This morning I did my best to convince you that God has a definite purpose for your life. It is not merely survival, or success, but significance, and it is achieved by knowing and living God's unique plan for your life or by living a purpose-driven life.
In addition to this primary truth, we looked at Five Benefits of Living a Purpose-Driven Life.
1. Living a purpose-driven life will reduce frustration by enhancing your ability to make decisions.With that basic truth in place, I invite you join me as we take a look at the foundation of a purpose-driven life.
The ability of a building to endure earthquakes and storms is determined by its foundation. Likewise, the life that endures is one established on a solid time-tested, adversity-proven foundation.
The foundation for the purpose driven-life is INTEGRITY. Integrity demands that my walk match my talk. Integrity says that my lifestyle is in agreement with my core values. There is harmony between my professed Christian beliefs and my actual behavior, both private and public.
QUESTION: How do I establish integrity as the foundation for life? How do I become a person of integrity?
· First, I must prioritize my values, i.e., I must determine what matters most.
· Second, I must evaluate my life in light of my priorities.
· Third, I must adjust my life so that it harmonizes with my priorities.
A. Why are values so important?
· First, the Bible says a lot about the significance of our values.
· Second, our values are what control our destiny.
1. My values determine my Stress Level
2. My values influence my Success Level
3. My values affect my Salvation Level
1. Our values determine our Stress Level.
James 1:8 says, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
George Gallup did a survey and discovered that the number
one stress factor among baby boomers is not that we don't have enough time
or enough money. Neither is it a matter of relational conflicts. According
to
· We say, "Family is important," but surveys show that the average father spends less than 5 minuets a day in one on one conversation with any of his children.
· We say family is important, but we put work and everything else ahead of it.
· We say, "Health is important," but the average American is overweight, does not eat right, and does not exercise.
· We say, "Material things aren’t important," but most Americans are in debt and spend more than they make.
· We say, "God's work is our number one priority," but Americans spend more on dog food than what they give to support missions.
· We say, "God is first in our life," but there's dust on our Bible and prayer is something we occasionally do on the way to work.
This kind of conflict between the values expressed by our lifestyle and our core values produces STRESS.
· The man who believes he ought to pay his bills, but foolishly spends more than he makes will find himself in a financial and emotional dilemma.
· The employee who believes that stealing is wrong, but dips into the till to get money for his light bill will experience anxiety and guilt
An emotional predicament is created when our lifestyle values and our core heart values conflict with one another.
Clarifying and prioritizing what is valuable to us will help lower our stress level and increase our peace of mind dramatically.
2. Our values influence our Success Level.
In Proverbs
The greatest time thief in our life is sourced in our failure to discern the best from the good. We spend valuable time doing good things instead of doing God things. It's hard to be committed to anything when you're trying to do everything.
3. Our values affect our salvation.
Salvation
or deliverance is a past tense, present tense and future tense event. I have
been delivered, I am being delivered, and I will be delivered. When I say that
our values affect our salvation, I'm referring to salvation as a present
tense event or to sanctification. Paul said, "…the
word of the cross is…to us who are being saved…the power of God"
(1Cor.
B. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR VALUES?
Where do our values come from? Our
values are shaped by the Word or by the World; by Christ
or by our culture.
1. The first is Pleasure.
American culture values pleasure. It's motto might well be, "If it feels good do it." It's difficult to deny that we live in a very sensual, pleasure-seeking society.
The number one industry in America is not manufacturing, or religion, or education. It’s not medical research or automobile manufacturing. It's entertainment!
In the 1994, Michael Eisner, the CEO of Walt Disney, announced to shareholders that the Disney Company made 10.1 billion dollars. That was the financial report from just one Entertainment Corporation. I'm not against the Lion King, or Mickey Mouse, or Pocahontas. What I am concerned about is the overemphasis of our society on pleasure. The message seems to be, "we live to have fun." It strongly suggests that our priority in life is pleasure.
Do you remember what Jesus taught us in the parable of the sower? He said, "The seed that fell among thorns are those who are choked by riches and pleasures. Because of they are wrapped up in these things the life is choked out of them, … and as a result, they produce nothing." (Luke 8:14, LB)
According to Psalm 16:11, ultimate pleasure is found in the presence of God: "…In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are lasting pleasures." Pleasure is a result of doing God's will, not the goal of life. If a person makes pleasure their life's goal, it will always be elusive. Even when they obtain it, it won't last. The writer of Hebrews says, "sin's pleasure is temporary" (Hebrews 11:25). The pleasure seeking is constantly going for the bigger hit, the bigger thrill, and the bigger high. The pursuit of worldly pleasure will bankrupt you and leave you nothing to show for all your effort.
TRANS: Pleasure is the first value, but there is another and it is possessions.
2. The second value, is Possessions.
Our American culture says the one who dies with the most toys wins.
We are consumed with consuming.
We believe in Life, Liberty, and the Purchase of happiness. I can't live without it, so I'll buy it even if I have to charge it!
Throughout our culture, we're taught that one’s self worth is based on net worth. The more money you have, the more valuable you are.
According to God that's wrong! Your net worth and your self worth have nothing in common. Your value and your valuables have nothing to do with each other. The acquisition of things is not the measurement of success.
QUOTE: Somebody asked Howard Hughes "How much money does it take to make a man happy?" He replied, "Just a little bit more."
QUOTE: Jesus said, "Beware! Don't always be wishing for what you don't have. Real life and real living are not related to how rich we are." (Luke 12:15, LB)
The richest and wisest man that ever lived said, "If you love money, you will never have enough" (Ecclesiastes 5:10). The Apostle Paul declared that "the love of money is the root of all evil." Possessions will never satisfy you, because you'll never have enough and you'll always want more.
TRANS: The first two American values are pleasure is possessions, but there is a third.
3. The third value is Prestige.
Other words for prestige are power, popularity, and position. We want to be looked up to, because in our culture image is everything. We dress to impress. We buy brand names, because it says, “I can afford the best!”
Culturized Americans walk around like little kids begging, "Watch me, daddy!" We want to be noticed. Look at the car I drive, the clothes I wear, and the house I live in. I'm important!
Somebody said that when man invented the mirror he began to lose his soul because he began to be influenced by image rather than character. By itself, prestige never brings a feeling of significance in our lives.
God's commentary on this issue goes like this: "Though a man calls himself happy all through his life, and the world loudly applauds his success, yet in the end, he dies like everybody else." (Psalm 49:18-19, LB)
The book of Ecclesiastes, is a journal of the wealthiest and wisest man that ever lived. His name was Solomon. The top ten incomes in history, including Bill Gate's 12 billion, would not equal the wealth that Solomon had. He was the richest and most powerful man who ever lived. He controlled an empire and had pleasures galore. Yet, in the book of Ecclesiastes, he tells us that he went after every pleasure you could think of; he denied himself nothing. He concluded, "I've tried pleasure, possessions and prestige and it's not there. I got it all and I was not happy."
1 John 2:6 says, "All these worldly things, the craze for sex and the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you and the pride that comes from wealth and importance, these are not from God."
Do you realize that most of our values are the result of conditioning, not informed choices. They are the product of yielding to peer pressure or social pressure. We accepted many of them without asking any questions. We got caught up in the rat race and sucked in by good advertising.
Do you realize that the number one values' creator in today’s culture is not parents or the Church, it's music and movies.
TRANS: If you agree that even Christians have been culturized, then perhaps you're asking yourself "what do we need to do to restore integrity to our lives?
C. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO BUILD MY LIFE ON LASTING VALUES?
I think there are at least three things everyone of us need to consider.
1. First, DETERMINE WHAT'S VALUABLE or IMPORTANT.
Job 34:3-4 "Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good." Before we can do what's good we have to decide what is good or right.
You need a personal definition of what is right and then you need to be committed to it.
We would to well to begin with an accurate definition of right. Something is right when it agrees with and does not conflict with God's nature, character and rule, or with His will for my personal life. According to Paul the apostle, "The whole Bible…is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us know what is right" (2Tim. 3:16).
This issue is too important for someone else to decide. It should not be determined by our culture, Hollywood, or Wall Street, but by you and God. It's time to get back to what is right in God's eyes!
We rarely take the time to examine our values until we experience a crisis. Crisis experiences often help us determine what is really valuable to us. A close call with death helps us realize that health and family are more important that position, possessions and prestige. Don't wait until a crisis comes knocking!
Do this: Set aside some time to sit down and make a list of your core values. Get alone with God, your Bible, a pen and some paper, and jot down your responses to these simple questions:
· What do I value most?
· What matters most to me?
· What type of person do I want to become?
· What adjectives would I like to describe me?
· Am I doing what I really care about doing?
· What is vitally important and what's a complete waste to me?
· What would I like written on my tombstone?
· If I were to write a letter to my kids or my friends on what is most important in life, what would I tell them?
· What in my life is trivial and what is essential?
· What should I hold onto and what should I let go of?
Once you've answered those questions prayerfully and carefully, evaluate your answers in light of the following:
· Is my answer in conflict with God's character and nature?
· Is my answer in conflict with God's holiness?
· Is my answer in conflict with God's will for my personal life?
· Is my answer in conflict with God's Word; the Bible?
· Will action based on my answer glorify God?
TRANS: The first thing you need to do is to determine your core values. This will equip you to take the next step, which is to eliminate or cull out what's not valuable or unimportant.
2. Second, ELIMINATE WHAT'S NOT IMPORTANT.
· Fact: Not everything on your schedule is worth your valuable time.
· Fact: You don't have time for everything.
· Fact: God doesn't expect you to do everything.
The Psalmist asked, "Turn my eyes away from worthless things." (Psalm 119:37). Life is too important to waste on worthless things, so don't waste your life reading worthless books, carrying on worthless conversations, or watching worthless movies.
In Romans 12:2, God says, "Don't conform to the standards of this world." God's talking about values.
A purpose driven life begins with a shift in values. Paul understood this. That's why he says in Philippians 3:8 "Everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ. For me to live is Christ." Today, with your current set of values, how would you finish that sentence if your were completely honest with yourself and with God? "For me to live is __________." What you place in that blank will determine what you eliminate.
TRANS: The first thing you need to do is to determine your core values. Next, you must eliminate or cull from your list everything that is not valuable or that is unimportant. Once you've done this, then you're ready for the third and final step.
3. Third, CONCENTRATE ON LIVING YOUR CORE VALUES.
Once you know your core values, start working to bring your life into line with those values. Set aside to evaluate your life in light of your list of core values. Is your life lining up with what you say is important? It's very easy to forget what's important. It’s very easy to get off base. You need to continually, daily, look at your life in light of your core values and ask yourself, "Is this what I'm really building my life on? Is my life an expression of my core values?"
Proverbs 21:21 declares, "He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor." Notice the benefits. The very 3 things the world exhausts itself trying to find, God promises to those who pursue righteousness—what is right in His eyes. Don't spend your life pursuing life, prosperity and honor! Instead, pursue righteousness and God will see to it that you experience "life, prosperity and honor."
If you were lost in an uncharted desert wilderness would you rather have a compass or a map of the U.S. Interstate highway system? The map would be worthless in an uncharted area. The compass, not the map, would help you find your way out of the wilderness.
We are living in turbulent times and although we see through a glass darkly, we have no clear cut idea about what's going to happen next. There is no road map that describes every path for your life. God has not spelled out all the details of your future. If He did, then you wouldn't have to live by faith.
God has given you a compass and a Guide.
· The compass is the Word of God. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away." If you build your values on God's truth, then your compass will always point you in the right direction, regardless of the circumstances you're in.
· The Guide is the indwelling Holy Spirit. He will guide you into “all truth.”
I don't know what we will be called upon to face during the course of this year. I can, however, be prepared to make right decisions by establishing my life on God ordained values. When the moment of choice comes those values will equip me to make right decisions. They will give me stability even when the world is flying apart.
Jesus instructed His disciples to, "Seek first God’s kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well." To seek God’s kingdom is to seek and prefer God’s will and rule over my own.
The foundation for living a significant life is integrity, and integrity is living, not just mouthing God's values.
Sources:
-Pastor Larry's sermons on the Purpose Driven Life
-Rick Warren's, The Purpose Driven Life