THE JOURNEY TO MATURITY
Ephesians 4:11
He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.
‘That we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ’
Too many live by other peoples gauge – by someone else’s measuring stick – by someone else’s value meanwhile failing to see their very own potential
When it comes to measuring sticks – the only measuring stick is Christ and who and what He has created, purposed and pre-destined us to be
Not what or who others think we should be
Quite often when we measure ourselves against someone else we tend to discourage ourselves because we tend to pick those that are really doing extremely well and we measure against that and we fall short – we feel like we never ever measure up and we fail to see the awesome potential of the way God has created us
When we measure up against others we will only ever end up running at a fraction of our potential – we end up living with a near enough is good enough mentality – we select good over best – comfort is preferred than perseverance – faith is acknowledged but not activated – the word is memorised but it is not mobilised in our lives – intentions are high but initiatives are low – the opportunities are seen but they are not secured – consistently living an average, normal, uneventful life just living by the status quo
We need to realise that God has given us incredible capacity, power and influence and when we begin to use Christ as our measure only then will we realise the fullness of that capacity, power and influence – Christ is the key to our full potential being realised
2 Peter 1:3 - Growing in the Knowledge of God
As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature. So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
‘So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life’ – our full potential is realised in Christ but it is also realised as we make every effort to apply the promises of God to our lives
This all talks to me of the process of growth in our lives.
Ephesians 4:11 – ‘that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord’.
2 Peter 1 – ‘And finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive – effective – the more you will live at your full potential and not at a fraction of your potential.
A successful life does not just arrive but it is built – it is a growing process – being mature in God is a growth journey – measuring our life to the life of Christ is a growth journey – a life that is influential, successful, productive, effective and at its fullest God potential requires us to go through stages of growth.
Just as a child grows to become an adult and goes through growing pains – we too will experience the pains associated with growth as we measure our life to Christ – but with the pains will come great victories, moments of breakthrough, testimonies of Gods favour and faithfulness, with the pains will come great maturity, wisdom and opportunity
Growth can be painful and it can be an irritation but when we commit to the journey of growing in to full maturity growth becomes our greatest friend
Today I want to look at some principles for personal growth.
Who here was brought up on Fairy Tales? Beauty & The Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs
Today I want to look at the 7 Dwarfs that will stunt our growth
Who can list the 7 Dwarfs? Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, Happy, Doc, Sneezy, Bashful
The Christian life and the 7 Dwarfs – these 7 things will stunt your growth in God – these 7 characteristics will stop you maximising life – they will shrink your potential – they will keep you small – unlike Snow White – these 7 Dwarfs are not your friend
1. WORRY
Matthew 6:27
NKJ - Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
New Living - Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.
Message - Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch?
Worry is not your friend – it will slow you down – it will drain you – it will stress you out
Worry adds nothing to your life! It doesn’t matter how much you worry or how good you worry or even if you consider yourself to be a professional worrier – it says worry will never add anything to your life!
Worry is a detractor – it takes away from you – it does not add value but it subtracts from your life
Worry has the ability to in capacitate us – to knock us on our haunches – to paralyse us and ultimately to bind us and hold us back from moving forward in our lives
I don’t know if you have ever worried about something or had worry in your life but from my own experience I can testify to the paralysing power of worry and its ability to freeze my life to a point where I am bound in my mind, my emotions and my actions – when this happens the growth journey of our life is short circuited and we feel powerless to make good decisions – in some cases powerless to make any decisions – we feel powerless to progress past this moment in our lives and powerless to breakthrough and overcome the situation or circumstance we find ourselves in – worry saps energy
Personal example – when Zak got hurt last week – I was so worried about what was going to happen that I was rendered useless as worry overcame my heart and my mind
The beginning of worry is the end of faith – faith stretches you – worry shrinks you – faith takes you where you have never been and worry will keep you where you have always been before
Analysing, doubting and worrying over an issue will stop you from maximising the opportunity
Story told of J Arthur Rank
J. Arthur Rank, an English executive, decided to do all his worrying on one day each week. He chose Wednesdays. When anything happened that gave him anxiety and annoyed his ulcer, he would write it down and put it in his worry box and forget about it until next Wednesday.
The interesting thing was that on the following Wednesday when he opened his worry box, he found that most of the things that had disturbed him the past six days were already settled. It would have been useless to have worried about them.
Worry is a dwarf - The world has never been so stressed out and freaked out where we are overdosing on pills and all sorts of stuff just to control our emotions which are generally dominated by worry
Worry is the first dwarf that we need to evict from our lives
2. ANGRY
Psalm 37:8 – Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret – it only causes harm
Other words for wrath are boiling point or rage
What does anger do? It only causes harm. I didn’t say that – the psychologists didn’t say that – God said that – along time ago!
Anger only causes harm in our lives but we engage in it often only to our own detriment
Ecclesiastes 7:9 - New Living - Don’t be quick-tempered, for anger is the friend of fools.
Fool = One who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding. One who acts unwisely on a given occasion
I don’t want to be a fool so therefore anger can not be my friend. Anger has to be something I push out of my life
Proverbs 22:24 & 25 – New Living - Keep away from angry, short-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul.
Not angry short people!! Angry, short tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul – what a great verse
How many know that bad company can corrupt your good character? How many know that bad attitudes can rub off on you?
Lets not forget that anger is only one letter away from danger!
Anger makes your mouth move faster than your mind – who’s experienced that?
Anger over-emphasises the negative of the situation – anger over complicates a potentially simple problem
Angry is a dwarf and we need to evict it from our home and life – it is a characteristic you can not hang on to
It will shrink you – it will dominate you – it will overtake friendships – it will annihilate friendships – its not your friend – it’s the friend of a fool
3. STINGY
Proverbs 11:24
New Living - It is possible to give freely and become more wealthy, but those who are stingy will lose everything. The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
NKJ - There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.
Here we learn that generosity is better than stingy
I notice the word used here – withhold – it means to refrain from giving, granting, or permitting
This morning I am not just talking about being stingy in the area of finance – we can also be stingy and withhold when it comes to our time, our effort, our relationships and how much we give of ourselves to any given opportunity, situation or circumstance
Some of the most stingiest people I have known have not been those who are stingy with their money but stingy when it comes to giving of themselves to others
The word ‘withhold’ carries so many negative associations – when we withhold we hold back – we limit – we restrict and we do not permit something new or different to be caught or taught in our lives – we miss out on the opportunity for growth
Therefore stingy – whether it be with money or any other area of our life - is a dwarf – it will limit and keep us small
When we withhold we do not embark on some of the biggest and greatest opportunities of our life – we miss out on the opportunity to grow our wealth – to grow in wisdom – to grow in understanding and to grow in influence – we miss out on the chance to expand in the things of life or to grow our own personal ability to bless the Kingdom of God – therefore losing the opportunity to invest, to increase, to bless, to prove God and to grow in our capacity to help other people in the Kingdom of God
On the subject of money. We need to be careful of the stingy dwarf because when it attaches itself to our lives it causes us to over rate the importance of money in our lives and to over emphasise its value in our lives
The word of God teaches us – “That which we serve becomes our master” and so if we over emphasise money in our lives and we over rate its value in our life – thinking to that we attach our security and our happiness – if you over rate it – you begin to serve it, therefore it becomes your master
And Jesus said you will either serve Me or money
When we measure our life to Christ we grow and develop a life where we do not serve money but money serves us and our life and our hands becomes a channel for the purposes of God
Keep the love of money out of your heart and God will keep it in your pocket!
Stingy people have the wrong priorities – they have attached happiness, security, longevity and their posterity (future generations) to their money
Rene Rivken, one of Australia’s richest men said many years ago – ‘If I lost my wealth tomorrow I would feel suicidal. There is no question about that because I would lose most of what is me’. How sad is that? The sad part is that he did go on to take his own life
Generosity in your life will bring increase in your life but stingy will bring decrease – those who are stingy will lose everything but the generous shall prosper
Stingy is a dwarf and we must evict it from our life
4. LAZY
Proverbs 13:4 - The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
New Living - Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied.
Proverbs 10:4 - He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 22:29 - Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men.(we saw this with Joseph - when a slave in Potiphars house the bible says he found favour in his eyes – Why? – He worked hard! The same thing happens in prison)
Proverbs 12:24 - Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 - If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat
Need we expand any further on this one? Lazy is a dwarf!
Laziness will limit your influence and restrict your ability to live above the circumstances of life – lazy is a dwarf
As Christians we have to raise a sweat and not be afraid to work hard. It’s scriptural and its biblical.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 – What ever your hand finds to do, do it with your might
Some of us want God to bless us but we have a slack work ethic. We are not co-operating with Gods pattern. We are his co-partners. We have to partner with Him.
Christians should be the best employees!
Diligent, honest, hard working, taking initiatives, having an extra mile attitude, not this that’s enough she’ll be right mate attitude, take a sickie, knock off early, tools down at 5 attitude!
It just isn’t good enough!
Lazy is a dwarf that will rob you of opportunity – it will keep you living a limited life without options
Diligent people are always blessed people – they are achievers – they face the challenges – they grow in knowledge and skills – they also grow in influence
The only one place that success comes before work is in the dictionary
Lazy is a dwarf that needs to be evicted from our life
5. TINY – Small Thinking
Small thinking will stop you from moving forward in life
Too many get caught up with the trivial, insignificant things of life. They are too easily distracted and too easily bogged down in the mundane.
Isaiah 55:8 - “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
No matter how big you might be thinking – God is still higher – you can never think too big – God is bigger than your highest thought
God is a possibility thinker but TINY only ever sees the impossibilities and the probabilities and the catastrophes of life
Tiny is a dwarf – small thinking is often a result of feeling incapable of ever doing anything great or ever being anything great – but the truth of Gods word is that it is not by our might – It is not by our power but by My Spirit says God
In the Kingdom of God we do not need to know how it will be done – all we need to know is that it is done – God is looking for those who will think BIG, dream big and BE BIG
• Genesis teaches us to increase, multiply, subdue and have dominion
• Romans tells us we are more than conquerors
• Philippians – set you mind on things above – not on the things of earth
Our behaviour as people always follows our belief system – what we believe – so what we believe about life will impact on our behaviour in life
What you believe about money, marriage, Gods word, the local church – whatever it may be – whatever you believe dictates how you behave about those issues
If we think tiny then we live tiny – small thinking is your enemy – we limit God in our life by thinking small
Small church, small crowds, small offerings, small people getting saved, can’t touch the community, can’t do this, cant do that, I will never, I cant, could be, wish, maybe, one day….we think like this and wonder why our world stays small!
We think tiny and we live tiny
Ephesians 3:20 – Amplified
Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams
If you are hoping it, dreaming it
If you are thinking it
If you are desiring it
If you are praying for it
Guess What? God is passed that. We think it is so big but God is HUGE. He is already way past that but we want to bring Him down and box him but God will not be put in anyone’s box – he is too big for that – we see moves of God and then they are boxed and then we live at that point – God will never be boxed
Notice that it is through His power that is at work within us that enables us to all things
The question is – are we allowing Him to work in us so He can do great things through us?
Tiny thinkers don’t think this way and that is why TINY is a dwarf and needs to be evicted from our lives.
6. NOSEY
MYOB is not just a computer software package for businesses – it is a life principle
MYOB – Mind Your Own Business
Too many are worried about how someone else is living their life instead of building their own life
At the start I touched on the fact that a life is built – it is a journey of growth to maturity – many do not reach maturity because nosey is a dwarf that stunts our growth – many don’t reach maturity because instead of building their own life they are busy monitoring, critiquing, commentating and evaluating the journey of others
More concerned with what is happening in someone elses back yard than their own
Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 7 when He said, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”
Nosey is a dwarf in our life because it is pre-occupied and overly concerned with other peoples progress but to the neglect of our own life
Hebrews 12 tells us that we are to run with endurance the race that is set before US – not the race that is set before another – the race that is set before us – we each have a race to run and will never finish the race as Paul speaks of in 2 Timothy when he says, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race’ if we are consumed with what everyone else is doing
Imagine in the Olympics if in the 100m sprint the leader of the race was to stop to turn around and check out how the rest of the guys were going or if he was to stop and see how the long jumper was performing – he would be overtaken and not finish the race that he was created and destined to finish
Each one of us has been graced to run our race and it is wise to stay within the sphere that God has anointed us to live in
There is something about staying within the boundaries of where God has called you – its in that place where Gods grace flows – in that place you have faith for your own world – you are ordained to be fruitful there
When we start to stick our nose in other people’s territory we neglect our own field and we have no business over there – God has not ordained us to be in that
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be concerned for people but I’ve noticed that nosey people can tend to be gossips – they are looking for inconsistencies – they are ready to bare a tale – re-tell a story – they are eager to dramatise and fantasise and they become emotionally involved – and all of this energy – all this resource is wasted because nosey people while they are enjoying hearing a problem they often don’t have a solution and so you have no place of being there
The reason they have no answers is because it is not their sphere of influence
We would do well to guard and have a sober judgement and stay out of other peoples business
By addressing the issues in our own life it equips us to help others that are facing similar problems. Have you ever experienced that?
Nosey is a dwarf which will hinder our progress and it will damage personal friendships
Proverbs says to be careful how often you go to your neighbour’s house lest you become unwelcome
Proverbs also says a whisperer separates the best of friends
Let’s be careful not to be nosey – lets know our sphere and our boundaries in our friendships
Nosey is a dwarf that needs to be evicted from our lives
7. PHONY
No one I have not met likes fakes
We prefer honesty and we gravitate to integrity
Leaders with integrity will always build great churches because people gravitate to honesty and integrity like a moth to a flame
Psalm 27:11 - Teach me how to live, O LORD. Lead me along the path of honesty, for my enemies are waiting for me to fall.
The Psalmist here recognises honesty as one of the greatest life principles – teach me how to live O LORD and as you do that lead me on a path called honesty
Great friendships are built by authentic people who are real, open and honest with each other – it’s the foundation of every great marriage
Open, authentic, vulnerable, real, honest communication builds a great foundation in a relationship – intimacy is built out of that (hence I am smart to build high levels of open, honest and authentic communication with my wife)
It is a great building block and a launching pad for life
A church that grows in number and influences its community will be led by leaders with integrity who lead people who are honest and authentic and share real answers to real problems out in the real world
This is how we build our team here – on those who are real – open – honest and authentic
If we can have this as a value – a DNA – not just in the church but in our personal lives we will not be dwarfed and shrunk and pushed down to little mode but we will expand and increase and have dominion in every area of life
CONCLUSION
As it is in human relationships so it is with God. God requires honesty from us. You can’t wear a mask with God – you can try but he sees beyond the mask – the Bible teaches us that He doesn’t look at us on the outside but He looks on the inside
All of us are on a journey of growth toward maturity in God where we are fully grown and lacking in nothing
Along the road there are attitudes, behaviours and mindsets that act to dwarf us and keep us little but as we measure our lives against Christ we can evict the dwarfs and continue along the journey growth and get to a place of maturity
The place of maturity is the place where we have authority and dominion over the dwarfs that set out to limit and hold us back
This morning I would love to pray – if any of these dwarfs are active in your life today then today is eviction day!
1. Worry
2. Angry
3. Stingy
4. Lazy
5. Tiny
6. Nosey
7. Phony
