The Three Hardest Words in the World to Use

The Three Hardest Words in the World to Use

Dcn (Dr) Alex Tang
Text: 1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Introduction
What do you think the three hardest words in the world to use are?
I owe you (Ah Long)
Make my day (Clint Eastwood)
Can do lah (Ah Beng)… but never do anything
I am sorry
Greatest since creation

Let me suggest that the three hardest words to use in the word are “love one another”. I am not talking about romantic love here. The type of romantic love promoted by valentine day and Hollywood. Valentine day means red roses and dinner. The price of red roses goes sky high and the restaurants make a killing. Romantic love is mainly infatuation, day-dreaming and lust. Hollywood movies promote romantic love; “Love at first sight.”
Sleepless in Seattle (1993) starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks is a story about a boy calling the psychiatrist host of a radio talk show about his father's prolonged grief over the death of his wife. Hanks, the father, is conned into confessing his grief to the psychiatrist. The father was talking to the psychiatrist over the phone unaware that it is simultaneous being broadcasted by radio all over the States. He shared about how he missed his wife and how he first met her. It was love at first sight. He also shared how he did not think he will love again. The love he had with his wife is only once for each lifetime. The rating for the show shot sky high and the radio station was flooded by thousands of phone calls from women willing to marry him! It also set in motion a series of events by which he met Meg Ryan. And it was love at first sight again! This is the only romantic movie I know that the couple met at the end of the movie.
When I said the three hardest words in the world to use, I am not talking about romantic love. I am talking about Christians loving one another in a congregation. Do you think it is easy to love one another here? In this church?  Really? Do you love me? Do you love me enough to give me 10,000 dollars when I ask you to?
John in his pastoral epistle 1, 2 & 3 John is writing to Christians. One of the key points he wanted them to learn is to love one another. Not superficial, romantic love but really really love one another.

Exposition of Text
1 Jn 3:11-15. John here made it plain that his admonitions were directed to Christians.
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
But before telling his audience precisely what love is, he first told them what it is not. It is most certainly not the kind of action Cain exhibited toward his brother Abel. Cain murdered his brother (Gen. 4:8) and in that action he was influence by evil one. Hatred on the part of one Christian toward another is the first step towards murder. The non-righteous will always hate the righteous. Anyone who hates and murders does not love the victim. Howard Marshall, professor of New Testament in the University of Aberdeen, writes, “Hatred is the wish that the other person is not there: it is the refusal to recognize his rights as a person, the longing that he might be dead.”
Love one another is then not murder but the opposite of murder. What is the opposite of murder? Giving or adding to a life. As murder is the taking away of a life from another, Christian love should be giving more of life to another. John explains what Christians loving one another is…
Murder and hatred is taking away a life or minus-ing a life of another. (Life minus)
Christian love is adding to a life of another (Life plus)
v. 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. It is the giving more of life. We know what Christian love for one another is by observing Jesus Christ. Christ gives life.
Jn 15:13
v.17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? How does the giving of life happens in Christian love for one another? In our material possessions! God shows His love for us by giving his only Son so that all who believes can have eternal life. Jn 3:16.
v.18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. How then can Christian love for one another be lived out in the church?
(a)        not with words or tongues
(b)        with actions
(c)        in truth
Christians love one another not with words but with actions and in truth

Applications
a. Love one another not with words or tongues
James 3:5-6
Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
 i. Saying kind things but is insincere
“Let’s have a “win-win” situation”
“Our God is great and He will send someone to help you”…why not you?
“Brother, I will pray for you”…do you really intent to set time aside and pray?
“Let us set up a committee to study it”…meaning you do not want to make a decision
“Our Father is rich, ask Him to bless you”…meaning you will not be the one giving out of your pocket. ii. Saying ‘kind things’ in an unkind way (gossip)
“You know Sister so-and-so, she have this problem with her husband. Her husband beats her. I am telling you so that…..”
“Brother so-and-so lost a few thousands dollars on the stock exchange. Christians should not speculate. I have always believe that. I am telling you so that….”
“Brother so-and-so lost his job last month. So shameful lah. That’s why we have not seen them around church lately. I am telling you so…” Meaning: It is good to let other Christians now what is happening to so-and-so.
Deeper meaning:
Thank God it is not me
Serve them right
Yum, yum, nice juicy gossip iii. Promising much but do not deliver
“Brother, if you need money just let me know. I am always there for you. But at this moment, I have a cash flow problem…”
“Sister, if you need to talk, call me anytime. Here is my handphone number. At night I switch my handphone off…”

NATO (No Action Talk Only)
It is so easy with words. Many of us hide behind words. Many of us do not say what we think. If we are asked to do something and we do not want to do it, instead of saying no, we say something vague like, “I’ll pray about it” or “I’ll get back to you”.  In the Bible, words are not a mark of Christian love. If you say “I love you”, the apostle John says “prove it!"
b. Love one another with actions i. Respect one another
Listen to one another. Wait until the other person stops talking before you open your mouth.
Be punctual. When you are late you are making the other person wait. You are making the other person waste his or her time.
Don’t be rude. Wait until the church service and announcement is over before you leave the hall.
Agree to disagree. You do not need to win every argument. You do not need to have the last words. ii. Care for one another
Is everyone in your small group okay? Does anyone need help?
Do something nice for someone in the congregation this week.
Offer to baby sit so that young couples with young children can have an evening off for a valentine dinner.
Mothers carpool so that you can have time for yourself.
Hospitality. Open your home to one another. To visitors.
Visit the sick. Bring a small gift. Keep them company.
Offer to help in spring cleaning and painting a church member’s house as Chinese New Year is coming.
Buy your Christian brothers and sisters a dinner. iii. Give to one another
Is another in financial need? Maybe, if you can afford it, offer an interest free loan.
Give some money without expecting anything in return.
Be a mentor to the younger Christians
Give your old clothes, furniture, books, crockery to the Salvation Army, Old Folks Home, Orphanage
iv. Pray for one another
c. Love one another in truth
i. Be honest with one another
Speak the truth with love
Tell it as it is
Let your yes be yes and no be no ii. Confess to one another
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Confess your sin only to people you trusts.
Confession is good for your soul
Confession is important for spiritual growth iii. Rebuke and Restore one another
Rebuking and restoring is a sign of love
Luke 17:3
So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
“It’s none of my business” is not love.
Reconcile if anyone has offend you.
Matt 5:22
 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you; leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Conclusion
1JN 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

The three hardest words in the world to use are “love one another”. To murder is to take away a life, to hate is to take from a life. To love is to add to a life. John teaches Christians to love one another not with words but with actions and in truth.

“Vision & Purpose In Christian Service”

“Vision & Purpose In Christian Service”
Nehemiah 1
Rev Nicholas Yeo

Life has a purpose; God has His purposes through our lives; For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10); if our lives are adjusted to God in every detail, He can achieve His purposes thru us. David (Psalmist) says, I desire to do your will, O my God (Ps40:8); Lord's Prayer, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven (Mt 6:10); Jesus said, Yet not as I will, but as you will (Mt 26:39); series of messages on Christian service in next few wks using Nehemiah. Esther,

Ezra, Nehemiah – most recent in historical dating (ca 400 BC).
EZRA – 1st 6 chpts: rebuilding of temple; last 4 chpts: restoration of worship;
Nehemiah – 1st 6 chpts: reconstruction of Jerusalem walls; last 7 chpts: reinstruction of God's people.

Nehemiah a historical book, but we will emphasize upon the spiritual lessons that are here for us all.
Key word here is “wall” (v3); also in the 6 chpts. Today's cities generally have no walls; famous Berlin Wall broken down; Great Wall of China in ruins, have become tourist spot; however, some places build walls to separate, like the Israeli walls separating the Palestinians, the fences along certain boundaries between nations to prevent illegal entries of people; in those days, walls built around cities: Jerusaslem, Jericho, Gath, Jabneh, Ashdod (2 Chr 26:6 He [Kg Uzziah] went to war against the Philistines & broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh & Ashdod); All these cities were fortified with high walls & with gates & bars, & there were also a great many unwalled villages (Dt 3:5). Walls signified power, protection. Absence of city wall meant people were defenceless against their enemies.

But walls also signified beauty. (Future glory of Jerusalem: Isaiah 60:18, No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.) Wall built around city impressive-looking; so wall = witness & testimony. There is a wall to be built around the city of our soul; a testimony to be erected around our church; a wall of witness & testimony to be built around the whole Kingdom of God in all the world. And this must be our concern.
Now, whether we are basically concerned with bldg the wall in our own soul, or with bldg the wall of our church, or with building the wall of the Kingdom of God throughout the whole world, we will discover that there will be warfare, troubles, opposition, & vigilance; & there is no winning without warfare / no triumphs without troubles / no opportunity without opposition / no victory without vigilance. Because, whenever the people of God say, Let us arise & build, Satan says, Let me arise & oppose.

1. Let Us Observe The Preparation.
Nehemiah's bro. & some other Jews returned from brief visit to Jerus & gave tragic report of broken walls: v3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile & are back in the province are in great trouble & disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, & its gates have been burned with fire." pressure & burden in his own heart: v4 When I heard these things, I sat down & wept. For some days I mourned & fasted & prayed before the God of heaven. Why did he weep & mourn & fast & pray? He knew God's real purpose for people in Jerusalem. Nehemiah not the last to weep over Jerusalem; one day our Lord Jesus wept over that city, & mourned & prayed & sacrificed His life for it.

Hundreds of people ever since have wept & mourned & fasted & prayed when they understood the revelation of the conditions as they really are.
 
Lesson :Load is not lightened unless first felt pressure in own soul; no one is ever used of God to bring blessing until God has opened his eyes & made him see things as they are; Nehemiah was called to build wall, but first he had to weep over the ruins.
Christian work is not a hobby; if so, it leads to failure; look at ruins before Christian service; look at absence of Christian teaching in schools or groups before you get involved in SCFs or uniformed organisations; look at poverty of Christian instruction & influence in young people before you start Bible School teaching or Children's Church or Children's Hour; then look at the people who are more interested in the fleeting pleasures of sin than in the life that Jesus said He would give abundantly to those who would seek after Him.  

Look & weep.
Jesus (Mt 9:35-38) had compassion on the crowds; ..like sheep without a shepherd; ..“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (In mid-60s while a school teacher, my concern on lack of national full time workers in Christian service; prayed; sent to be a pastor; am retiring next year: constitutionally, GPM.. and constitutionally, bodily;) But Lord still sending out workers. And in your current various occupations, when you sense the calling of God to serve, respond to that call.
Do we see self-satisfaction (complacency) in ourselves? Are we not concerned with the cold state of things in our lives? Do we see a great inertia in ourselves to move into Christian service? These are ruins, like the ruins of the Jerusalem walls; God's purpose for Jerusalem was that its walls should be Salvation & its gates should be Praise (Isa60:18) & these symbols of Salvation & Praise were lying in ruins. Is God calling some of us to weep & mourn over the ruin of these emblems in our lives? We are called to mourn over the failure of many of us who are supposed to live lives which reflect Jesus Christ.
Look at ourselves. Wall speaks of witness & testimony. Need any mourning? our wall of separation? prayer life? Bib St? walk with God? personal devotional life? consistent testimony before others? Christlike life? Do these lie in ruins in God’s eyes?

2. Let Us Observe The Prayer.
Vision of ruin, brokenness & need; temptation to say: Helpless, hopeless, don’t attempt to do anything about it. Tendency for conflict & discouragement to set in; but observe Nehemiah's prayer; quite clearly a man fed on Word of God;
The prayer is given in the structure of God's revelation of Himself; that kind of prayer can never fail; sets name of God on one hand, O Lord God of heaven (5), calls himself & people as your servants (6,7,8,10,11), & on other hand calls the kg of Persia as this man (11).
Nehemiah knew his inadequacy, & unworthiness for the task; first, must gain favour from kg; then apply for leave of absence to go to Jerusalem for job God was calling him; even though he had great influence in royal court & in position of responsibility, an impossible thing to happen unless God intervened.
Nehemiah's prayer of confession included himself in the confession of sins of his people; he grounded his prayers on God's past dealings with Israel: [RD 1:8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, cf Lv26:33, “I will scatter you among the nations & will draw out my sword & pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, & your cities will lie in ruins.”
RD 1:9 “but if you return to me & obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there & bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.” cf Dt30:4,5, 4 “Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you & bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, & you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous & numerous than your fathers.”
RD 1:10 “They are your servants & your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength & your mighty hand.” cf Dt9:29, “But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power & your outstretched arm."] Nehemiah grounded his prayers in God's past dealings with Israel, & saw in those things a mirror of all God's future plans.

Lesson: Whatever our ruins may be, we can go back to God's past dealings; we ground our confession & prayer on the cross / blood / empty tomb / ascended Lord; the cross sets us free from bondage & condemnation, disarmed demonic strongholds; the blood brings forgiveness & cleansing from sins, deliverance from fear of death, reconciliation with God, it brings life & healing, & it destroys the devil who has the power of death; the empty tomb shows that the purposes of God can never be frustrated, the empty tomb shows a new & changed life that can be lived in Jesus Christ; the ascended Lord shows his supremacy, the giver of life, the giver of power, the one who will be with us to the end of the age; then we will see in these things the mirror reflecting all God's purposes for us & for this world of ours.
In prayer exercise, am still a learner; prayer is battering not chattering; prayer is battle not prattle; prayer is working not wording; prayer is warring not boring; prayer is fight not flight; prayer is rooted in promises of God & in covenant of the blood; we have reasons given to us by God in his Wd why he should answer, & we can read them there. That's why Nehemiah's prayer was answered – based on God's purposes & God's promises; our prayers ought to be like that, so that God's purposes may be realized; but more often we hear prayers just asking God to bless the work, to bless the sick ones, to keep us plugging along, to keep the work going.
But we can look back to a place where Jesus died & shed His blood & rose from a tomb & ascended into heaven, & we can know He is coming again. Surely He did not do all that to leave us living as we are today; or to leave our churches weak & inadequate in their impact & insufficient in their witness.

Conclusion
Nehemiah was prepared for service even though it may be at the cost of his life. He could have remained in the comfort & ease of a life serving an earthly king & advising an earthly king. But he was prepared for service of God.
The principles of Christian service are similar. We are prepared to serve the Lord only by sacrifice. We are fit for the work of God only when we have wept over it, prayed about it, & then we are enabled by Him to face the task that needs to be done.

Seven ways to protect your marriage against moral failure

Last night discussion pitched into a sharing about a theologically trained leader who got angry over his job demotion, confided in a female colleague at work because the wife couldn't understand his office problem and frustration and ended up now asking for a divorce from the wife and 2 young kids. He and wife are close friends of 2 group members and it's truly baffling how someone like him is now even asking for a divorce. Others all shared the boundaries and rules we should all maintained in order to avoid coming to this situation. Below, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church shares his pointers.

Like the saying goes, the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence; the grass is greener where you water it. We must make sure our marriage is growing and developing, or we’ll be susceptible to moral failure. If you want a happy marriage, you’re going to have to work at it.

Song of Solomon 1:6 (NASB) says. “They made me caretaker of the vineyards, but I have not taken care of my own vineyard.” There’s a danger in ministry of spending your time repairing other people’s marriages and neglecting your own. I’ve worked very hard at my own marriage. Kay and I have learned that you can’t develop separate lives if you’re in ministry. Separate lives can lead to moral failure if you’re not careful.

Here are seven tips to keep you from developing separate lives:

1. Involve your mate in your ministry. You need to keep your spouse informed about what’s going on in your ministry. At one point I took home all the personal mail I got at Saddleback and shared it with Kay. I wanted her to know what was going on at the church. Secrets lead to separate lives. You’ve got to ruthlessly eliminate secrets in your marriage. Make your spouse a part of what your ministry is about.
   
   
2. Surround yourself with reminders of your family. I keep a drawer filled with reminders of my family. Whatever reminds you of your family (a picture, keepsake, etc.), use it. Do this and you’ll keep in mind all you have to lose with a moral failure.
   
   
3. Keep lines of communication open. I read a Christianity Today survey once that said 49 percent of ministers rarely or never talk to their spouse about sexual temptation. That’s asking for trouble. Keep the lines of communication open. Most affairs begin with shared feelings and shared frustrations that should have been shared with a mate. They say, “I can’t talk to my husband or wife, but this person understands me.” Baloney! Affairs begin by emotional bonding, and they continue through secrecy and dishonesty.
   
   
4. Direct attraction toward your mate. You’re going to be attracted to other people – even if it’s fleeting. But you need to redirect that attraction to your mate.
   
   
5. Date your mate. You and your spouse need a regular date night. Put it on the calendar. Don’t let anything get in its way. It doesn’t have to be expensive. If the weather is nice where you live, have a picnic somewhere. There may be someone in your church willing to babysit your kids as a ministry to your family. Regardless of how you make it happen, you need to do it.
   
   
6. Make much of your marriage in public. There shouldn’t be any doubt in the minds of the people you’re serving that you’re happily married. I’ve said many times to our congregation that I am hopelessly in love with Kay. I want people to know that. I try to speak positively of her to the church family. I’ve presented her with flowers in front of people at the church. Public expressions of affection are important.
   
   
7. Never discuss your marriage problems with anyone of the opposite sex. If you do, you’re asking for trouble. Discuss them with people of your own sex. At Saddleback, we only let our ministers counsel someone from the opposite sex once. After that, they’ve got to refer them to someone else. I think that’s wise counsel. When your marriage is hurting, it’s too easy for you to see someone who is listening to you as the answer.

Your marriage matters. It matters enough for you to protect it. The best way to protect your marriage is to keep working at it. Never stop growing closer to God and your spouse. The moment you’re not growing closer, you’re growing farther apart.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Been just too busy this year to update the blog much.

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas season celebrating the birth of Jesus who came to this world to live and die and thus became the Reason for the season.  
May you discover the reality of the Christ of Christ-mas.

PRIDE: THE ROOT AND ESSENCE OF SIN

"THE FACTS OF THE MATTER"

"A weekly letter of encouragement to business and professional men and women"

December 09, 2009

PRIDE:  THE ROOT AND ESSENCE OF SIN

I just learned of a friend of mine (who took a church from nothing to 1200 people in three years) who has fallen into sexual immorality.   Over the years he has been secretly plagued with deeply-rooted unresolved issues, which in his pride he has consistently refused to divulge, deal with, and be held accountable for.  It was these root issues that eventually led to his undoing.

I finally got him on the phone, having escaped with his wife to the Caribbean , “Dwight, it is hell.  I may not have a marriage.  Our lives are changed forever.”  In our brief but intense conversation he said nothing about defacing the Name of God or about the 1200 people he had deeply offended.  No, it was all about him and his discomfort; his embarrassment.  In a word, raw, untamed pride. 

So just what is pride? It is the very root and essence of sin.  And how does it manifest itself?  By putting ourselves rather than God at the center, as manifested by our boasting, high-mindedness, arrogance, and drawing attention to our skills, accomplishments, possessions or position.  At its root is rebellion against God in that we take unto ourselves the honor and glory that is his due.  This is precisely what King Herod did, and it cost him his life: “[King] Herod…delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, ‘This is the voice of a god, not of a man.’ Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” (Acts 12:21-23 – Selected)  Is there any doubt that "God opposes the proud"? (James 4:6)

The insidious nature of pride and God’s concern that it not control us is brought home in his dealing with the Apostle Paul.  God had given him extraordinary revelations and knew that if he did not injure him, he would loose him to pride.  “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”  After pleading with God three times – without success - to remove the thorn, [God] “said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”  Paul’s conclusion?  “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Cor 12:1-10 – Selected)

God warned Israel of pride that could easily engulf  them with the “success” he would give them after crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’  But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”  (Deut 8:17, 18)   Why the warning?  Because, God emphatically instructs us, “I will not yield my glory to another.”  (Isa. 48:11b)

QUESTIONS YOU MAY WANT TO ASK YOURSELF IN EVALUATING YOUR “PRIDE QUOTIENT”:

• Are the words, “I am sorry,” and “I am wrong” part of my vocabulary?  (Matt. 23:12)
• Whom do I really credit for my success?  God or myself?  (Psa. 33:16-19; Zech 4:6)
• What is my attitude toward the less fortunate; the less accomplished; the less attractive? Disdain? Judgmentalism? Avoidance? Or compassion?  (Matt. 9:36; Lk. 18:9-14)
• In conversation, do I purposely step back from the limelight, or do I maneuver the focus toward myself?
• Is my planning and decision-making bathed with prayer and the counsel of godly people?  Or do I plow ahead on my own?  (Prov 15:22; 20:18; James. 4:13-16)
• Am I resting in who I am in Christ, or am I still trying to prove myself and impress others?  (Eph. 2:4-9)

Because pride is such a menacing force for all of us, an exercise you might consider is praying your way through the following passages: John 13:1-17; Luke 18:9-17; Philippians 2:5-8.

My prayer is that you are having a great week!

R. Dwight Hill

How to invest your life

By Rick Warren

 

If you were asked at the end of your life, “Was it worthwhile?” how would you measure it?
There are three ways you can live your life. You can waste it. You can spend it. Or you can invest it. We call those who waste their lives foolish. We call those who spend their lives average. We call those who invest their lives leaders.

Jesus uses one of his most famous parables – the Parable of the Talents – to help us learn how to be leaders, the kind of people who invest our life rather than waste or spend it. Here are seven principles to take from this parable that can help you invest your life in a way that counts.

1. The principle of ownership In the Parable of the Talents, the master represents God. He owns it all. He is the one who entrusts what he owns to his servants. Matthew 25:14 (NLT) says, “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.” It was his property to entrust.
   That’s the way it is with us as well. Everything we have really belongs to God. Since he made it all, he owns it all. Psalm 24:1a (NLT) says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” Everything we have is on loan from God – even your talents. You never really own anything. You just get to use it while you’re here. Whatever God has given you to help you do ministry, it isn’t really yours.
   If you’re going to invest your life in ministry, you’ve got to realize this before you can go any further.
   
   
2. The principle of allocation This story in Matthew is where we get the English word talent. It originally meant a unit of measurement. But this story has been told so much throughout the past 2,000 years that it has come to mean what we typically think of as talent. It can be anything God has entrusted to us – abilities, resources, opportunities, or whatever else you’ve been given.
   We’ve all been entrusted with different “talent.” Nobody is talentless. Pastor, to invest your life like God wants you to, you’ve got to acknowledge that he has given you certain abilities, opportunities, and resources that he hasn’t given others.
   
   
3. The principle of accountability The master expected the servants to use what he had given them. Matthew 25:19 (NLT) says, “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.” One day God will settle accounts with you, too. He has made an investment in you, and he will want a return.
   God will ask you one day, “What did you do with what you were given?” You better be ready for that question! It’s the final exam question you need to study every day of the rest of your life.
   
   
4. The principle of utilization The parable also teaches that it’s wrong to bury your talents. God gives them for us to use. It’s a sin not to do so. The third servant in this story did just that. While the other two invested their gifts and doubled their master’s talents, the third buried his. He didn’t even get simple interest. He didn’t even try.
   Pastor, you can’t please God by playing it safe. Notice the master’s reaction. He said, “You lazy, wicked servant.” Most of us wouldn’t consider what the guy did as wicked. He didn’t do anything! But Jesus says that’s wicked. You can’t please God by playing it safe. You must take risks. Hebrews 11:6a (NLT) says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” If you don’t take risks, you don’t need faith.
   What risks have you taken with the talents God has given you? Remember, God would rather have you fall flat on your face for him in ministry than not even try.
   
   
5. The principle of motivation Fear kept the third servant from using his talent. He says in verse 26a, “I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth.” You and I don’t use our talents because of fear as well. Three types of fear keep us from being effective in ministry: self-doubt, self-pity, and self-consciousness. What do all three of those fears have in common? All mean that you’re focusing on “self.”
   Those dwelling in self-doubt refuse to risk failure. Those dwelling in self-pity feel hopeless and powerless to use what they’ve been given. Those dwelling in self-consciousness worry more about what other people will think of them than what their Creator might think. God doesn’t care about the mistakes you might make; the mistakes you have made; or what your family, friends, and peers think. He wants to know, “Will you use what I’ve given you to make a difference in the world?”
   Instead of lesser motivations, be motivated by the desire to glorify God through your ministry. It’s a better motivation than fear any day.
   
   
6. The principle of application The servant who didn’t use his talent lost it. In verse 28a the Bible says, “Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the 10 bags of silver.” That doesn’t sound fair to most of us. It sounds like he’s taking from the rich and giving to the poor. [kc: I think it's a typo and should be "It sounds like He's taking from the poor and giving to the rich"] But God has the right to take away anything that I don’t use to invest for him.
   One time I received a letter from a guy who took our membership class. He said, “I had it made. I had a company that had 1,200 percent profit in about four years, a 9,000 square foot home, nice cars…I wasn’t using it for the Lord, and I didn’t give him the glory, and I lost it all. I went through this period of depression, I found the church, and now God has shown me the answers. And I’m rebuilding my life.”
   If you don’t use what God has given you in the right way, you’ll lose it. It’s a universal principle. If you don’t use your muscles, you’ll lose them – that’s atrophy. We need to use our abilities and resources for God.
   
   
7. The principle of compensation If you use what God gives you wisely, you’ll be compensated. In verse 23 the master says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!”
   The master rewarded the faithful servants through three ways: affirmation, promotion, and celebration. Those rewards are waiting for us when we use well what we’ve been given. As you’re faithful, God will affirm your ministry over and over again. Then, as these verses teach us, be ready for the greatest celebration you’ve ever experienced!
   

SADDLEBACK SAYINGS

“Never waste energy trying to be well-known. Today’s hero is tomorrow’s zero. Work on character and leave your reputation to God.” – Rick Warren