When it comes to the kingdom of God, our serve is very important. You can't please God without getting good at dealing properly, correctly with people he loves. I say it a lot, but it bears repeating. Don't think you can love God and not care about people. Pay a visit to any local bookstore, and here's what you'll find: hundreds of books on self-improvement, and not nearly enough on self-denial.
Hello, and welcome to Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Always a pleasure to have you here with us. The Bible teaches us to take up our cross daily, to think of others as more important than ourselves. Study God's Word closely, and you'll see that the key to self-improvement is, in fact, a life of self-sacrifice. Stay with us now to see what the life of service looks like.
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Now, here's today's Destined for Victory message, improving your serve. Twelfth chapter of Paul's letter to the church in Rome. Beginning with verse 9. If you have it, say I've got it. Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor.
Serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice Hospitality. I want to talk to you from the subject: improving your serve.
As we continue to explore this letter. We come to the ninth verse of chapter twelve.
Now, in the earlier verses, we've seen that Paul has. Disgust. Three, what I call governing principles for life in the will of God. The first is surrender to God. Paul said, I beseech you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifices.
holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Surrender to God is the first governing principle if you want to live life in the will of God. The second Principle we saw is sober thinking about Ourselves. Paul went on to say in verse 3 that we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. But we are to think soberly according to the measure of faith God has given each of us.
And so we talked about the importance of sober thinking, getting yourself in perspective. If you want to please God, you got to get right in terms of the way you think about yourself. And there was a word there for both those who would tend to be conceited as well as for those who would tend to suffer with low self-esteem. And we want to think soberly so that we're in the best position to be used of God. To do the third thing, the third governing principle for life and the will of God is service to others.
And we talked in the last couple of messages about the need to serve other people and to use the gifts. God has given all of us gifts. Don't try to be someone else because God didn't make you someone else, He made you you. And he will use you. He'll use the gifts he's given you.
He'll use your style. He'll use your personality and temperament. He'll use your station in life. He'll use your socioeconomic standing. He'll use your career.
He'll use everything that makes up who you are and what you're all about for his glory. If you have yielded to him, if you're thinking soberly about yourself, and then make your gifts and callings available to God. You can serve others in his name. And that's what it's all about. For life in the will of God.
Is about serving other people. God wants to bless you, yes, but He wants to bless more than you. He wants you to go to heaven, yes, but he doesn't want you going by yourself. He wants you to take a busload of folk with you that you influenced into the kingdom. You prayed until they got saved.
You invited them to church. You shared your faith. You practice evangelism of one form or another until they came into the kingdom. And so it is about serving people into the kingdom and serving them once they're in the kingdom. Serving your brothers and sisters in Christ through the gifts and the callings that God has placed in you.
your life.
Now, with that background, we want to pick it up and realize that as he continues to talk about this matter of serving people. Paul gives us some practical pointers. Yeah. Serving others, and so I've likened it to improving your serve.
Some of you perhaps play tennis, and so you know how important your serve is. Others play table tennis, and you know again how important your serve is. I never played regular tennis time or two, but I've never played it seriously. But grew up playing serious table tennis. We would play until your arm was hurting.
The serve was very, very important. I happened to be very good, by the way, back in the day. Just thought I'd let you know.
Now, I haven't played in years. Don't challenge me now because everything's rusty. But back in the day, I commanded my neighborhood. Folk came to my house if they wanted to be sobered in their thinking. But y'all pray for me.
Y'all pray for me. But you know how important a serve is if you play table tennis or regular tennis. And when it comes to the kingdom of God, our serve is very important. You can't please God without getting good at at dealing properly, correctly with people he loves. I say it a lot, but it bears repeating.
Don't think you can love God and not care about people. That's a strange phenomenon that some people try to live, this whole business of I love God, but I don't fool with people.
Well, you gotta fool with people if you're gonna love God because God loves people. And he has sent you into the world as his ambassador. And you're not here just to show folk how much you love him. You're here to show folk how much he loves them. And he loves them through you.
And therefore, we're called to Improve our serve. And so, what you see as Paul closes chapter 12 are a series of exhortations that give us some practical pointers for improving our service. Our serve when it comes to other people. People. Let me just throw a few at you for your consideration.
First of all, the first practical pointer Paul gives us is to love people without compromise. Love people without compromise. He says in verse 9: love must be sincere, hate what is evil, cling to what is good.
Well, what does he mean by love must be sincere? Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. You might think he's talking about two separate issues, but that would be better rendered. It would certainly be accurate with regard to the Greek text for him to say, love must be sincere as we hate evil while clinging to what is good. There is a connection in Paul's mind as he writes this.
Not two separate focuses, but one. He's talking about loving people. And our love, he says, must be sincere while at the same time we take our stand against what is evil.
Now, when he talks about what is evil, he means anything that's not good. See, we tend to have categories that the Bible doesn't necessarily speak about. We tend to put a lot of things between good and evil. Like, well, good intentions. I didn't do good, but I meant good.
I didn't treat you right, but I didn't mean you any harm. Wow. Let me just hang out there a minute. One of the worst things you can do. Is trying to justify poor behavior by good intentions.
Fact of the matter is, God has called us to serve people well, and that means to treat them properly. And if we fall short, and from time to time we fall short. I don't know anyone who hasn't fallen short. And if you think you well, Pastor hadn't met me, if you think. You are the one who has never mistreated people.
I won't ask you, let me ask the people in your life. You don't get to tell us whether you treat everybody right, the people you deal with. Get to tell us whether you treat them right. Your husband, your wife, your children, your parents. Your relatives are getting on your nerves.
Your co-workers. Not just the nice ones, the friendly ones, the ones you hang out at lunch with. But the ones that you see them coming, you say, Oh Lord, they're not sick today. I was hoping they had caught a cold over the weekend. Love must be sincere while.
Hating what is evil and clinging to what is good. Meaning, in God's economy, you do good by doing his will, and all everything else. is considered evil despite intention. despite the fact that it might not have been motivated from the heart. Mistreatment is evil.
Because God's standard is for us to love people in the same way that He loves them. And he loves us and does right by us.
Now when you come short, there is grace. Thank God for grace. And there's grace not only to be forgiven by God, but in many cases, there's grace to reconcile with people. Which means you have to be willing, and that's what the sober thinking about yourself is. That's why that's so important because you have to be humble enough to say, I was wrong.
I'm sorry. Please forgive me. If you are one of those people walking around this world who has never said those two words together, I'm sorry. I suggest to you that there is no such thing as being in the will of God without, at some point or another, having to get things right with people. And you don't get things right by making excuses.
You get things right by saying, I see what I did wrong. I'm sorry, I didn't see it, and all of that, but I see it now. I'm sorry, please forgive me. and you get right. Don't go away, the rest of today's Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Shepard is coming right up.
In John 8.32 Jesus said that the truth could set us free. That's why destined for victory is here. To share timeless truth for a victorious life, and to show as best we can that Jesus Christ is exactly who He claims to be. You can help keep these messages coming your way all year round by sending a generous gift to day. Stop by PastorPaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online.
That's pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. It's not always easy to hate the sin and love the sinner, but that's what God has called us to do.
Now, let's listen closely to the rest of today's Destin for Victory message: Improving your serve. And he says, love must be sincere while hating what is evil, clinging to what is good. And so I'm calling this point, this practical pointer from Paul, loving people without. Compromise. Don't compromise when it comes to loving people.
Don't love them in a wrong way, in a way that doesn't benefit them.
So you can have both the heart to love and the resolve to take a stand for good.
Now, what he talks about. Hating what's evil, I submit that he's talking about hating what's evil in us as well as in other people. Not just in other people.
Well, I say, I love you, but I hate what you do.
Well, before you go there. Before you go there, have you taken a good look at yourself? Have you taken a good look at yourself? Remember, Jesus said on one occasion that you don't want to try to get the speck out of your brother's eye. Until you've gotten the log out of yours.
See, it's important that we understand that if you want to step to someone with correction, do it in the spirit of meekness. Paul said in Galatians chapter 6: in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself. Lest you also be tempted. Meaning, I don't want to step to you with a holier-than-thou attitude. Even when I want to confront you about what is evil.
Your mistreatment of me or other people. I want to make sure that I'm coming in the grace. that I myself stand in. I'm the product of grace. You're the product of grace.
You're not getting what you deserve. They never asked for it. You're the product of grace and mercy. And so as we love people, We love them in the grace and mercy in which we stand.
So, there is such a thing as taking your stand against evil in your own life and in the lives of others. And this is a love that can at times be confrontational when necessary. A love which can be tough when necessary. Parents have to exercise that sometimes. Tough love.
I love you, but no. See, some folk don't know how to say love and no in the same breath. But get used to it. Because the love some people write, you have to draw the line and say, This is it. This is where I take my stand.
You have to do it in lots of different types of relationships where you make sure people do not mistreat you. Hate what is evil. If someone is disrespecting you verbally, physically, or in any other way, then you take your stand. And you say, this is not appropriate. I will not stand for this.
And it has nothing to do with not loving you, but I can love you in Christ and at the same time take the stand against evil in your life just like I take it. against evil in my own life. And he says the key to hating what's evil is to cling to what's good. See, I submit that if you cling to what's good, that becomes your focus. I think about what is good.
I strive for what is good. I seek to do what is right. I think about it. In Philippians 4, Paul said, think on these things. Whatever is good.
Think on these things. And so you want to cling to what's good by letting that be the focus of your life. When I wake up in the morning and worship God and thank him for another day and pray my day, one of the things I want to do is say, Lord, as I go through this day, help me to keep my mind stayed on you and on those things that please you so that I live with a God consciousness. And if you live more with a God consciousness than a people consciousness, you'll be further down the road toward pleasing God. And you focus on him, Lord.
How do you want me to interact with this person? How do you want me to deal with those folk on my job? How do you want to deal with my family? Holiday celebration and reunion and barbecue and whatever it is that you got going on. You know who's coming over, Jesus.
Help me now. See? You focus On what's good. I want to please God with my heart. As well as with my words and with my actions.
And so he says, love.
Now, this is the Greek word agape. This is unconditional, sacrificial love. This is the love that reflects the nature of God. In verse 9 of Romans chapter twelve, he's talking about the love that emanates from the heart of God. Love must be sincere.
Agape. This is a love that is not because of. This is a love that can handle in spite of. Because of love won't get you very far when it comes to pleasing God and serving others. Because that means you would end up just serving folk you like.
Just serving folk who don't get on your nerves. And if you haven't learned it yet, you'll learn very quickly that that's a smaller group. Then the other one. There are a lot of people who have idiosyncrasies you don't like, personalities you may clash with. You're quiet and they're way too loud for you.
You are talkative and they're way too quiet for you. You are positive and optimistic, and they are way too negative and pessimistic for you. And so, there are lots of things that would cause you to not deal with certain people were it not for the grace of agape, the love which God. gives to us and which he can shed abroad in your heart. By the Holy Spirit, so that you can love people with the love He has given to you.
And it's in spite of love, it's sacrificial, it's not because of, it's not I love you if. I love you if you treat me right. I love you if you don't get on my nerves. I love you, and that's the bottom line. That's agape.
And if you don't have it, then you go before the Lord and say, God, I want to reflect your love because it's the one that you have called me to serve others from. It's the foundation of service. I serve to benefit those that God loves. I serve to bless them. If I get anything out of service, that's the byproduct.
But the motivation is, I want to please God. God loves people, has placed me in the world to bless others in His name. And so, what I get out of it, a lot of times, we talk about service to be personally fulfilled.
Well, thank God there is fulfillment in service, but that needn't be my primary motivation. My primary motivation is: Lord, I want to serve others until you're happy. Until I have done that which pleases you. And so that requires that you have the love of God. You operate by agape, the love of God.
That ought to be the foundation for marriage. Across the years, I've told singles looking to get married, don't just marry because of. You gotta marry in spite of. See, we're losing our way because we've thrown down the compass. The Word of God is the compass.
And the Word of God says that agape is to be the foundation for marital relationship. And it's in spite of, not just because of, it's unconditional, it's sacrificial. It's, I love you, and there's nothing you can do about it. I love you when you are getting on my nerves. And married people can attest there will be times when they will get on your nerves.
You singles don't understand it because you might be in that kind of love that just ignores people. Ignores the things about him you don't like. You ever been in that kind of love, that kind of infatuation? You know, that's not legit. You know, it's fine, I mean, but I'm just saying it's not good enough to marry someone because sometime soon after the honeymoon, and perhaps on the honeymoon.
You will begin to see things that were there all along, but your infatuation blinded you. And I heard one of the old saints I grew up around say, love is blind, but marriage is an eye-opener. Man, just get your eyes open. You say, oh Lord. Was that day all along your friend say yeah?
Trying to talk to you, you wouldn't listen to anybody. And so, the way to make your marriage work is, you've got to make sure you're rooted and grounded in God's love. Which can and does. Draw lines and say, listen, this is inappropriate. This is not treating me correctly.
But It doesn't change love. I can love you and hate what is evil while clinging to what is good, all at the same time. And so, you want to pray that God will bless you to really live out and reflect His love. And again, this comes largely through your focus. He said, cling to what is good.
You've got to focus on God and His will and His purpose. That's your focus. You put what is evil to your back. You put what is good to your face. And you focus on that which is good.
You spend more time thinking about that which pleases God. Than anything else. Praying about that which pleases God. Reading the word and allowing God to transform you and renew your mind. And so he says, we must love people without compromise.
Without compromise. Take your stand. When people in your life are living in sin, you can love a sinner while hating the sin. It is possible. To love a sinner, I take my stand against the sin.
I do not participate in the sin, I do not condone the sin. But I can still love the sinner. In fact, that's the only way to reflect the love of God because that's exactly what God did with us. While we were sinners, Christ died for us. He did the best thing He could for us when we were in the worst possible condition, while we were sinners, while we hated him.
He loved us. And so, since that is what brought you into the family of God, it stands to reason that that is how God calls you to deal with the other people in your life. You know, it is possible to hate the sin and love the sinner. God has given you that ability through the power of His Holy Spirit. We can be in the world but not of it, which means we can give people a hug without embracing all of their choices.
Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory. Remember, any of our recent messages, including the one you heard just now, are available on demand at our website, pastorpaul.net. While you're there, be sure to check out our online store for some great resources to help you grow in your Christian faith. Including books and video messages from Pastor Paul Shepard. That's pastorpaul.
If you haven't already downloaded our free mobile app, now is a great time to do it. Search Destined for Victory at the App Store and listen to these messages on demand. That's the Destined for Victory mobile app. Download it today, absolutely free. And before we leave you, I want to let you know about a brand new resource that goes along with the message you just heard.
And we want to share with you when you make a generous gift to Destined for Victory. It's our booklet, Improving Your Serve. If you want to develop a lifestyle of service and follow in the steps of Jesus in the process, you'll want to get yourself a copy of this great resource today. That's Improving Your Serve, Our Gift to You, for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500.
That's 855-339-5500. Or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767. Fremont, California, 94538. Promote the good news more than you denounce the bad news.
There are things you take your stand against. There are things you denounce, and all this is wrong. But the good news is, Christ loves us, He died for us. That's next time in our continuing message, Improving Your Serve. I hope you'll join us.
Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
