Being Rooted In Christ Series

This week I was listening to the Christian music station and a familiar song came on the radio by a band named Switchfoot called “This is your life,” and the lyrics of the song say, “This is your life, are you who you want to be? This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose.” When you look in the mirror are you the person you thought you would become? Are you who you want to be? Or maybe a better question is, are you the person God wants you to be?

The first question is an introspective question, are you happy with your life? To quote Dr. Phil, “how’s that working for you?” At some point in our life we need to realize that perhaps the way we’ve always done things in the past hasn’t gotten the results we thought it would. In fact the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again, but expecting different results. I still have that anger problem, my kids aren’t as well behaved as I thought they would be, my marriage isn’t as I imagined on my wedding day, I’m not satisfied with my job, it is unfulfilling, we can’t seem to control our spending.

On the other hand many of us are pretty happy or at least comfortable with where we are, things are going okay. But are we the person God wants us to be? This is a tough question because the Bible tells us God loves us just the way we are. There is nothing you could do more or less of to receive God’s love. God loves us for who we are right now, no matter how successful or unsuccessful we are. In fact, there are some here this morning who need to hear this today, because you are always trying to work hard to gain God’s approval, but God already loves you. You might have the voice of a father or mother or coach in your head saying you’re still not good enough, you can do better, and you just couldn’t seem to win their approval. God isn’t that way he already approves of you.

Yet at the same time, God knows what we can become with his help. God says it this way in the Bible, “be holy, as I am holy.” God knows we can become so much more, and so God loves us enough to help us become all that we could be if we are willing. I love to watching college football and this year I’ve been able to check out MSU, U of M, Notre Dame, they are all have rookie quarterbacks right now. And they’re a little green behind the ears if you know what I mean. They have a lot of raw talent that hasn’t been formed yet. They haven’t even come close to reaching their potential, yet the coach’s job is not to accept them for who they are, their job is to help them to be the best quarterback they can be. As the quarterback grows in his role, he becomes more fulfilled and grows in confidence in his abilities. God wants us to become the best we can be, he loves us for who we are but he wants is to experience fullness of life, abundant life.

In our memory verse this morning, I believe the Apostle Paul, was trying to help us see how we can have that kind of life God intends for us, to be the person God planned for us to be. It begins with God, not with us. The reason we are not where we ought to be is because we have tried doing it on our own without relying on God’s help. We try to be a self made person. Kind of the, ‘God helps them who help themselves’ mentality. Sorry folks that is not in the Bible. God helps those who trust, rely, and lean on him. We must put aside our pride and realize we need help from outside ourselves. We need God’s help. God provides that help for us through Jesus. When we admit we are sinner and inadequate to save ourselves, and believer Jesus, he saves us from ourselves and fills us with his Spirit so we can become all that God created us to be. If we want to receive God’s help, we must begin with receiving Jesus first.

Paul advices his readers, “NLT Colossians 2:6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.” The change begins with God, God wants to do a work in us but it is only possible with him.