No Co-Dependency

No Co-Dependency!

 Many of us have grown up learning to “pull ourselves up by our boot-straps”

 We have been taught that, “God helps those… who help themselves.”

 “When the going gets tough,… the Tough get going.”

 These may sound good, but really are unbiblical and destructive.

 These sayings are “co-dependent” types of doctrine

 Co-dependency means anything that aids you in self-destructive behavior (substances, people, adrenaline, etc.)

 However, The worst self-destructive behavior is not trusting God!

 Even these sayings, though they may sound motivating, responsible and self-sufficient – are actually destructive.

 They are mindsets that foster a lifestyle of not trusting God.

Matt 6:25-34

25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27 "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

29 "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’

 Jesus is not having a 1970s, flower-child, retro- flashback here (It’s all groovy, so, don’t worry - be happy)

 He is trying to get us to see the big picture

 If we really consider God our Father, our Provider, our Shelter, our Healer… then we should never look further than Him to meet our needs

 When we do, then we are not trusting God

 We become co-dependent

 Dependent on something or someone other than God

 We think God doesn’t understand that importance or seriousness of our situation.

32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 If we will seek Him first, if we will seek His ways, If we will seek His Word - all the other things are added

 Not just our needs but even our wants (our desires)

 We live in a society full of stress, anxiety, and worry

 We live in a society looking for answers, looking for relief, looking for satisfaction (looking for love in all the wrong places)

 God is our all in all – He is the great I AM

 People even try to work out (earn) their salvation

 God is our supply! El Shaddai – The all sufficient one

Jer 17:5-8

5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.

6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited.

7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.

8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

 We literally curse ourselves by trying to do things in our own strength.

 “God Is My Co-Pilot” bumper-sticker – if God is your co-pilot, then switch seats!

 We put our trust in Him – then blessing comes (vs 8)

 This doesn’t mean we sit on our amazing grace and do nothing, but what we do is directed by Him

 Psa 1 – Whatever we put our hands to will prosper

 We have to quit trying to scheme it out, figure it out, work it out, tough it out, and depend solely on the Lord.

Ps 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.