Sermon Title: Care For Self, Not Just For Others
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I heard a preacher say recently, “I would rather burn out than to rust out.” He was speaking about working hard and “burning out” versus hardly working at all. Although I believe the Bible teaches us to work hard, God does not expect us to work so hard that we are not able to maintain our relationship with Him or others. This is one of the greatest hindrances to good relationships in our lives – the way we live our lives and the stress it brings to us and those around us. We need to learn how to “de-stress” our lives so that we can build better relationships.
The passage above tells us that life is not about working harder or “accomplishing” more. Rather, life is about experiencing such a relationship with God that we actually live “blameless” and in peace. It is not a life where we desire more and more, but a life of contentment, that gives “thanks in all circumstances.” Do you live a life like that? Or is your life filled with the stress of working harder, doing more, worrying all the time and never feeling content? If it is, then your relationships will be hurt.
Dr. Gary Smalley speaks to this in his book, “The DNA of Relationships” when he writes the following: “When you love God with every part of your being, he fills you up to overflowing with his amazing love. Out of that overflow, you give to others. This is the balanced life, the only kind of life worth living. But notice something crucial: If you don’t take care of yourself, you have no overflow. Without an overflow, you find it very hard to take care of others—and almost impossible to obey Jesus’ command to love God with all your heart.”
This coming Sunday we will discuss how to take care of ourselves by decreasing stress in our lives using Biblical principles as we continue to sermon series, “DNA of Relationships.” Hope to see you then!
