Addiction

Wrapping up our Call on Heaven collection of talks, Ben Stuart reminds us that many of the good gifts in life make for bad gods. If we desire to live a life devoted to the Lord, we must abandon the hope we put in vices and temporary fixes and turn towards a God who is waiting to save us.

I used to think I was immune to the effects social media could have on you. I wasn’t someone who scrolled through Instagram feeling less than because of what I was seeing. I wasn’t comparing myself to the random strangers on my discovery page. But I was wrong. Here is what I’ve come to realize: comparison is not just the feeling of “I am not enough” or “I don’t have enough.” While it is that, it is so much more. Comparison is “a consideration or estimate of the similarities or dissimilarities between two things or people.”¹ In other words, the moments when I scroll through social media and identify the similarities I have with other people or the things they have that I don’t. Or the places I have the upper hand because I have things they don’t have. It is the moments where I want to be able to feel better about myself, not just the moments I feel worse. The reality is that I was holding up my life and evaluating it based on the image of other people’s lives. I had a gut-wrenching awareness that I had fallen into the trap of comparison on social media more often than I had even realized. So, what now? What do I do now that I know this can be something I partake in? At the end of the day, I do not want it to be true of me that I spend my days considering the similarities or dissimilarities I have with the people I see on a screen. I don’t think you do, either. The starting line for all of us is the humility to admit that apart from the Holy Spirit, at any moment, we can fall into a mindset on the flesh. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  Romans 8:6 (NIV) The mind governed by The Spirit leads to peace. When I get off social media, do I feel peace? Or do I feel jealousy? Resentment? There is a beautiful invitation for us all to slow down before we scroll and ask Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to govern our minds. In this, we can depend fully on Him to replace our feelings of comparison with feelings of peace. Apart from the Holy Spirit, we can all fall into the temptation of measuring our lives by society’s standards. Society tells us the number of likes, and the blue check mark beside our name indicates we are seen.  Yet, Scripture tells us in Psalm 33:13 (NIV),  From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind.  Nothing that is or is not on social media gets to determine whether you and I are on God’s radar.  There are so many different and untrue feelings that may arise as we scroll through social media. What we must do is take each of these thoughts we may have and hold them up to Scripture to see what the real truth is based on what God says. Here are a few things you may be feeling and how Scripture counters these.  1. You feel left behind in life in a never-ending season of waiting. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Romans 5:6 (NIV) 2. You feel the unhealthy urge to match someone else’s appearance and achievements. Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10 (NIV) 3. You feel the pangs of lust. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:16 (NIV) 4. You feel despise the things God has given you because you covet what He hasn’t. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.  Psalm 84:11 (NIV) 5. You feel like you should turn to social media for numbness rather than God’s word for nutrients. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold, they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. Psalm 119:9-10 (NIV) 6. You feel ashamed to admit your online habits. Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.  Isaiah 54:4 (NIV) 7. You feel online is the place to get affirmation instead of from your Holy Father and community. But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)    If comparison is carefully thinking of the similarities or dissimilarities we have with people, then there must be a shift in what we are considering. A shift in what we are thinking about. Comparison is us considering the wrong things.  We must consider the Gospel.  Think carefully about the gospel. Think carefully about a God who left heaven, came to earth, gave His life on the cross, and conquered the grave, all so we could be reconciled to Him. When I think carefully about that, I consider that—there is no room for comparison; there is only room for gratitude. The Gospel reminds me that all that I have is already more than I deserve. The gospel reminds me that grace and mercy are the headlines over my life.  One of the greatest weapons we can have against comparison is to consider the gospel. The action we can all take today is what the writer of Hebrews tells us to do—fix our eyes on Jesus.  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV) ¹Webster Dictionary, s.v. “Comparison,” Accessed September 11, 2023, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comparison

Bring gospel truth to your darkest of nights.

This is an excerpt from Louie Giglio’s book Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table. Jesus was tempted. The Enemy sent harmful thoughts His way. The Devil actually spoke to Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11), and Jesus heard the Devil’s words, yet Jesus never chose to entertain the Devil’s voice. See, when a harmful thought or temptation comes into our minds, we have a choice. We can either discard that thought or entertain it. If we discard it, good. But if we entertain it, that’s when the Devil sits at our table. The sin happens when we keep hold of that harmful thought and let it take root in our minds. Jesus taught this in the Sermon on the Mount. All sorts of folks were entertaining unhealthy thoughts, although they weren’t acting on those thoughts. They figured all was well. But in Matthew 5:21–22 and 27–28, Jesus came along and blew this up. Hey, He told them, you think you’re doing fine because you’re not actually murdering people. Well, guess what? If you simply hate somebody enough to want them dead . . . that’s as bad as murder. You might think you’re fine because you’re not actually in bed with someone you’re not married to, but guess what? If you’re merely imagining yourself in an illicit relationship with someone, that’s also wrong. You’re committing sin with that person in your heart.  Entertaining a harmful thought is as bad as doing a harmful deed. That’s key because it’s far too easy to think we’re not sinning merely because we’re not acting on a sinful thought. Here’s the fact: the thought itself falls short of the glory of God. When we entertain it, the thought muddies our relationship with the Lord. The thought itself occupies our mind and has the power to knock us off course. Romans 12:2 gives this stiff warning: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” The frightening reality is this: once we let a harmful thought pitch a tent in our mind, eventually that temptation is acted on. Period. Sometimes people insist that harmful thoughts don’t always lead to harmful actions, but I disagree. Harmful actions always begin with harmful thoughts, and harmful thoughts, harbored over time, always lead to harmful actions. Those thoughts must be stopped. If those thoughts are entertained long enough, they will win the battle for your mind. Sometimes we will actually do the harmful thing that we’re thinking about, while at other times the shift is simply that our attitude toward the sinful choice changes. We slowly warm up to sin. Either way, the harmful thoughts have led us to being negatively influenced. If you’re thinking about committing adultery, maybe you will actually commit adultery. Or perhaps, after repeatedly imagining yourself committing adultery, you’re more willing to conclude that adultery isn’t that bad.  Adultery is beneficial. Adultery opens doors for you. Adultery is the solution to your marital problems. All lies. Because this is truth, too, and this is why the Enemy’s lures are so dangerous: sin usually feels good. Just for a moment. We often skip over this part of the story in church, but it needs to be told if we’re to be aware of the Enemy’s schemes. Sin can be fun—at least for a little while. Proverbs 14:12–13 lays this out plainly. “There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak” (the message). Can I get an amen? That description in Proverbs sounds like many people’s weekends. Man, we were laughing so hard. We were having such an amazing time. But whoa, the next morning I was so miserable.  Moses grew up as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He had all the opportunity to enjoy the privileges of life in the Egyptian palace. Yet Hebrews 11:25 says that Moses chose not “to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” He went the other direction. The pleasures of sin are enjoyable, but they are not lasting pleasures, and they are certainly not pleasures that honor God. Sinful pleasures don’t provide peace or fulfillment. They lead to harm, separation, disappointment, and shame.  That’s how it works. The Devil shows you a lure. You bite the lure, but it doesn’t deliver what was promised. Instead, you end up in a downward sin spiral into shame, separation, and destruction. This is an excerpt from Louie Giglio’s book, Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table. Click here to grab a copy of this special resource.

Learn how to identify and overcome the temptations and habits that hold you back from living fully for Christ.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the weight of your shame? In this week’s message, Ben Stuart shares how Jesus wants to set us free from our shame and how you can experience it in your own life today!

God calls us to make a difference with the life He gave us. How do we create an environment where we can flourish under God? Ben Stuart explains to us how God creates structure in Genesis so that life can flourish, and then shows us different ways that we can cultivate healthy structure in our lives to allow our relationship with God to flourish as well.

“We are meant to be people of the Word.” Ben Stuart teaches the importance of the word of God in reviving a nation. We are meant to hear, understand, and then be changed by the Word of God. Spiritual renewal can only happen when we are led by the Word of God, and we can learn how to live by it through the book of Nehemiah in our series, Rise Up.

Because the world of information can be tapped into at any moment, it has invaded every moment. What do we run to when we’re in pain? What do we do when we’re uncomfortable? The truth is, that many of us tend to look for ways to distract ourselves from what’s really going on within us, usually through technology. Ben Stuart challenges us to turn away from diversions and toward intimacy with Jesus. What if we sat with our Creator in moments of discomfort rather than numbing our pain with distraction? If we stop to listen, we might find that God is trying to speak to us.

You are your own worst enemy. Underneath and behind the giants of fear, rejection, comfort, addiction, and anger lies the giant of self. Louie Giglio inspires us in this message as we learn how just like Goliath must fall, self must fall.