close the gap between what.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: People see and who you really are, and he will
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: lead you to peace with yourself, and you will finally
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: be a self that you are happy to live with,
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: and we will pick it up right there next time
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: with Habit two and Part two of Living with Yourself.
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: Three Habits to Safeguard your Soul.