Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
How do you get God's best for your life? You
know, you see some believers and you sense, boy,
they're in the right relationship. They make
wise decisions about money. They're getting God's
best. I want that. How does it work? Today, I
will give you four biblical principles. that
will help you discover how you can get God's
best for your life. Stay with us. Holiness is
a word that intimidates most of us. It's an unachievable
virtue, or so it seems. What if everything you've
been told about holiness is wrong? What if God's
call to holy living isn't about following a list
of don'ts, but about discovering the pathway
to extraordinary joy, fulfilling relationships,
and a life that truly works? On this weekend
edition of Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram dismantles
our misconceptions about holiness and reveals
it for what it really is, wholeness, health,
and the key to experiencing God's absolute best.
Far from being otherworldly or strange, holy
living makes us winsome, loving, pure, and unmistakably
Christlike, the kind of person others are drawn
to. And after Chip's message, we'll explain how
you can participate in the time -limited match
that's active a short while longer. Every dollar
you give will be matched and therefore doubled
through December 31st. But right now, the message
from Chip Ingram about leaving a legacy that
lasts forever. Number one, encourage them to
saturate their mind with truth. The Bible, great
books, videos. All I want you to get is where
do you set your mind? where do you set your mind?
First and foremost, we have to model this and
then you got to pass that on. And it's got to
be passed on, not as a club, you know? Okay,
kids, get around the table right now. It's breakfast
time or supper time. All right. Nathaniel, open
Proverbs chapter one. It's the first day of the
month, isn't it? Read it now. Ethel, shut up.
Listen to your brother. He's reading God's word.
I can tell you where these kids are going to
be at about 18. It will not be in church. Or
much to do with God. And I talk to my kids now.
My one son is a pastor. I said, well, Ryan, what
was it that really clicked for you in terms of
how did God lead you that way? And I'm thinking,
maybe it's one of my great messages, I'm sure,
you know. But this is my kids. He said, well,
that is really pretty easy, you know. I don't
know how many times, you know, when you're a
little kid and you get up and go to the bathroom
and you think it's the middle of the night because
it's like five o 'clock and for you it's the
middle of the night and there's a light on and
mom's on her knees praying or she's sitting in
the chair with a cup of coffee reading God's
word. I just grew up watching you and mom. That's
what mattered. And so you have to create when
they're little and then when they're older, saturate
their mind with truth. Encourage that. The second
is encourage them to hang out regularly with
wise, godly people. Proverbs 13, 20, he who dwells
with wise men will be wise, but the companion
of a fool will suffer harm. There's a great line.
I got this from the vice president of a guy that
I work with, and his wife was there, and we were
talking about the influence of kids, and you're
always worried about who to hang out with, and
she just turned to all of us and said, well,
I'll tell you. You show me your friends, I'll
show you your future. I mean, I don't know where
she got, I wrote that down. I've been using it
since. And when I can remember to give her credit,
I do. Like now. But I mean, it's true. Think
of who you're investing in. You need, if you
have control. You need to be very careful about
who they hang out with. You know, some guys I've
had the opportunity to help and disciple. You
know, I've really talked about, hey, brother,
you know, I got news for you. I love you. I care
for you. We're playing hoop. You're a new Christian.
You're making progress. Now, tell me again about
what you came out of. It was New Age and cocaine,
right? Okay. And you used to smoke this stuff
and sell it. Yeah, okay. And you're telling me
you're struggling, right? Okay, why are you struggling?
Now, tell me who you're hanging out with. Two
other dealers. Now, help me with this. I mean,
I'm in Santa Cruz, California. I mean, this is
normal. Help me with this. You think you're not
gonna do that, hanging out with them? Well, they're
my friends and I wanna lead them to Christ. Hey,
you lead people to Christ on neutral turf. You
know what? You don't go over there and they probably
aren't gonna come to church, but let's find some
neutral places where let's have them hang out
and you can influence them instead of them influence
you. More than one time when my kids, I said,
you can't play with those two kids anymore. But
dad, dad, no, you can't play with them. They
can come to our house and hang out, but you're
not going to their house. No one's home. I know
what happens. You're just not going to do it.
Well, you, yeah, of course. Some of us need to
be, those of you that have smaller children or
teenagers, it's okay to be the bad person. It's
okay. They can, I don't love you anymore. Let
them slam the door, you know. Who are you to
tell me who I can be friends with? Your parent,
that's who. I don't love you. Now, here's what
I hear. And I've got a number of cases. You know,
it's anecdotal. But here's what I hear. Well,
if we set those boundaries too tight, then they'll
rebel. Especially in the area of teenagers dating
unbelievers. And I hear, oh, we can't do that
because we've got to be real careful. I've got
news for you. Their heart gets connected to an
unbeliever that's not walking with God. They're
going to go down the tubes. So draw the line
lovingly and catch it early. And I know there's
a handful of success stories where that gal or
that girl finally came to Christ and all the
rest. Let me tell you, I got a hundred other
stories for every success story you can give
me. The number one thing that causes young people
to fall and fall away from their faith. And when
they go to college, the reason they change their
morals is not they really change their theology,
but they have to change their theology to adapt
their lifestyle. And when your emotions kick
in and you fall in love, And you get to have
sex? I mean, let's see, do I really believe in
God and the Bible and some of this old -fashioned
stuff or this? Hmm, that's a no -brainer. And
we can't figure out why. I mean, the statistics
are alarming of the percentage of all of our,
quote, young Christian youth who go away to school,
about 10 to 12 % keep their faith five years
later. And I've had some deep, deep conflict.
with my children in that journey. And I was a
really, really bad guy. And it wasn't always
pretty. And I didn't always do it right. But
I will tell you, that is a non -negotiable. You're
the parent. With that said, you're having lots
of fun investing in their life and doing lots
of great things that other parents don't do with
them. Because the bridge of truth is relationship.
And the more relationship you have, the more
love, the more deposits, the more truth that
they can hold. Because at the end of the day,
they don't want to disappoint you. They really
don't, but it's in a tug of war at times. Third,
model for them how to ask God for discernment
and wisdom. It's really important for those you're
trying to help that you don't become like the
answer man or the answer woman. Well, what should
I do about this? You know more than me. Well,
can you tell me? And you say, well, da -da -da
-da, do this or do that. Model form, you know
what? Here's a passage in James 1, verse 5, okay?
If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all men generously and without reproach.
But let him, when he asks, let him ask in faith.
For the one who doubts is like a double -minded
man who's tossed here and there by the waves.
Don't let that person expect to receive anything
from the Lord. And then you explain to him. Wisdom
is doing life God's way according to his design.
He'll always show you what to do. I mean, the
Bible doesn't tell you what state to live in.
The Bible doesn't tell you what vocation. The
Bible doesn't say you need to go to a Christian
school or non -Christian school. You need wisdom
from God. And so what you want to model for them
is, I don't have the answer to that, but God
makes a promise. And if we had time to develop
that whole text, the thesis of that text of not
ever doubting is not that you ever have doubts
about God. Everyone has doubts. We get our word
schizophrenic. It's a double -minded person.
When you pray, God, will you show me your will
so I can consider it as one of the options? God
says no. Did you catch that? Let me just go over
a little slower. Some of you went. When you pray,
and you don't do it like this intentionally,
but it's what we do. God, I really want to know
what your will is about this relationship. And
then when I know your will, I'll decide whether
I'll take it or not. Guess what? God says, you
know what? I don't answer those kind of prayers.
But what he says is, God, I don't know about
what to do about this relationship. I don't know
what to do about this money situation. I don't
know what to do about this marriage crisis. I
don't know what to do about this wayward son
or wayward daughter. God, I don't know about
my calling, whether I should get out of this
work and go to that work. Here's the promise
of James 1 .5. If I will come and say, God, I
want you to know that I've signed my name on
the bottom of the check and I've turned it like
this and put it under the throne room of heaven.
I will do, no matter what it is, whatever you
tell me, you fill in the top and I'll do it.
He says 100 % of the time, I'll fill in the top.
And now, how is he going to show you? It might
be through a person, through the scripture, as
you pray, wise counsel, but he promises he will
show you what to do. 90 % of the will of God
is being really willing to do whatever God says.
Most of us, myself completely included, I kind
of want to get God. It's lined up to get him
to do what I want because I think I know what's
best. It's that surrender to be willing to do
it. And you have to model that. This is where
when they, you know, don't say stuff like, my
kids when they were hitting the mid -teens, it'd
be something like, hey, you know, I want to do
this or that or go to this movie or do that.
And I would think, you know, that's not good.
But I'm going to keep making every decision and
we're going to be in trouble. And so I would
often say, well, would you do me a favor? Yeah.
I said, pray about it for 24 hours. And just
really think it through. Do you believe God wants
you to go to that? Well, Dad, you know, I know,
hey, don't argue with me. If, you know, just
talk to God about it. I'm just asking you. And
again, you take that responsibility instead of
the power trip. I said no. What you want to do
is start helping them. You know, I want to buy
this. I want to go here. I want to do that. And
if you're not sure, but down deep in your heart,
you think, you know, it's probably not a very
good thing, but it won't kill them, whatever
they do. I always wanted to give them a lot more
rope and say, why don't you pray about it? We'll
hear more from Chip Ingram's message in just
a moment. First, we're inviting you to multiply
your year -end donation through an exciting match
that's active right now. Because of the match,
your donation will be matched dollar for dollar
in the month of December. And when you support
this match, you're not funding yesterday's methods.
You're investing in a discipleship strategy that
actually reaches the smartphone generation right
where they are. Will you give to the next generation?
Double the impact of your gift at livingontheedge
.org. From a series called Leaving a Legacy That
Lasts Forever. and our Bible teacher, Chip Ingram.
And by the way, this parental thing we have of
wanting to protect our kids from pain is not
real smart. What you want to do is not protect
them from small pain so it hurts really badly.
You know, like, gosh, I just spent $25 on this
wacky thing and it looks seared dumb and now
I wore it to school and it wasn't even cool and
I blew $25. Good. Or, you know, I decided to
go on this thing and, man, everyone did this
terrible stuff and I wish I would have never
there. And good. See, if you always tell them
what to do and you always keep them inside your
bounds, then what happens is they can't wait
to get away to go try some stuff. So you want
to develop them hearing God's voice. You want
to model for them how to get wisdom, how to discern.
Another practical thing with your kids is, you
know that little clicker when you're watching
something? As much as I'll talk a little bit
later about limiting media. My kids, it was like,
I believe every moment is a teachable moment.
And you don't go overboard. But I mean, okay,
you're watching the Super Bowl, right? And so
these commercials come on. And I mean, they've
spent, what, how many zillion dollars to create?
This commercial, they're paying $1 .5 million
for 30 seconds. And there's a girl that she's
got it cut down to here and pushed up to there
and pulled down to here. And another guy that's
been on steroids and he's got his chorus light
and this, that, this, that. And the music comes
on, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. And they stop. Okay,
before we watch the rest of the game, what was
the message of that? Okay, where are they coming
at us and why? What are they selling to us? What
do you think? Okay, why do you think she's dressed
that way? Okay, why does he have that? What's
the message? And you, what are you doing? You're
helping him discern good from evil. And then
you watch this real soaky movie and it makes
you cry and it's really good and it's really
warm and there's no sex in it and there's no
violence in it. The only problem is in this movie,
the person that you identify with is married
to this not very nice person. And so this person
married to the not very nice person falls in
love with someone else and they have an affair
and there's music and they're going out and da
-da -da -da -da -da -da. And we're all crying
and thinking, oh, I'm glad she finally found
love in her life and it was a popular movie and
everyone loves it. And you stop the thing. And
you say, wait a second. a second. Wait a second.
I got sucked in just like you, but what did she
do? I mean, we all love her, and she was the
pretty one, and you know, the music was really
playing, and all the violins, and you know, her
life was so hard before, right? You know. Okay,
let's rewind. It's called adultery. So how does
that play out in real life? Let's go through
some families in the church where someone committed
adultery. Let's remember what that looked like.
Let's remember what it did to them. Do you understand
what I'm saying? That's what you do. So it's
not a classroom. It's every moment. Now, by the
way, don't stop at every commercial. Some of
your kids are going, hey, you know, get out of
here. But you get it. Finally, teach them to
monitor their exposure to the media. Teach them
to monitor. Their exposure to the media. Romans
12 .2, we touched on it earlier. Do not be conformed
to this world, this present world system. Not
the physical world. It's the cosmos. It's the
world system. And 1 John tells us what it's made
of. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life. The way to help your kids
is this is like Fortune, Cosmo, and People Magazine.
Okay, that's the world. If you can have her body
like that, Cosmo or 17 or what else, then, or,
you know, Muscle Magazine, Men's Fitness, you
get tight abs, baby, in six seconds a day, you
know, and with the right drugs. Or people, if
you can just be famous, right? The whole goal
is to be an American idol. I'm going to be famous.
I want people to know me. I will say ridiculous
things on TV. I will go on reality shows and
make a complete fool of myself doing things with
a camera that I would never do privately, even
in my own home. But I have to because I'm on
TV. And isn't that like the epitome of all of
life? I'm famous now. No, you're an idiot now.
But your kids, your grandkids, the people you're
discipling are getting boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom. They're bombarded. And so when they go
to buy something, what is it? You know, the clothes
are that way. The media is that way. The magazines
are that way. You will never be whole and healthy
instead of being deceived and seduced unless
you say, stop allowing yourself to be molded
by this world system. So you gotta put a real
barrier in media and how much you watch and what
you watch. My kids heard it a zillion times and
the people I've had an opportunity to help disciple.
What you allow to go into your mind is the most
important decision you make every day. Way more
than what goes into your mouth. Like my wife
is really healthy. This is organic and this doesn't
have any pesticides. I mean, we're really into
eating good, healthy things. But boy, you gotta
put healthy stuff in your brain. You are the
product of your thought life. You understand
that. As a man thinks, as a woman thinks in his
heart, so you become. You watch enough TV, you
rent enough videos, you glance through enough
magazines, it will create desires that you can
never fulfill and you'll never be satisfied and
you'll get sucked in and the lure riding and
bam. And so, and by the way, when you live this
kind of life, this is where people will start
thinking you're weird. Because we're living in
a day where, according to Barna, I don't know
how accurate, but according to Barna, about one
out of every 10 or one out of every 12 people
who say, I'm a Christian, I'm born again, I pray
to receive Jesus Christ as my savior, about one
out of every 10 or 12 are living the life. The
others have either a mental or, now I'm not saying
they're not believers, I don't know. I'm just
saying that they may have the living spirit of
the living God living in them, but, Their external
behavior, their values, their honesty, their
commitment to marriage, their lifestyle, their
speech, their priorities, and their values are
exactly the same as their non -Christian friends.
Because you are what you eat. And if you don't
believe me, this is a mature group, so I will
go way out on the limb. For you younger ones
who want a mild challenge, go on a three -day
media fast. Okay, no rent, no TV, don't get on
surf the internet, media fast. Get in the car,
no talk radio. You know, you can positive music,
teaching, okay? Three days, no TV, no media.
You'll get antsy. Some of you will find you have
an addiction because when you walk in, you turn
it on. Some of you are like me that when I do
watch TV and as soon as a commercial comes on
board, so I can watch four shows at one time
to relax, of course. And then I'm exhausted when
I'm done. I mean, I have to be this game, this
game, this game. Ohio State's doing this and
this and part of this movie. You go on a three
-day media fast. And I will tell you, one, you'll
have all this time you didn't think you had.
Go on a 10 -day media fast. For some of you,
you'll try and it'll be scary because you can't
do it. Go on a 10 -day media fast, then sit down.
and watch just general primetime TV, you will
be shocked. That's how desensitized we've become.
You'll be shocked at what comes out of people's
mouth. You'll be shocked at the sexual innuendo.
You'll be shocked at, and you'll see stuff that
you've grown accustomed to in terms of how people
are dressed and different things that will stir
your flesh that doesn't even register now. And
it's the classic, what's the illustration that
you put the frog in the water and if you heat
it up real slowly, it won't jump out. We got
a whole generation that ain't jumping out. And
here's the sadness. Then we reap the consequences.
Even though it's not a willful, volitional, I
hate God sin, you just reap the consequences
of a unwhole and unholy life. Because holiness
is the demand of God to keep his universe healthy.
So there's consequences when I put junk in my
mouth, junk in my head. It creates a set of desires.
And so limiting... the video games, the violence,
the sexuality. I mean, you are just going to
be a spiritual salmon swimming upstream with
your fellow friends and other people thinking
you are wired. Now, is this never watch TV? Of
course not. This is really asking yourself, is
this good, honorable, right, praiseworthy? Is
this in a Philippians 4, 8 criteria? Does this
draw me closer to God? or pull me farther away.
And by the way, for me, sometimes it's just good
stuff. I just have a limit. After about two hours
of TV, even a great game, I love sports, I just
find I get spiritually desensitized. And I'm
different than you. I don't know, some of you
can take a lot more than me. But if you take
seriously what goes into your mind and then substitute
it, you will see dramatic life change. Dramatic
life change. What's the message? Living holy
lives is how we get God's best. Holy living allows
you to experience God's best for your life. Let's
move holiness out of this idea of the otherworldly,
dark robes, something weird, and let's move it
into becoming whole, healthy, pure, winsome,
loving, and receiving that life that God has
in every relationship, in every area of your
life. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Chip is presenting a practical teaching series
called Leaving a Legacy That Lasts Forever. Have
you ever walked into a full restaurant and looked
around only to find every diner staring into
their cell phone? Maybe you noticed that kids,
even while gathered in a group, are preoccupied
with their headphones on. It's the way our world
operates these days. And at Living on the Edge,
we're adopting every technology available so
that we can speak into the lives of this next
generation. Chip? Here's the reality. The next
generation isn't going to discover faith by accidentally
walking into a church building. They're going
to encounter it on a podcast during a morning
run or on YouTube video at midnight when they
can't sleep or a Bible study app while they're
waiting for the barista to make their coffee.
Living on the Edge meets young people in the
digital spaces where they actually live. We're
creating content that's searchable, shareable,
and here's the key, accessible 24 -7. God has
sustained Living on the Edge for three decades
because people like you said yes. Now we're asking
again, but with a twist. Thanks to this match,
your gift goes twice as far. Double impact, double
reach, and here's the most important part, double
transformation. Our most fruitful years are ahead.
And when you support this match, you're not funding
yesterday's methods. You're investing in a discipleship
strategy that actually reaches the smartphone
generation right where they are. Thank you, Chip.
Several friends of Living on the Edge have banded
together with this incredible match opportunity
in order to inspire people like you to give as
well. And when you do, your contribution will
be matched and therefore doubled in size, meaning
it will have twice the impact because of the
match. The deadline for receiving your support
is midnight, December 31st. To give right now,
go to livingontheedge .org or call us at 888
-333 -6003. To send a check in the mail, write
to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta,
Georgia 30024. One more time, that's P .O. Box
3007, Atlanta, Georgia 30024. You can also call
888 -333 -6003 or just visit livingontheedge
.org. Feel like you don't have money to give?
I'm Dave Drewy. Chip Ingram describes the genius
of generosity next time on the weekend edition
of Living on the Edge.