Principles For Better Living

INTRO.- ILL.- I like the story about the preacher who had a microphone in his hand as he preached, and as he moved around the platform he would jerk the cord as he went.

Then he moved to one side, getting wound up in the cord and nearly tripping before jerking it again. After several circles and jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother and whispered, "If he gets loose, will he hurt us?"

I suspect that some little kids probably think that way. However, the preaching of God’s Word is for the purpose of helping people, blessing them, bettering them, building them in the faith of Christ.

I Cor. 14:26 “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”

We all are here to help make life better for one another. At least, we should be! We are in the construction business, not the destruction business! And everything we do in the church should be for the purpose of building up one another.

Are you interested in better living? Who isn’t?

ILL.- One very cold December I picked up a hitchhiker in Iberia, MO, probably 30 years ago. I took him to the church next door so he could have a warm place to stay that night and then I visited with him. I have never in my life met a person like him. He didn’t want to have anything to do with other people including his own family who basically disowned him.

He was a true hermit, of sorts. He didn’t want to be around other people and didn’t want to go to church, but he did thank me for my help. He apparently didn’t want a better life, which meant a change of life.

That man is not the only person who didn’t want a better life. I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of husbands and wives and whole families that didn’t want a better life. HOW SO? It was obvious that they never made any significant spiritual changes in their lives. They weren’t interested in going to church or getting to know God and how can life get better without God???

Surprisingly, there isn’t much in scripture about better living but there are many scriptures, that if observed, will give us a better life on earth. There isn’t a specific text or chapter in the Bible like the love chapter that deals with better living. But here’s a good text to consider.

Eccl. 2:24-25 “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"

What an interesting scripture! Without God, who can find enjoyment in life? And without God, how can we acquire a better life? I want to help people experience a better life, here and now, and it will only happen in Christ.

PROP.- Scriptural principles to make life better.

1- Stay cool, don’t blow your cool

2- Try faith, don’t let faithlessness rule

3- Be possessed, don’t give in to obsession

I. STAY COOL, DON’T BLOW YOUR COOL

ILL.- In New York City last week a taxi clipped a red Beetle while veering across four lanes of traffic to pick-up a fare. The two drivers got out to examine the damage the cabbie a short man of Middle Eastern origin, the Beetle driver a hulking giant.

As the cabbie approached, the Beetle driver grabbed him by the shirt and hoisted him off the ground. There, at eye level with the cabbie’s feet dangling in the air, the Beetle owner began screaming, every third sentence being, "This is your lucky day!"

Eventually, the cabbie was lowered back to the ground, but, then, the Beetle guy asked, "Don’t you want to know why this is your lucky day?"

He then proceeded to answer his own question: "Because I’m on my way to anger management class and I don’t dare show-up with blood on my shirt!"

Stay cool, don’t blow your cool, but people do blow their cool often when driving. It’s called “road rage,” and I have read, however, that it’s far worse in England than in the US. But it doesn’t make any difference whether its road rage, work rage, shopping rage or whatever it is, this kind of anger is not good!

James 1:19-20 “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

Be slow to become angry. Why? Because anger doesn’t please God. Most of the time our anger is not right or righteous. Our anger is often self-centered. We get angry because things didn’t go our way, not because we are holy and everyone else is unholy.