WEBVTT 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:14.759 In the name of love, we've all done some pretty 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:17.699 stupid things. I could tell some pretty embarrassing 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:21.359 stories about in the name of love, I love someone, 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:24.519 and then I just did something absolutely idiotic. 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:27.260 Today, we're going to help you not make some 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:32.579 of those very same mistakes. Stay with me. Welcome 00:00:32.579 --> 00:00:35.219 to this weekend edition of Living on the Edge 00:00:35.219 --> 00:00:38.090 with Chip Ingram. The mission of this daily program 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:40.789 is to intentionally disciple Christians through 00:00:40.789 --> 00:00:42.890 the insightful Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. 00:00:43.189 --> 00:00:45.390 You know, it should go without saying that love 00:00:45.390 --> 00:00:48.509 is the cornerstone of every relationship. However, 00:00:48.649 --> 00:00:51.310 today, as we revisit another program from our 00:00:51.310 --> 00:00:54.310 series Spiritual Simplicity, Chip reminds us 00:00:54.310 --> 00:00:56.750 that without proper boundaries and guardrails, 00:00:56.789 --> 00:01:00.229 love can actually be very damaging to us. If 00:01:00.229 --> 00:01:02.840 you're ready to learn how, Go again to 1 Corinthians 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:06.060 chapter 13 in your Bible as we join Chip for 00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:10.299 today's talk. Has anyone noticed that each of 00:01:10.299 --> 00:01:12.840 the titles of the messages has been the title 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:16.299 of a song? Have you picked that up? Right? You 00:01:16.299 --> 00:01:18.040 know, we had Tina Turner, what's love got to 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:23.319 do with it? All you need is love. And well, I'm 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:27.359 kind of on a roll. This is going to be the title 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:29.019 of a song. And what I love is that some of the 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:31.420 songs I had to preface it with, like if you were 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:33.480 born, you know, maybe you've heard this on an 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:36.480 oldie station. The title of the song is actually 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:41.280 the most sung song by U2 in any of their concerts. 00:01:41.540 --> 00:01:44.040 It was one of their early hits. So here we have 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:47.159 a song in the name of love that at the core of 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.480 the lyrics, if you read the lyrics, they don't 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.540 make a lot of sense. Here's what hit me. All 00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:57.480 of us. in the name of love, do things that don't 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.420 make sense. I mean, in the name of love, sometimes 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:04.299 we do very, very good things, but they just don't 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:06.819 make sense. And so I came across, here's a little 00:02:06.819 --> 00:02:10.050 poem. If you'll get your notes out. On the very 00:02:10.050 --> 00:02:12.610 front, here's some things that in the name of 00:02:12.610 --> 00:02:14.650 love, and by the way, there's no criticism here. 00:02:15.030 --> 00:02:18.750 This is like genuine, sincere, in the name of 00:02:18.750 --> 00:02:20.729 love, I really want to do what's best. I really 00:02:20.729 --> 00:02:22.330 want to care for people. I want to be a good 00:02:22.330 --> 00:02:25.069 person. But in the name of love, we give and 00:02:25.069 --> 00:02:27.250 give and give some more, yet still feel guilty 00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:29.930 for not giving more. In the name of love, we 00:02:29.930 --> 00:02:32.210 get up early and come home late, leaving little 00:02:32.210 --> 00:02:35.550 time or energy. In the name of love, we're always 00:02:35.550 --> 00:02:38.849 on the go, but love requires the gear of slow. 00:02:39.069 --> 00:02:41.849 In the name of love, we start them early so they'll 00:02:41.849 --> 00:02:43.909 be a star, and then we spend our weekends in 00:02:43.909 --> 00:02:46.590 the car. In the name of love, we buy them computers 00:02:46.590 --> 00:02:49.689 and fancy phones, only discover they feel all 00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:52.250 alone. In the name of love, we celebrate their 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:54.530 role on the traveling team and wonder later why 00:02:54.530 --> 00:02:57.009 at church they're rarely seen. And in the name 00:02:57.009 --> 00:03:00.469 of love, we make success what we reward, but 00:03:00.469 --> 00:03:03.469 show little passion. for God's word. See, there's 00:03:03.469 --> 00:03:06.050 a lot of really good things with a lot of really 00:03:06.050 --> 00:03:09.810 good motives that if the means becomes the end 00:03:09.810 --> 00:03:12.889 or if there's a little shift over time in the 00:03:12.889 --> 00:03:16.949 name of love, in our minds and hearts and motives, 00:03:17.110 --> 00:03:20.050 we often think we're doing some really good things 00:03:20.050 --> 00:03:25.370 that produce some really bad results. And that's 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:27.849 the question I want to address this morning here 00:03:27.849 --> 00:03:34.449 in part four. Why do so many good things so often 00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:38.729 result in so many bad lives? I want to do a quick 00:03:38.729 --> 00:03:41.370 review before we talk about how love responds 00:03:41.370 --> 00:03:44.810 to misplaced priorities because the issue isn't 00:03:44.810 --> 00:03:48.349 someday, some way that we try to be more loving. 00:03:48.469 --> 00:03:50.469 These are the kind of things we have to practice 00:03:50.469 --> 00:03:53.610 in real time. Situation number one is how does 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:56.490 love respond to hurts? The truth is love is patient 00:03:56.490 --> 00:03:58.930 and kind. The practice we learned is when you're 00:03:58.930 --> 00:04:01.569 hurt, wounded, rejected, or ignored, love, remember 00:04:01.569 --> 00:04:04.469 the pillow, absorbs a blow. It's not fair. It 00:04:04.469 --> 00:04:07.289 hurts. You rejected. But then by God's grace, 00:04:07.509 --> 00:04:11.210 returns a hug. Situation number two is how love 00:04:11.210 --> 00:04:15.189 responds to differences. The text says love doesn't 00:04:15.189 --> 00:04:17.750 envy. It doesn't boast. It's not rude. It's not 00:04:17.750 --> 00:04:19.930 self -seeking. It's not easily angered. It keeps 00:04:19.930 --> 00:04:23.870 no record of wrongs. The practice is love celebrates 00:04:23.870 --> 00:04:26.089 differences. And remember the principle about 00:04:26.089 --> 00:04:31.910 loving? Love refuses to compare. Third situation 00:04:31.910 --> 00:04:35.610 is how does love respond to failure? The truth 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:37.810 was verses six through eight. Love does not delight 00:04:37.810 --> 00:04:40.529 in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always 00:04:40.529 --> 00:04:42.509 protects, it always trusts, it always hopes, 00:04:42.569 --> 00:04:46.170 it always perseveres. Love never fails. The practice 00:04:46.170 --> 00:04:49.110 is love responds to failure, remember, with both 00:04:49.110 --> 00:04:53.620 truth and grace. Now the Apostle Paul is going 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:56.000 to address these Corinthians because they are 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.600 self -centered. They are more concerned about 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:01.920 who does what and who has what. And their priorities 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:04.740 in the church are absolutely out of whack. And 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:06.579 so the Apostle Paul is going to write to him, 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:09.500 situation number four, how does love respond 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:12.379 to misplaced priorities? You can jot that in 00:05:12.379 --> 00:05:15.120 your notes if you would. And he answers, here's 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:19.000 the truth. Love never fails. Where there are 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:21.000 prophecies, they'll cease. Where there's tongues, 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:22.759 they will be stilled. Where there's knowledge, 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.000 it'll pass away. Then he gives us the reason. 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:28.879 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:31.779 but when the perfection comes, and put a circle 00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:33.300 around perfection, will you? We'll come back 00:05:33.300 --> 00:05:35.660 and address that. When the perfection comes, 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.899 the imperfect disappears. And now he gives us 00:05:38.899 --> 00:05:40.920 an illustration. He's going to give us some help 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:43.240 about how to get your priorities in order. He 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:46.819 says, when I was a child, I talked. like a child 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:50.100 i thought like a child and i reasoned like a 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:54.339 child when i became a man i put away childish 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:56.779 things in your notes will you underline the word 00:05:56.779 --> 00:06:00.740 talked underline the word think and underline 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:05.180 the word reasoned there are three key verbs now 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:08.680 we see but a poor reflection as an emir then 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:11.600 we shall see face to face now i know in part 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.300 then i shall know fully even as i'm fully known 00:06:14.990 --> 00:06:19.470 And now these three remain, faith, hope, and 00:06:19.470 --> 00:06:22.790 love. But the greatest of these is love. And 00:06:22.790 --> 00:06:26.509 so the practice here is love ruthlessly refuses 00:06:26.509 --> 00:06:30.430 to allow temporal good things to crowd out the 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:33.290 eternal best things. And when you put a box around, 00:06:33.509 --> 00:06:37.250 I mean, I chose these words very carefully. Ruthlessly 00:06:37.250 --> 00:06:41.250 refuses. Put a box around that phrase. And I 00:06:41.250 --> 00:06:43.000 want to give you a little warning. What we're 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.259 going to talk about is where a lot of the rubber 00:06:45.259 --> 00:06:47.519 really meets the road. If you want to simplify 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.120 your life, if you want to find yourself three 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.540 months, three years, five years, 10 years down 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:55.879 from here and say to yourself, you know something? 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:59.019 I love God now like I never dreamed I could experience. 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:01.740 I have relationships like I never dreamed. There's 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:03.839 issues in my family that have come together that 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:06.360 I never thought I would ever experience. A lot 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:09.220 of it is going to come down to you hearing today. 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.649 what God says to you, and then you taking some 00:07:12.649 --> 00:07:16.129 very specific, and I mean, there'll be radical 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:19.050 steps. We will not talk about how to tweak your 00:07:19.050 --> 00:07:22.189 schedule and get five or 7 % more time to do 00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:25.050 a few more important things. We're gonna talk 00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:27.589 about priorities that if you get serious about 00:07:27.589 --> 00:07:30.509 what God wants, you're gonna have to say to certain 00:07:30.509 --> 00:07:32.290 whole sections of your life, you know something? 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:35.490 That's been way up here. You know what? For a 00:07:35.490 --> 00:07:38.610 season, I just need to stop doing that. I got 00:07:38.610 --> 00:07:41.689 to get refocused at a new level about what really, 00:07:41.769 --> 00:07:50.230 really matters. Love ruthlessly. Ruthlessly. 00:07:50.290 --> 00:07:52.689 That means, oh, I don't want, if I do that, she'll 00:07:52.689 --> 00:07:54.250 get mad at me. If I do that, I want to do that. 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:55.629 Well, I get a lot of strokes out of that. Well, 00:07:55.689 --> 00:07:58.569 that's one of my hobbies and I really, and so 00:07:58.569 --> 00:08:01.750 you keep trying to tweak and what happens? Seven 00:08:01.750 --> 00:08:03.930 days later, you're as overscheduled, over -demand, 00:08:03.930 --> 00:08:08.899 overwhelmed as you were two weeks before. You're 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:14.079 really smart people. If tweaking a little bit 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:17.600 here or there was the solution, you would have 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.660 solved this a long time ago. So let's look at, 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:23.819 okay, God, help us. How do we ruthlessly refuse 00:08:23.819 --> 00:08:27.959 to allow? Notice it's not bad things. The things 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:30.540 that eat you up, they're not bad things. They're 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:34.100 temporal. They're really good things. But the 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:37.330 good is always the enemy of the best. His thesis 00:08:37.330 --> 00:08:41.669 here is that love is supreme. Love is our number 00:08:41.669 --> 00:08:44.990 one priority. That phrase, love never fails, 00:08:45.169 --> 00:08:48.029 it's kind of a hinge. And then it kind of opens 00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:51.350 the door to how love responds to misplaced priorities. 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:54.679 The word fails 70 different times in the New 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:57.460 Testament. It's translated, love never falls. 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:00.659 It means love will never be corrupted. Love will 00:09:00.659 --> 00:09:04.179 never cease. Love is permanent. Love lasts. He's 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:08.259 saying loving God and loving people is the number 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:11.240 one priority in your life. And see, what we've 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.419 got to do is step back and say, okay, if someone 00:09:13.419 --> 00:09:16.720 picked up my schedule, If someone picked up where 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:19.200 all my money went, if someone could pick up and 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:22.159 read my mind about where my thoughts are when 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:24.700 I didn't have something to do, would my thoughts 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:28.480 and my time and my money and my energy and my 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:31.679 actions tell the story that, wow, this person 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:34.740 really loves God and really loves people? Or 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:37.549 would it... They listen to my words and say, 00:09:37.610 --> 00:09:40.950 this person says and thinks and actually is deluded 00:09:40.950 --> 00:09:43.309 into believing they really love God and really 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:45.230 love people. But when you look at their time, 00:09:45.289 --> 00:09:46.870 their money, their dreams, their schedule, and 00:09:46.870 --> 00:09:48.710 their energy, it looks like they really love 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:52.450 themselves a lot. And they really have believed 00:09:52.450 --> 00:09:54.409 a few lies. That's what he's dealing with that 00:09:54.409 --> 00:09:57.409 church then. And that's what he's talking to 00:09:57.409 --> 00:10:02.159 us about today. The contrast. He says love is 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.320 supreme. Love's the number one priority. The 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:09.139 best of temporal things, the good, even spiritually 00:10:09.139 --> 00:10:12.659 beneficial, powerful gifts are far less important 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:15.899 than love. I mean, isn't that exactly what he 00:10:15.899 --> 00:10:19.059 says? Look at second half of verse eight. There's 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:24.120 a big word. Love never fails, but, but, where 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.539 there's prophecies, they'll cease. Where there's 00:10:27.539 --> 00:10:29.419 tongues in and of themselves, they're gonna go 00:10:29.419 --> 00:10:32.029 away. Where there's knowledge, I mean, even the 00:10:32.029 --> 00:10:34.029 great mysteries of God. So the Apostle Paul, 00:10:34.210 --> 00:10:36.169 if you study this book carefully, remember he 00:10:36.169 --> 00:10:39.269 told him in chapter 12, prophecy is the most 00:10:39.269 --> 00:10:41.429 important of all the gifts. And now he comes 00:10:41.429 --> 00:10:42.850 back and says, you know, even that one's going 00:10:42.850 --> 00:10:45.350 away. The Corinthians believed that tongues was 00:10:45.350 --> 00:10:46.610 the most important gift. He goes, well, yours 00:10:46.610 --> 00:10:48.769 is going away. And they said, we would both agree 00:10:48.769 --> 00:10:50.789 that, I mean, knowledge, the very mystery and 00:10:50.789 --> 00:10:53.029 knowledge of life and God. He says, that's going 00:10:53.029 --> 00:10:57.419 to go away. And those are the things, those are 00:10:57.419 --> 00:10:59.580 about ministry. Those are about the kingdom of 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:02.039 God. I mean, prophecy and tongues and knowledge. 00:11:02.179 --> 00:11:04.759 And he says, wait a second, compared to love, 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:08.759 they're not the number one priority. You're listening 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:11.759 to Living on the Edge. We'll return you to Chip's 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:14.200 message in just a minute. But let me quickly 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.759 share with you, God has called us to do incredible 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:19.779 ministry work all around the world. And when 00:11:19.779 --> 00:11:21.840 you partner with us financially, you're part 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.389 of what we do. So if you'd like to join us, go 00:11:24.389 --> 00:11:28.509 to livingontheedge .org. We appreciate you giving 00:11:28.509 --> 00:11:31.350 whatever God leads you to give. Well, with that, 00:11:31.350 --> 00:11:34.529 here's Chip. The reason he gives us in verse 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:37.649 9 and 10, the reason is because they don't last. 00:11:37.970 --> 00:11:40.289 They're temporal. Could you put a line under, 00:11:40.389 --> 00:11:43.860 they don't last? Because this is what he's trying 00:11:43.860 --> 00:11:45.860 to get into their mind and into their heart. 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:47.940 He says, for we know in part, we prophesy in 00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:50.440 part, but when perfection comes, when the perfect 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.779 comes, a lot of debate on this, but the clearest 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:55.700 explanation, things are going to be completed 00:11:55.700 --> 00:12:00.500 when Jesus comes back. I mean, I don't mean the 00:12:00.500 --> 00:12:03.019 rapture. I don't mean when he comes back. I mean, 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:06.200 when the second coming of Christ, when the absolute 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:09.419 completion and perfection of all things gets 00:12:09.419 --> 00:12:13.259 sealed. There won't be any need for prophecy, 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:15.580 won't be any need for tongues. The knowledge 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:18.820 won't be in part, it'll be face to face. We're 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:20.779 gonna know him fully just as we've been already 00:12:20.779 --> 00:12:25.460 fully known. And what he's saying is, look, you 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:30.059 guys are so into and arguing about and stressed 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:32.679 and pulled in all these directions about some 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:35.360 very good things, but what prophecy and knowledge, 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:38.940 all they have in common is they're temporal. 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:42.250 It's not that they don't matter at all. It's 00:12:42.250 --> 00:12:44.649 like helping your kids learn sports at an early 00:12:44.649 --> 00:12:46.990 age or wanting them to get into a good college 00:12:46.990 --> 00:12:49.610 or wanting to be upwardly mobile or getting some 00:12:49.610 --> 00:12:51.570 extra training or wanting to do well in your 00:12:51.570 --> 00:12:57.129 job. Those aren't bad things, are they? I mean, 00:12:57.149 --> 00:12:59.490 if you would walk through carefully later today 00:12:59.490 --> 00:13:01.970 the list of things that I put on the front page 00:13:01.970 --> 00:13:04.509 of your notes, every single one of those has 00:13:04.509 --> 00:13:08.039 a really good, isn't it good to be giving? Yeah, 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.659 it's good to be giving, but if you give, give, 00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:12.559 give, give, give, give, and don't honor God and 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:14.820 take some time to get renewed, then guess what? 00:13:14.860 --> 00:13:16.980 You just feel guilty and burned out. I mean, 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:19.460 it's good to help your kids grow, but if your 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:22.879 whole world is traveling around in minivans and 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:25.460 SUVs and all your weekends are taken up helping 00:13:25.460 --> 00:13:27.379 your kids hit balls and kick balls and chase 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:30.379 balls to where you're never together and connected 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:33.940 from the heart. See, some good means, some very 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:36.980 good things, but it's sort of a wash. So we're 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:39.039 living in this world where, you know, you're 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:40.559 not a good dad if you don't do this. You're not 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:42.139 a good mom if you don't do that. I mean, you're 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:43.519 never going to make it as a single person unless 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:45.440 you go here, go here, go here, do this, do this. 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:47.320 I mean, you're not successful and significant 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:48.799 unless you have a bag that looks like this, a 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.159 watch that looks like this, and a car that drives 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:53.700 like that. You want to make it or not? And you've 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:57.500 got to start asking, make what? So yeah, that's 00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:00.960 right. So what do you want to make? You want 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.419 to make it big and go through a couple marriages? 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.340 You want to make it big and have kids that don't 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:08.960 know your name and don't care about you? You 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.980 want to make it big and be successful? Some people, 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:14.399 they do it in ministry. Every time the church 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.080 doors are open, they're here and doing this and 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:18.679 doing that. I was talking on the phone with a 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:20.539 guy from another country last night that I'm 00:14:20.539 --> 00:14:23.080 going to do some ministry with in the future. 00:14:24.190 --> 00:14:25.970 We just got off the phone and I just said, can 00:14:25.970 --> 00:14:28.669 I just, you know, the guy's, he's a Harvard grad. 00:14:29.389 --> 00:14:31.809 He's got theology. He teaches in a seminary. 00:14:31.830 --> 00:14:34.629 He's in charge of this humongous, the administrative 00:14:34.629 --> 00:14:37.350 side of a church of about 75 ,000 in another 00:14:37.350 --> 00:14:39.750 country. And I said, just, is there one thing 00:14:39.750 --> 00:14:42.230 I could pray for you? He said, yeah, there is 00:14:42.230 --> 00:14:44.850 one thing. And I said, what is it? He goes, you 00:14:44.850 --> 00:14:47.809 know, I have three almost full -time jobs and 00:14:47.809 --> 00:14:50.570 there's all this demand. And my wife's very understanding, 00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:53.320 but my daughter's eight. And she just doesn't 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:55.659 understand very much. I said, well, what do you 00:14:55.659 --> 00:14:56.700 mean she doesn't understand? She goes, well, 00:14:56.740 --> 00:14:59.799 I just don't see her very often. I said, what 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:01.399 do you mean you don't see her very often? I don't 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:04.419 see her. I mean, I work 12 to 14 hour days and 00:15:04.419 --> 00:15:05.980 I'm gone early and I come home late. So I just 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.000 don't get to see her very much. And this is a 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.799 pastor. And I know that's not right. And it's 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:14.460 always followed by this, but. And I said, you 00:15:14.460 --> 00:15:16.379 know, when I'm going to be in your country, you 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:17.639 know, in the near future, and why don't you and 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.759 I get some time? I've kind of lived where I was 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:22.320 tempted and struggled with some of those things. 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:25.320 I have four kids, and let's make that part of 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.559 our little time together. Now, I didn't tell 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:31.179 him, buddy, I'm going to build a little trust 00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:32.799 with you, and I'm going to spiritually kick your 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:36.960 rear end as hard and as long as I can. And I'm 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:38.960 going to look you in the eye and say, do you 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.940 understand how good things, very good things, 00:15:42.590 --> 00:15:45.350 in the name of love, produce some really bad 00:15:45.350 --> 00:15:47.289 lives? I'll tell you, he's going to have a little 00:15:47.289 --> 00:15:50.409 girl that doesn't like God, let alone love God, 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:53.690 and will wonder why the church or God took her 00:15:53.690 --> 00:15:56.649 daddy away from her. And some of you are going 00:15:56.649 --> 00:15:58.870 to have kids who wonder why the name of your 00:15:58.870 --> 00:16:01.740 company did that. or your drive did that, or 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:04.559 golf did that, or your hobby did that, or the 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:07.600 speed of your life did that, or how, just because 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.820 your kids say, I want, I want, please, please, 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:12.000 yeah, yeah, yeah, and you cave into them, guess 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.139 what? You can give people what they want, but 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:17.139 if you don't give them what they need, they like 00:16:17.139 --> 00:16:19.139 you for giving them what they want now, then 00:16:19.139 --> 00:16:20.940 they hate you later for not giving them what 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:23.120 they need. That's the difference between parents 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:27.279 and kids. Picture that. helped me with this was 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.000 a guy named Jim Dethmer gave a message that really 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:31.639 helped me. And he had an illustration that I'd 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:34.500 like to just steal. Because, you know, there's 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:36.399 part of this theological when you say, what do 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.159 you mean? They'll fade away. They don't matter. 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:41.340 It's not like those good things you're doing 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:43.700 don't matter. It's not like ministry doesn't 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:47.059 matter. So what's it mean? What's the picture? 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:49.740 And I love the illustration he gave. He said, 00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:52.120 imagine that we were having a big party, everyone 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:54.039 in the church, big party, all the services coming 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.720 together. And, you know, we rent a park and, 00:16:56.740 --> 00:16:59.039 I mean, we're going to have ice cream and we're 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.779 going to have food and a barbecue and we're going 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:02.360 to celebrate. There's going to be great music. 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:05.500 And so we get like four or five of our best artists. 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:08.579 And we want you to create a sculpture that, I 00:17:08.579 --> 00:17:11.460 mean, gives glory to God, that just magnifies 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:13.400 the artistic talent and ability that you have. 00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:15.500 And here's this big room. It's about, you know, 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:18.430 30 feet by 40 feet. and this big block of ice 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:20.349 and you know, they're in there with chainsaws 00:17:20.349 --> 00:17:24.609 and so they work for weeks and then they put 00:17:24.609 --> 00:17:27.069 it on these rollers and we're thousands of us 00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:29.529 and we're having music and here it is, this beautiful 00:17:29.529 --> 00:17:32.569 fountain and it's out in 100 degrees and who 00:17:32.569 --> 00:17:34.190 knows, maybe we could have chocolate coming out 00:17:34.190 --> 00:17:36.549 of it or something but you know, there's swans 00:17:36.549 --> 00:17:38.509 and I mean, it's just an amazing deal, right? 00:17:38.890 --> 00:17:41.630 And you know, we stop and all of us are going, 00:17:41.710 --> 00:17:44.720 wow. What can you believe? Man, unbelievable. 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:48.660 Do you see? That is the most amazing. How do 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:50.339 they do that with ice, right? You know, we're 00:17:50.339 --> 00:17:55.720 all just like this. Three hours later, the party's 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.519 over. What they did was wonderful. Their energy 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:03.259 was wonderful. We appreciated it. But three to 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:06.480 four hours later, some of us are volunteering, 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:09.339 cleaning up the chairs. We're picking up the 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:13.680 paper. The swan only has one arm. The thing's 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:18.759 melting. By dusk, a handful of us are just cleaning 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:22.920 up. And where that beautiful ice sculpture used 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:27.460 to be, there's just puddles of water. See, it's 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:29.740 not that what you are doing or what I'm doing 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:33.420 doesn't have any value. It's that it doesn't 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:37.019 have any value that lasts. And there's some of 00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:38.720 us that will stand before the judgment seat of 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.680 Christ. And I just say this from God's loving 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:43.440 heart to you as a warning. And you will spend 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.579 your time and your energy doing very good things 00:18:47.579 --> 00:18:50.220 that you think with all your heart are in the 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:54.099 name of love in your relationships, in your families, 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:57.640 and in your work. And you'll get near the end 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:01.220 of your life. And what you'll look back on is 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:05.420 just pools of water that have no significance. 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:12.299 And you wish you could turn back the clock. Before 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:15.660 we even go on in today's broadcast, I just want 00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:19.119 to stop and I want to ask you, what aspect of 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:23.059 your life is like the ice sculpture? I mean, 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:24.880 it's not that it's not beautiful. It's not that 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.579 it's not something that looks pretty cool or 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:30.720 takes a lot of energy and effort, but it doesn't 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.430 last. And you know, sometimes God brings us some 00:19:33.430 --> 00:19:37.170 emergencies, some things to jolt our life, because 00:19:37.170 --> 00:19:40.150 we're talking about how love responds to misplaced 00:19:40.150 --> 00:19:42.589 priorities. And we all have them to one degree 00:19:42.589 --> 00:19:46.390 or another. And after many years of being a pastor, 00:19:46.509 --> 00:19:48.710 I have a pretty good rhythm of my life in terms 00:19:48.710 --> 00:19:51.769 of priorities and when I study and what I do. 00:19:51.789 --> 00:19:53.809 But I'm like everybody else. You know, you get 00:19:53.809 --> 00:19:56.470 tired and you slip into patterns where you watch 00:19:56.470 --> 00:19:59.250 a little too much TV or, you know, kind of go 00:19:59.250 --> 00:20:00.970 into a little denial and spend a little more 00:20:00.970 --> 00:20:03.809 time on a hobby doing this or that. And it was 00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:06.869 interesting. As soon as I found my wife had breast 00:20:06.869 --> 00:20:09.890 cancer, it was like I know I needed to simplify 00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:14.549 and not stop doing things that were wrong. But 00:20:14.549 --> 00:20:16.529 I just knew, you know, for this season, I just 00:20:16.529 --> 00:20:18.890 don't want to watch any TV. For this season, 00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:20.730 I decided to, you know, I have my devotions in 00:20:20.730 --> 00:20:22.950 the morning. For this season, I decided, you 00:20:22.950 --> 00:20:25.069 know, before I go to bed, I'm just going to read 00:20:25.069 --> 00:20:27.650 through the Gospels. I need to draw near to God. 00:20:28.009 --> 00:20:32.029 I need to purify and clarify. And I believe that's 00:20:32.029 --> 00:20:34.859 what God's saying to some of you. So let me ask 00:20:34.859 --> 00:20:38.220 you, how much time goes into hobbies? How much 00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:41.099 time is pursuing more money and more work? And 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:43.440 what's that going to look like later? Or how 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:45.640 many of you are just, I mean, overdosed on how 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:47.579 good you're going to be at this sport or that 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:50.339 sport or your SAT scores or what school that 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:53.319 you go into? Not sinful or bad or in and of itself, 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.519 but what does that produce in the long haul if 00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:59.099 it consumes your heart and your life? I mean, 00:20:59.099 --> 00:21:01.960 how much time goes into fantasy football and 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:05.220 passing on YouTube funny things to other people? 00:21:05.259 --> 00:21:10.019 How much of our life just is consumed with playing 00:21:10.019 --> 00:21:13.779 and eating and watching and not asking the big 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:17.240 question, why am I here? What am I to accomplish? 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:20.740 Am I rightly aligned with God? Do I have peace 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:24.000 in my heart? And am I loving people around me? 00:21:25.349 --> 00:21:29.109 The word amuse means uh means against and muse 00:21:29.109 --> 00:21:33.210 means to think. Amusement means to not think. 00:21:33.509 --> 00:21:35.950 And as someone has rightly said in our culture, 00:21:36.069 --> 00:21:39.710 we're amusing ourselves to death. Let me encourage 00:21:39.710 --> 00:21:43.150 you to take stock today to evaluate where your 00:21:43.150 --> 00:21:47.269 priorities are and then make one specific step 00:21:47.269 --> 00:21:50.109 toward clearing the decks for some extra time 00:21:50.109 --> 00:21:52.960 with God to get some clarity from Him. Thanks 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:55.019 for the reminder, Chip. And if you're looking 00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:57.680 for practical help to recommit your life to Jesus, 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:01.119 let me recommend Chip's book, True Spirituality, 00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:04.039 Becoming a Romans 12 Christian. Through this 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:06.039 resource, he'll walk you through how to become 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:08.940 a genuine follower of Christ. Order your copy 00:22:08.940 --> 00:22:13.299 of True Spirituality by going to specialoffersatlivingontheedge 00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:16.619 .org. Maybe even get two for you and a friend 00:22:16.619 --> 00:22:18.960 to study together. We want to help you grow in 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:21.559 your walk with Jesus, and this tool will help. 00:22:21.930 --> 00:22:24.150 Well, Chip's still with me. And Chip, many of 00:22:24.150 --> 00:22:26.509 those listening right now wholeheartedly believe 00:22:26.509 --> 00:22:28.589 in the work and mission of living on the edge 00:22:28.589 --> 00:22:31.210 and are considering becoming a financial partner, 00:22:31.269 --> 00:22:33.470 but haven't yet because they think their gift 00:22:33.470 --> 00:22:35.910 is too small or won't make that big a difference. 00:22:36.109 --> 00:22:38.549 What would you say to them? Dave, you know, a 00:22:38.549 --> 00:22:40.910 lot of people think that, but the fact of the 00:22:40.910 --> 00:22:44.730 matter. It's not just a person giving, say, $10 00:22:44.730 --> 00:22:48.390 or $25 or $30 or $50 or whatever they think seems 00:22:48.390 --> 00:22:51.670 to be insignificant with the huge needs that 00:22:51.670 --> 00:22:53.369 there are to help people here and around the 00:22:53.369 --> 00:22:56.849 world. It's the combined efforts. I mean, think 00:22:56.849 --> 00:22:59.650 right at this moment. I mean, over a million 00:22:59.650 --> 00:23:02.089 people are going to listen on a radio broadcast, 00:23:02.369 --> 00:23:05.470 a podcast, or on the app. I mean, a million people. 00:23:05.569 --> 00:23:09.849 If just a few thousand, say if 10 ,000 gave $10 00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:13.130 a month. Can you imagine what we could do here 00:23:13.130 --> 00:23:15.950 and around the world? So I just want to encourage 00:23:15.950 --> 00:23:18.859 some of you who... just don't feel like you have 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:20.880 enough to give or it wouldn't make much of a 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:24.160 difference, would you pray and say, Lord, I will 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:26.640 just give whatever you would lead me to give? 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.440 And could you know when you do that, it's a lot 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.859 like the widow's mite. God will honor it and 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:34.619 we'd be very grateful. Thanks, Chip. If joining 00:23:34.619 --> 00:23:36.940 the Living on the Edge team is an idea that makes 00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:39.259 sense to you, think about becoming a monthly 00:23:39.259 --> 00:23:42.039 partner with us. Your support multiplies our 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:44.839 efforts and resources in ways only God can do. 00:23:45.150 --> 00:23:48.089 Set up your gift today by going to livingontheedge 00:23:48.089 --> 00:23:54.210 .org or by calling 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 00:23:54.210 --> 00:24:00.910 -333 -6003 or visit livingontheedge .org. App 00:24:00.910 --> 00:24:03.940 listeners tap donate. As we close, do you want 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:06.160 to deepen your connection to God amid your busy 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:08.720 life? Then take Chip with you by subscribing 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.720 to our daily podcast. With a few simple taps 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:13.920 on your phone, you can access the full length 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:16.579 versions of our latest series. And if you're 00:24:16.579 --> 00:24:19.220 always on the go, download a handful and listen 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:21.700 to them at your own pace. Let us help you grow 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:24.500 your faith. Search for Living on the Edge with 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:27.819 Chip Ingram today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 00:24:28.059 --> 00:24:31.089 or wherever you listen to podcasts. You've been 00:24:31.089 --> 00:24:33.230 listening to a selected program that we wanted 00:24:33.230 --> 00:24:35.829 to share from this past week. To hear more from 00:24:35.829 --> 00:24:39.849 Chip's series, Spiritual Simplicity, go to livingontheedge 00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:43.450 .org or wherever you listen to podcasts. Until 00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:46.250 next time, I'm Dave Drewy saying thanks for listening 00:24:46.250 --> 00:24:49.190 to this weekend edition of Living on the Edge.