Robbed By Relationships Series

Identity Theft

March 12, 2006

Robbed By Relationships

Intro: I need a volunteer. Did you ever take the ACT/SAT? This will be kind of like that. Have you ever seen one of these? I want you to take a few seconds to put these shapes into the canister. According to our Vandy alumni this is the entrance exam into UT. Why didn’t you try to put the square in the round hole or the star into the square hole? Do you think if you tried hard enough it would have fit? Why not?

Note: As you’re aware, this is a simple preschool toy to help kids learn their shapes and colors while working on their fine motor skills. Yet no matter how forceful one of those ankle-biters is, they can’t fit a square peg into a round hole. Neither can you!

Note: In the Bible, Solomon – the richest guy who ever lived struggled w/ this concept. In fact, the Bible says he tried, “Everything under the sun” to fill the hole in his heart. In his journal, the Book of Ecclesiastes, he says, “I said to myself, I said to my heart, ‘Come now. Let’s just see what might fill up that hole in my heart.’”

Note; By the end of his life after trying it all, Solomon said, “You know what I discovered? It’s all meaningless. It’s just like chasing after the wind.” Why? B/c you can’t cram a square peg into a round hole and you can’t use the things of this world to fill the God-shaped hole in your heart. Note Solomon’s conclusion from Pr.19:22

Verse: What a man, what a woman desires, what they’re really after is an unfailing love.

Note: I sense that’s true – don’t you? I think we sometimes believe that if we could just fill up this hole in our hearts w/ this thing called love, then we’d be okay. We’re crazy to fill that void in our hearts that longs to be loved.

Note: Think about it. Problem is we tend to go looking for love in all the wrong places. We have bookcases sagging w/ romance novels, theaters filled w/ patrons viewing the newest love story, and CD/MP3’s filled w/ love songs. Just how many love songs have been written through the years? Songs that pledge their devotion like, “Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough, ain’t no river wide enough to keep me from you.” Every time I hear that song I think – get a restraining order! Yes, I do think Solomon was correct – what we need is an unfailing love.

Quote: Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. Aristotle

Love doesn’t make the world go round; it’s what makes the ride worthwhile. F. Jones

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt w/ love from the heart. Helen Keller

Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all. St. Augustine

Trans: I’d like to quote the infamous philosopher Jerry McGuire. You know the movie w/ Cruise and Zellweger (By the way, it is my understanding that if you’re going to watch this movie, then you should wait for it to come on TBS). In the movie there are (3) famous lines – do you remember them? “Show me the money.” “You had me at hello.” The third is when he looks at his wife and he says, “You complete me.”

Trans: Meg and I have been married for 11years. We never had a song, movie, or book – we just had each other. While I love her and know in my heart she is God’s greatest gift to me – she doesn’t complete me. She makes me a better man, but she doesn’t complete me. And if you were to ask her the same question, she’d tell you that I don’t complete her. I know that’s hard to believe w/ me being such a hunk, but I don’t fill the God-like shape in her heart, nor am I supposed to – that’s God’s job.

Point: To expect another person or relationship to complete you and fill up the God-like hole in you is setting that relationship up to fail. It is an unfair and unrealistic.

Funny: It’s reminds me of the woman who said, “I thought I married Mr. Right. I just didn’t know his first name was Always.”

Trans: This AM we’re starting a series entitled, Identity Theft. Identity theft is the nation’s fastest growing crime. It is when a person gains access to your life and personal information and begins to live extravagantly at your expense w/out your permission. It is when someone steals who you are and lives your life at your expense.