Sermon Central
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Self Lies Series
Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Jul 18, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: Sermon #1 of a 4 part series on truth and lies. Based on material from a book called "The Lies We Believe, by Dr. Chris Thurman. Self lies come from erroneous thoughts floating around in our own minds.
Truth Series Sermon #1
SELF LIES
CHCC – June 26, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
In this series of sermons I plan to focus on the kinds of lies people tend to allow to float around in their heads. We will deal with Self Lies, Worldly Lies, Marriage Lies, and Religious Lies. There’s something very basic I learned it from the Bible, and it’s the foundation of my theological grid. This basic theology has two parts:
1. God is truth. Everything I learn from God is absolutely true. God’s Word is true 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It is true whether it is popular or unpopular, whether people think it’s trendy or out-of-date, whether it’s appreciated or mocked. Romans 3:4 Let God be true, and every human being a liar.
2. Satan is a liar. This grows out of the first statement that God is truth. God’s Word says that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
Christian belief rests on this foundation, but too often we fail to apply this to the way we live our daily lives.
Too often we listen to … meditate on … and even live by … the lies of Satan --- we do this because we haven’t stopped to examine the source of our thoughts and beliefs.
Today we will focus on the lies we tell ourselves. The Greek Scholar, Demosthenes said, “Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish we readily believe.”
The way we THINK makes all the difference in life. Some of our thoughts are so deeply entrenched that we’re not even aware of them.
It’s easy for us to get caught in a trap called Stinkin Thinkin’. I learned about this terminology from a recovering alcoholic in AA. He explained that they were taught to avoid the kind of thought processes that would shift blame for self behavior to others, and to take responsibility for our own actions.
The LIES we believe can literally ruin our lives.
In Romans, Paul warns about the importance of our thoughts: Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Romans 8:5-6
I want to start today by focusing on a very common false belief:
1. I must have everyone’s love and approval …
This is the person believes deep down that: “Everyone MUST …
• Like me
• Accept me
• Approve of me
• Love me
• Think I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread
• If anyone is displeased with me, I have to find a way to make them like me.
The truth is that no matter what you do or who you try to be, there will always be someone who will not like you. I read in a leadership magazine that any leader can expect to have about 12-15% solidly behind him, no matter what. AND any leader must realize there will always be about 12-15% who will NEVER get behind him no matter what.
So generally speaking you can expect that 10-15% of the people in your life will not approve of you. You’ll never win them over, no matter how hard you try.
Jesus understood this. John chapter 2 says that many people put their trust in Him because of his miracles, but Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature. No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like. John 2:24-25
Some of the best advice I got early in my ministry came from someone who told me, “God doesn’t call us to be successful --- he calls us to be faithful.” If we are pleasing God, we don’t need to give a thought to whether we are pleasing people.
Trying to please people will turn you into a social chameleon … constantly shifting colors to fit in with your surroundings. If you do this long enough, you become an APPROVAL ADDICT. An Approval Addict will end up feeling frustrated and guilty because they compromise what they know is right in order to please the people around them.
Tomas a Kempis: "Do not let your peace depend on the hearts of men; whatever they say about you … good or bad … you are not because of it another man … for as you are, you are."
If you become a people-pleaser, you lose all sense of who you really are … you compromise your values, and you lose the joy of living.
