The Experience Community
2 Corinthians - Chapter 10 (G. Sowards 6-23-24)
Hey, good morning. How's everybody doing? Good to see you this morning. I got here really early today. Is it getting super hot out again? It's a great reminder. Another reason we all want to go to heaven, really. And it's been brutal. And I love the heat. Like, I'm Pastor Corey and I have that in common. Like, I'd rather be hot and cold. Don't stone me. I just like the heat better. But hey, we're in second Corinthians again this week. My name is Greg. If we haven't met, it's really nice to meet you. Each and every one of you would go around, but we don't have time to introduce ourselves. But I'm one of the pastors that the experience has been here about eight years. Just love the experience, what we're about mission and vision. We're in second Corinthians. We've been in second Corinthians for a while. Last week, if you were here, Pastor Corey taught on chapter nine, we're going to start verse 10 today and finish it. We won't be here that long. Actually, most of these chapters through second Corinthians have been a little shorter. But last week, if you haven't had a chance to listen to that, if you weren't here last weekend, man, you need to go back and listen to that lesson. It was so good. I think the apex of his lesson, when you talked about sewing and reaping, is because that too often we're just casual about our relationship with Jesus, that we don't live our relationship with Christ with intention. And man, it's so important, even as we see in the world today, what is happening, the spiritual warfare that is going on. The evidence then that Paul moves on to in chapter 10, the evidence of our lives of every Christian, every follower of Jesus should be pointing to Jesus. The evidence of our lives should point to Christ. And when we live our lives for that, our testimony, the way we testify, we're just saying that song, the way we testify is our life that lived out, out loud, and on purpose with great intention to the glory of God, the Father. Again, not for here, Paul says, "Our reward is not here. Our reward is in heaven." Thank goodness, right? So we're going to start. You should have gotten a notes hand out when you came in. If you didn't, you can download the Experience Community app. Everything I'm going to talk about is going to be on there along with the Scripture. Just click on Sermon notes, and you'll be able to follow along there. Or you can just pay attention to the screens, and you'll be fine. All right? I'm going to pray for us, and then we're going to jump right in and see what the Lord has for us today. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, thank you so much for the opportunity that we have as the body of Christ to walk right into your presence, to come into your presence through worship, Lord, worship through song, worship through hearing, worship through giving, and then worshiping you God as we leave this place is a testimony to the power of God. I pray for every church in our community and beyond, Lord, that would lift up the name of Jesus Christ that exalts him above every name. Lord, I pray your blessings upon them. Build your church. Oh, God, it doesn't matter where it is. Build your church. Lord, thank you for the nonprofits that we've partnered with this month. I thank you for horseplay and possibility place and the difference that they're making. Thank you so much for them, Lord Jesus. We pray all these things in the strong and matches name. Amen. All right, chapter 10 says, "Now I, Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I, who am humble among you in person, but bold toward you when absent. I beg you that when I am present, I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we're behaving according to the flesh. For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God. And we take every thought captive to obey Christ. And we are ready to punish any disobedience once your obedience is complete." Now, Paul has shifted gears here admittedly from the first nine chapters. He's shifted gears here in chapter 10. And a lot of theologians and scholars, Bible scholars, commentators say that this really should be his third epistle because he's gone from what he's doing now to defending his apostleship. He's not defending himself, mind you. He's not defending who he is, but he's defending who he is in Christ and who he has been called to do, who he has been called by God and what he's been called to do. And there were these false prophets, these Judaizers, that's just people, men really, who had infiltrated the church and were spreading the gospel and other things. We have to combine this, they were saying, with the Mosaic law, all of the laws and the prophets, all of these things that they were saying, listen, brothers and sisters in Christ, we don't need Jesus and anything. We don't need Jesus and this or Jesus and that we just need the gospel of Jesus Christ. We just need Jesus. He's enough. And that's the problem with what these infiltrators, listen, what I know about the good news is that Jesus took my sin, our sin, upon himself shed his blood that we might go free. That's the good news of the gospel, amen? And Paul's defending his authority in Christ as an apostle. I've been called by God is what he's saying. And he appeals to them then in meekness and humility, which is really, really interesting because meekness and weakness aren't the same thing. This is so interesting because it's if they would have known the scriptures, if they would have known Jesus and what Jesus has said, Jesus himself said, I come to you. I'm lowly in spirit. I am meek and gentle. So he was actually modeling Christ and they missed it. But he's not, listen, he's not afraid to come against those who are opposing him and he knows why because he's been given divine authority. We got to understand, we need to understand that we've been given as followers of Jesus' divine authority and they had misjudged by his appearance. They had misjudged by what they saw him to be or what they thought he was and they had misjudged that for weakness. In other words, they were much more impressed with the looks. Those infiltrators, those who had set themselves up for the Corinthian church to look at and say, we're more imposing figures. We dress nicer. We drive better cars. We live in better neighborhoods. All of these things, you need to look to us. We're great speakers. But friends, I got to tell you, if you're looking, listen, Pastor Corey says every month at the end of an ex-class, every single month, he'll say something like this. Listen, if this church isn't for you, let us help you find another church because we happen to know a lot of churches where the anointing of God is. And there are a lot where the anointing of God isn't. We want to seek the anointing of God in our lives. Friends, if you're looking for somebody to disciple you, if you're looking for a church to attend, okay, if this isn't it, let's find, look for one with the anointing of God because it's better to have the anointing of God than it is to have a pastor with a great orator skills. Are you with me? So they judged him by what he looked like. They judged him by the standards of this world. And when we judge leaders and people by the standards of this world, we're going to get in trouble because those are the wrong standards because we look to those standards and we see that they don't line up with the Bible. And Paul says, I lived in the flesh. We live in the flesh, but we don't battle the same as they do. We don't battle in the flesh. Listen, we're living in the flesh. Are you with me? We stub our toes, right? We get sick. We have to live in this flesh. But even though we live in the flesh, even though Paul lived in the flesh, he was a man's man. This was a tent maker. I mean, he probably had dirty hands. You know, he probably didn't smell the best, maybe. But they judged him by that, even though he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, even though he was very educated, they evaluated him by what he did and how he looked. You see how that applies to us today, don't you? What neighborhood we live in, what car we drive, what job we have, whether or not that's a prestigious job or maybe that's a lowly position. But Jesus tells us in Matthew 7, we don't judge people by what they do. We judge them by the fruit they bear. We judge them by who they are and what their character says about them because we're looking for the divine power, the anointing of God and people. How many of us understand, man, hey, we are in the midst of spiritual warfare. You with me? Oh my goodness, we are in the midst of spiritual warfare. It is all around us. I got really terrible news for you. It's not going to get better. It's not going to get better until Jesus comes again. It's really not. And it's about to get really crazy in this election year. So even though, here's hope though, here's our hope, even though we walk in the flesh, even though we walk in human frailty, even though we have issues in all of these things, we know we don't battle with the weapons of war that the world does. Is that good news to you this morning? That's good news to us. We don't battle in our own strength. Paul tells the church of ethicists, put on the full armor of God, put the helmet of salvation, the sword of spirit, which is the word of God. Put on the breastplate of righteousness, right? The belt of truth, all of these things. And we move forward in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the good news for us. So we don't have to be isolated from the world. We just need to be insulated by the power of the Holy Spirit. Come on, church, are you with me? So listen, I have to tell you, like, I'm not speaking against those of you who would say, well, I homeschool, my daughter homeschools her kids. My daughter's in law are going to homeschool their kids and their kids as well. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing. That's an okay thing, right? But we can't isolate everything, everybody from the world. If we isolate from the world, how would we accomplish the mission God has called us to do in that is go and make disciples? So what we need to do then is insulate. Listen, Corey says this all the time. That's why I put it in blue. It's a, it's a chorism, but it's biblical. So we insulate ourselves by the power of the Holy Spirit. Listen, that is the spirit of God. That is the word of God. This is what equips us. These are our spiritual weapons for warfare. We don't have to be afraid. Paul says, our, our spiritual battle, our, listen, our words, we can demolish strongholds over culture. We can demolish strongholds. We can bring them down. Praise God. That's divine power. Not it. Listen, not Greg. Oh my, Greg could walk into a situation and fail miserably in the power of spirit, in the power of the spirit of God. We can change culture instead of culture changing us. Friends, there's a battle going on for our minds. There's a battle going on. Culture is feeding us. Society is feeding us. Garbage, all of these things. Social media, all of these things. And Paul is declaring only the truth of God is going to stand. Only the truth of God will stand against all of these philosophies that the world is trying to bombard us with. Only the truth of God will stand when it comes to religious activity. Only the truth of God will stand when it comes to public opinion or other things or, or democratic or republican parties. Only the truth, even our own ideas. Well, they have to be raised up against the knowledge of God. Well, Greg, I just don't think it's wrong for me to sleep with my girlfriend. Raise that up. Put that against the knowledge of God. I don't think it's wrong, Greg, to go get hammered on a Saturday night. You know, it's just one day. Raise that up. Put that up against the knowledge of God. That's where we have to change. We have to submit to the knowledge of God. Friends, we are not helpless recipients or victims to our thoughts. What do I mean by that? Listen, anybody ever have intrusive thoughts? I do. Just two of us, okay. Well, maybe the rest of you just hang out here for a second. I don't have as many intrusive thoughts as I do intrusive songs. I just, I get intrusive songs. I'll just wake up in the morning with a song just going through my head. Like more than 50% of the time, it's Beauty and the Beast. What is happening to me? So I'm not talking about those guys. I'm talking about those thoughts that we have been given victory over. I'm talking about the power of God can deliver us from those thoughts, that we do not have to be held captive by those thoughts. Listen, the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The same power that says that tomb is now empty is living inside you and me if we are a follower of Jesus Christ. So please don't come into my office and tell me, Greg, I just can't help it. No, no, no, no. You are discounting the power of God. The power of God is able to deliver me from lust and greed and prejudice and all of these racist thoughts. The power of God can do that in our lives, brothers and sisters. We can have victory over those. We just have to take them captive. And put them up against the knowledge of God. That's good news for us that we can win the battle for our minds. Isn't that good news for us this morning? Come on. All right. Next part. No, no, no, no. I mean, that's for the Lord and that's good. I know that. All right. Verse seven, here we go. So Paul says, look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself of this. Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we. For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not tearing you down, I will not be put to shame. I don't want to seem as though I'm trying to terrify you with my letters. For it is said, his letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing. Let's such a person consider this. What we are in our letters when we are absent, we will also be in our actions when we are present. So Paul says, look, look at my life. Look at who I am. Look at what I'm doing. Look at my life. Focus on the evidence of my life. What does my life tell you? And therefore, by looking at my life, he's refuting the accusations to the Corinthian church of what all of these false apostles, all of these Judaizers, these infiltrators, these opposers in the church are saying, he says, listen, you have to look beyond the veneer in some people. Look beyond the surface. You know what veneer is, right? It's that plastic little thin piece of fake wood or something that covers all the crap underneath. So it looks good on the outside. Paul says, look at the obvious. Look at what's happening in my life. The evidence of our lives, Christian, listen to me, follower of Jesus, listen to me. The evidence of our lives should be that God has radically changed us, that we are different than we used to be. Listen, 60-year-old Greg is a lot different than 20-year-old Greg. 20-year-old Greg was a tool. I'm just being honest. He was a tool. He was not a nice person. He was not a good person at all. Some of you are like 60-year-old Greg, not so hot either. You'd be right. But listen, I'm a lot further off than I was. I'm a lot better off now than I used to be because God has radically changed me. And listen, his presence changes everything. Everything. Ezekiel says, he says, I will take out that heart of stone and I will replace it with a fleshy heart and move you to follow my decrees and laws. So Paul says, let the facts of my life just take a look at my life. It speaks for itself. Paul even seems a little uncomfortable with this. If I boast a little too much, he seems uncomfortable. But listen, he's not ashamed because he realizes that in and of himself he has no authority but all authority by Christ is given to him to encourage the church. He's not afraid to confront him. He's not afraid to challenge them. And listen, that's what I love about the experience too. Because when we come in here weekend and week out, if you're here, Pastor Corey's not afraid to challenge us to live, to set the bar higher, to live a life that is better, that is called by God, that looks better on the outside because of what God has done on the inside, not just because we're changing behaviors, but because God has changed us from the inside. So when we engage others, when we're on social media, give me a thumbs down to unlikes, I'm going to tell them, no, when we're speaking to others, we speak truth in there, but it should be further good. Listen, we're just putting a pebble in their shoe to make them think. It shouldn't be for the tearing of them down. It should be to build them up. Listen, why can't we be the church of Jesus Christ that loves people? Our battle is not with humanity. It's not with those who are confused about identity. It's not with those who are... Listen, our battle is not with humanity. We're to love them. Oh my goodness, what would the church of Jesus Christ look like if we just love people into the kingdom of God? So he says, man, look at my life. I'm the same everywhere I go. Paul says, I don't care if I'm in the synagogue. He's not duplicitous. He's not too faced. He's not hypocritical. Paul said, what you see is what you get with me, man. That's all. That's what it is. He said, I'm the same person in the synagogue. I'm the same person at home. I'm the same person on the street. I'm the same person making the tents. How does that apply to us today? Oh my. Greg's gone from teaching to meddling. Friends, listen, husbands, fathers, are you the same man here as you are at home? Moms, wives, are you the same woman here? Apparently, Paul was small, unimpressive. We get that by not just this text, but other texts. Maybe he wasn't a great communicator. Although he was smart, although he was well-educated, he didn't use words like duplicitous. I'm just wanting you guys to think I'm smart. He used regular language, right? He didn't have to use fans. He had the power of God. That's the difference. Paul possessed the power of the Holy Spirit. And listen, only then can our words match our works. Only then can our works match our words. Only then can we live out what we're talking about. Again, when I try to do it on my own, I fail miserably. Are we living out what we say? Our works match our words. Last part. We're getting through it rather quickly. For we don't dare classify or compare ourselves with some who come in themselves. But in measuring themselves, Paul's getting sassy here. Really sarcastic. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding. We, however, will not boast beyond measure. But according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you. For we're not overextending ourselves as if we had not reached you since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ. We're not boasting beyond measure about other people's labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else's area of ministry. So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord, for it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends. Boy, as soon as we start comparing, we're in trouble. Aren't we? We love to do that though. I mean, we do. When we start comparing, though, we're headed for disaster, really, because I know when I have a bad day and I'm not having a good day, I always want to compare myself with someone who's worse than me, right? That's just wonderful. So pride elevates. I get prideful. When I'm having a really great day, I think I'm better than I really am. I think I'm doing it on my own, on my own strength. Besides, what's the, I should say, who's the standard? Jesus. So wisdom, wisdom understands then, apart from Christ, I'm nothing. Apart from Christ, I can do nothing. Isaiah, when he walked into the temple in Isaiah 6, he realizes when he sees the Lord, he realizes how lowly he says, "Whoa is me. I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm so simple. I'm not worthy to be in your presence." This is kind of the G.I.V., the Greg International Version. I'm not worthy to be in my, even my good deeds, even the good things that I've done there to, oh my goodness, there are filthy rags. When we compare ourselves, when we look to the standard, and aren't you thankful this morning that when we look to the standard and the holiness and the righteousness and the perfectness of God the Father, he says, "That's okay. My son's blood has covered you." Aren't you thankful this morning for the mercy and the grace of God that when I fail, when I fail him, because I know I'm going to fail, when I fail him, he said, "Come on, Greg. Come on. Come on. My son. My son has purified you. It's enough. Come on. Friends in me, there's nothing good in us, so I don't have to worry. I don't have to compare myself with others. I don't have to worry about what my neighbor does. I just am obedient to what God has asked me to do. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about we don't do self-evaluation. I think it's a really good thing here. I think it's a good thing to examine ourselves every once in a while. David said, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. See if there be anywhere." I think that's a good thing. Self-examination is a good thing. Scripture tells us to confess our sins to the Lord and to each other, a brother, a sister that would carry our burdens with us. Scripture tells us to this. So that's not the problem. The problem is when I just try to do it myself because my standard is all messed up. The problem is when I don't allow the Holy Spirit to be part of that process, and then and only then we are examining ourselves in the light of the Word. We're allowing the Word and the Holy Spirit of God to do the convicting where conviction is necessary. That's when I can make a change. That's when I can allow the Holy Spirit to lead me. That's when self-evaluation is really, really good. So these opposers, these infiltrators, exaggerations, wild guys, you don't need Paul. You have us. Look at us. We dress better than Paul. We're more educated than Paul. We're way better than Paul. We're better speakers than Paul claiming that we don't need him at all. There's a church in Corinth because Paul planted a church in Corinth. We're not even sure. He's an apostle. Why? Because they're interested in fame. They're interested in recognition. They're interested in climbing the church ladder or the corporate ladder. Are you with me? Brothers and sisters, we are all, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ today, we are all called into ministry. And there is no ministry that is greater than the other. I would dare say this morning, I am no more important up here than the person holding a crying baby in the nursery so that a mom and dad can come in here and hear the gospel. And we have to be careful. We have to be careful with what we're doing. Are we seeking the reward this side of heaven? Are we seeking recognition? Are we seeking the approval of men? Are we seeking when we buy the new car, when we move to the right neighborhood? Who's approval are we looking for? Or are we just following what God has asked us to do? God is asking us to be faithful to just what He's called us to. Nothing more. Nothing less. Paul says, "Yes, I planted this church in Corinth, but I want our faith to go further. I want to take the gospel to regions beyond, far beyond you." So let's get it right here. Let's get it right so that we can go plant churches in other places. His desire was to take the gospel elsewhere. Man, you know another reason I love the experienced community church is because we're willing to go in places where nobody is willing to go and plant a church. I love that. You guys, you understand we're not done with just four campuses, right? If you're new here, the experienced community has four camps, so we have Murfreesboro, Tallahoma, Cannon County, and Shelbyville. But we're not done there. We want to plant churches. Why? Not so the experience, not so that the experience can grow, but so that the kingdom of God will be built. That He gets all the glory. He gets all the praise. He gets all the honor. It's to exalt the name of Jesus Christ. Here's for us. This is our question. What are we willing to sacrifice to get there? If we're going to be in this together, what are we willing to sacrifice? For some of us, it might be time. We might have to sacrifice some time. For some of us, the sacrifice might be talent. We might have to give some of our talents to the Lord. We might have to sacrifice some of our talents to the Lord. For some of us, it might be treasure. Go back to chapters eight and nine. We're Paul says we need to give so that others might know the gospel so that we can reach regions beyond. Or are we keeping it all for ourselves so that we can have the approval of men so that we can put up the facade for a world that could not care less? These false teachers, all they wanted was recognition. They were looking for the prestige and what they had. They were looking for the right position in the right place at the right time. All the power. They just wanted the best place in the market. That's what Jesus was talking about when he told his disciples the Pharisees pray on the street corners and they pray loudly. And they say, "Thank God I'm not like that sinner over there." And he called them blind guides in whitewashed tombs. What is our motive for serving Jesus? Is it the approval of man or God? Is it the approval of man or God? Our motive is as much a measurement. Man, I wish I had written this. I got this from somebody else. Our motive is as much a measurement of God's work as growth. What is our motive? Do we join the church? We're just going to church because I want to schmooze with all these people. I want to build my business. Friend, there can be no greater goal for a follower of Jesus Christ than to have God's seal of approval stamped on their lives. We need to live for the approval of God and not for man. So what do we learn from this 10th chapter of 2nd Ephesians? Well, I think the first thing we learn is that we can be bold in our faith because you all agreed with me. I said, "Man, we're in the midst of spiritual warfare. Yep. Yeah, we are, Greg. You're right. Yep. Yep." And it's never going to change until Jesus comes. Yep. Yep. You're right. So then, are you walking in the faith with Jesus? Are you filled with the Spirit? So you can. I can. We can have the power to demolish strongholds, the strongholds of culture that would infiltrate the church. And we could come against those in Jesus' name. Do we know? Do we understand? Because we're in the midst of warfare that we have that power. And there's a battle going on for our minds. That's why Paul told the church at Philippi, listen, whatever's true, whatever's noble, praise were the excellent thing. Think on these things. Fill your mind with the words of God. In the Hebrew church, he's helped fix your eyes on Jesus. He's the author and perfecter of our faith. It's him. It's all about Jesus. We have to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. We have to pull our thoughts in, the thoughts from culture and society and all of those things. But spiritual warfare demands spiritual weapons. And this is, I'm bringing back a question that Pastor Corey asked last week. Have we just taken our relationship? Are we just so flippant with our relationship with Jesus? Are we just so casual about it? We've been given power to demolish strongholds. In fact, Paul told his son in the faith, Timothy, he said, "You've been thoroughly equipped for every good work God has called you to do." We have it. We have it. Are we taking it? Are we using it? Are we filled with the Spirit? Listen, where's the evidence of Christ in your life? Christianity is not about behavior modification. Now, before you go running out of here and telling Pastor Corey, Greg said our behavior shouldn't change. Listen to me. Christianity is about us getting a new heart. When God gives us a new heart, he says the old has gone, the new has come. This is not a new paint job on an old fence. This is a new fence. This is a new being. I'm a different person, a radical change from the inside out. Paul says we've been transformed by the renewing of our minds. He renews us. He makes us whole. He makes us new. And then behavior changes. But it's not about friends. It's not about coming on a Sunday morning. It's not about checking a box. You have a Greg, you don't understand. I give to the church. Great. That's great. Give a relationship with Jesus. I help out non-profits and I serve and I give my time and I give my energy. Listen, it's not about behavior modification. It's about following Jesus Christ and what he has for us. That we surrender our own desires, our own plans. That's why when we baptize people over here, we completely immerse them. It symbolizes them. It's significant because they're going underwater. I've got to tell you, you can't sustain life underwater. You and I can't do that. So it's dying to self and dreams and plans and wishes and being raised to walk in new life with Christ. That's a different person and that's a process of sanctification, which is just a big churchy word for meaning set apart for God's glory and his alone. And it's a daily process that we allow by the power of the Spirit at work in our lives to help us become more and more like Jesus. Every single day. Where's the evidence of Christ in your life? We're all writing our story. Man, I hear, I hear all the time in my office. If you've come into for marriage counseling in my office, you've heard me say this. I hear it all. Listen, I want to squelch this from like 2024, June 2024 for the rest of your lives. Guys, listen to me. We've been told alive our entire lives. If you heard this lie, marriage is hard work. Man, marriage is work. You just got to work at it. Man, the hard work of marriage, you got to put in the work of marriage. Listen, marriage isn't hard work. That's a lie. The hard work in marriage is that person looking back at you in the mirror. That's the hard part. Because listen, if I kill that guy looking back at me, the reason why I know this is because he's selfish. He wants his own way every single day, every single time. Greg wants what Greg wants. That's the hard part in marriage. What's the evidence of my life? I'm writing my story. We are writing our own story. What do you want your story to read? That the evidence of your life pointed to Jesus. And boy, here's a marker for us. This is a tough one for me. When we come against, or when people come against us, right, in opposition, when we get criticized, when we get maligned, our characters defrauded, when we have all of these things, when that happens, here's the mark of a follower of Christ. How they handle that? A mature follower of Christ can handle that. Why? Because they know and understand. And I say they because I don't get it right every time. I just don't. It's hard when people criticize me. It's hard when people oppose me. I'm just like you, y'all. So I don't get it right every time. But I understand when I remember and I understand that God is my defender. He goes before me. He goes behind me. He hems me in on all sides. He is my defender and the lifter of my head. And I can handle it a lot better. And Christ becomes more evident. Are we open to the spirit's conviction in all of our lives? And in every single area, yep, Greg, I go to church absolutely. I'm raising my kids the best way I know how. I don't kick the dog anymore. I'm doing really, really well. Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean? I need to give to the church. I'm supposed to give my wallet to the Lord. Listen, He wants everything. It's all His. It's all His. Everything we've been given is His. Well, I worked hard for this. He gave you the ability. Well, I went to school where He gave you the knowledge. It's all His. So how does my life measure up to what God wants? Am I looking to climb the corporate ladder so that I could have prestige and honor and glory? Am I looking to be seen and for the approval of men? Or am I looking to bloom where God has planted me? Because I don't live. We don't live for the applause of men. Friends, we need to stop the comparison game. We need to stop worrying about our neighbor. We need to stop worrying about this person or that person and just be obedient to what God's asking us to do. Whatever He asks of us, let's just be obedient to that and not worry about what my neighbor has or doesn't have. If we would simply seek to glorify God in our speech, in our actions and our reactions and our responses and we'd seek to glorify Him and praise Him and live for Him at work and at school and all of the places we go, then we could look for that eternal reward, that reward that is not here but the reward that we'll receive when He says to us finally, "Well done. Well done. Good and faithful servant. Well done." So what's your goal? Greg, I'm just trying to get through the day. Man, I get it some days. I'm just trying to make it to heaven. I got to tell you, I mean, that's a good goal but you're living so far beneath the privileges of what God has for you. If you would just surrender to Him, all things is your goal, I just want to make it in. Man, I want to love Jesus more than anything. I want to serve Him. I want to please Him in my everyday life. What's your goal? Christ's follower? Are you living for this life? Are you living for the approval here? I want to have the best of all things. I want to do all the wonderful things. I want to live in the best neighborhood. Listen, there's nothing wrong with all of those things except when we put them above God. Would you bow your heads with me? You