Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. You know, once a person makes a commitment to follow Christ, I mean radical, an all-indecision. There's a process God uses to transform us.
Well, today I'm going to address what I believe is one of the most neglected areas of spiritual growth. Because once we're aware and willing to engage, it results in amazing life change. Stay with me. What if the secret to lasting change isn't a longer to-do list, but a completely different kind of list, a to-be list? I'm Dave Drewy, and this is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
We're continuing our series called Free at Last: How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle. And if you've missed any part so far, you can always catch up online at livingonthege.org. Today, Chip gets very practical about two areas where spiritual training changes everything, hard work and the words that come out of your mouth.
Now here's Chip with today's message titled The Power of Spiritual Training in the Transformation Process. Listen carefully. Only God. can transform a life. Only by God's supernatural grace.
Can a life be authentically changed? from the inside out. But He chooses to never do it alone. It's a joint effort. Transformation, the miracle of life change, everything we've talked about is a joint effort.
It's completely and fully by grace. But we have a part. Yeah. I want you to see this combination. Psalm 77:14 says, You are the God who performs miracles, you display your power among the people.
God does miracles, He's done them in the past, He does them today. That's God's part, the supernatural. He does miracles among us, but look at the next passage in Romans 8: he does miracles in us. The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead amazingly lives in you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
God does miracles in the world. He parts red seas. He's raised people from the dead. But he doesn't just do miracles among us, he does miracles in us. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, when you put your faith in him, dwells inside of you.
We don't have to sin anymore. We will, we will have struggles. But you've been forgiven. The penalty of sin has been paid. The power of sin has been broken.
And now the Spirit. A believing God that created all that there is if you're a follower of Jesus lives inside of you. That's God's part.
Now notice the Apostle Paul says, but that's not how it all works. Philippians chapter 4, he says, I can do, that's something he does, I can do all things, but how? Through Christ who gives me strength. In fact, the next passage in Philippians 2, he kind of puts the whole package together. There's God's part, there's our part, there's dependency, it's all of grace, and yet we have to make every effort.
And so he commands us, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Then notice the second half. For it is God who is at work in you. both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Be diligent.
Be diligent. Work hard. refuse to take shortcuts. It says He who steals must steal no longer. But rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good.
Then notice the purpose clause.
so that he may have something to share with the one who has need. Training objective is financial stewardship, and rooted in this is our work ethic. The training command is steal no longer. Grammatically, he's saying, people in this particular church were stealing. Grammatically, it's stop stealing, knock it off.
And then, what we're going to see in just a minute, he's going to say, stop stealing, recognize the value of work and the purpose of work. And then he says, Now I want you to put on, I want you to learn to work. Or to labor, and he's talking about real physical labor here, but unto the Lord. I want you to work as though you're working for an audience of one.
So there's a great value in work, but notice also in this passage the purpose of work. The purpose of work just isn't upward economic mobility. He says, You who steal, steal no longer. Stop taking shortcuts, but work with your hands. What's the last phrase?
so that you may be able to share. See, it goes from saying, I'm not going to steal.
So I want to be generous. The uh Training apparatus that's been most helpful to me. is I'm going to encourage you to write out a to-be list. And when I say a to be list, Here's one of my biggest mentors, other than my father and a few other people. I shared with you, Professor Howard Hendricks was a great mentor in my life.
In my third year of school, there was about 10 or 12 of us. We met with him for lunch. And we'd have a brown bag lunch and we would talk and And I was working full-time, going to school full-time, had three kids, and had just started out pastoring a church. And so, I mean, my life was crazy. I mean, it was up four in the morning, and you study here, then you do this with the church, and then you drive in, and then you go to school, and you know, then you try and be a good dad.
And, I mean, it was nuts. And I'll never forget him talking about men, the problem with a lot of your lives, because we'd ask him questions for an hour every Wednesday afternoon over lunch. He says you need to create a to-be list instead of just a to-do list. I mean, my to-do lists were this long, and I could never get them all done. And I'll never forget, you might be thinking, what do you mean by a to-be list?
He said You will never be more loved than you're loved right now. You'll never get all your to-dos done. And your life isn't based on your performance.
So what you need to do is get very, very clear about who do you want to be. Who do you want to become? And I remember driving away from that little seminary and stopping at a dairy queen in a little town called Crandall, and then on the back of a napkin, I said, I'm either going to make a to-be list and follow it, or I'm going to keep living this crazy life where I'm not quite the husband I need to be, and I'm not getting enough sleep, and I'm not working out anymore, and I've got school over here, and life is crazy. And then, in the back of a little napkin, I said, I want to be a man of God. I want to be a great husband.
I want to be a great dad. I want to be a great friend. I want to be a great pastor. And I want to be someone who takes care of my body. And I decide if I'm going to be a man of God, I'm going to meet with God at least an hour every morning before anybody else.
If I'm going to be a great husband, my wife's going to know that every Friday for three hours, we're going to have a date uninterrupted that she has me with my undivided attention. And every night, every night after our meal, it might be 10 minutes, it might be 30 minutes, but we're going to talk and connect from the heart. I went through and I put my kids' names in my schedule on the same calendar. And to be then, I said, we're going to eat together and I'm going to meet with my kids individually. And then there's two or three guys that I really liked.
I said, I want to be a great friend, and I want to work out, and I love being with you guys, and I need to process some stuff with you that I don't need to talk about with my wife. And I built that in my schedule. And then I changed my calendar and I said, you know what, there's two or three things as the senior pastor that only I can do. And all of Wednesday was going to be sermon preparation, and I was going to have my deadline. And I mean, it was so hard.
And it was three steps forward and two steps backwards. But I was more concerned about my to-be list. Then my to-do list. Be diligent. Work hard.
Don't take shortcuts. Station number four is be positive, don't wound with your words. Don't wound with your words. Be positive. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth.
but only such a word as is good for evocation according to the need of the moment. Notice the purpose clause: so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed. For the day of redemption. Here we have.
The training objective is positive speech. Positive. Speech. The training command, say only that which helps. Stop saying unwholesome words.
The word here has the idea of rotten. Putrid, corrupt. It's like milk that is spoiled, or fruit that's gone bad, or meat that has been corrupted. Don't let anything come out of your mouth. that's corrupt or putrid.
Instead, say words that build up, that help, that edify, that encourage. And the idea of this phrase is that encourage specifically at specific times according to the needs as you're engaging with people. The training action is put off negative speech. Renew, recognize the power and the consequences of your speech.
So, first, we're going to put off negative speech. Here's some examples of negative speech: sarcasm, put-downs, innuendos. General negativity, outbursts of anger, criticism, labeling, abusive speech, cussing, swearing, taking the Lord's name in vain, slander. Gossip. Coarse jokes.
Should I go on?
Now here's the deal. You need to understand the power. In your words, boom. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and there's more coming up in a moment, so stay with us. Beyond this broadcast, Chip's teaching also lives on the Living on the Edge YouTube channel.
Full sermons, short clips you can send to a friend, and entire series you can work through at your own pace. Just search Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram on YouTube and subscribe so you don't miss what's next.
Now let's continue today's lesson. Proverbs 18 21. Very powerful. It tells us there's life. and death.
And the power of our words. And those who love it will eat its fruit. I mean, if I could pass a microphone around, and some of you could tell me a moment with one of your parents, or with a teacher, or with a coach who said something to you, and it brought death to you, you're a loser. I wish we never had you. You'll never amount to anything.
Get out of this house. You're too short, you're too fat, you'll never make it. I don't love you. Remember? Remember that?
Words are not, you know, that sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Liar, liar, liar, pants on fire. You can absorb a lot more sticks and stones than you can ever. The power, there's life and death in the power of words. What comes out of your mouth brings life to the people around you or kills them.
We could get another microphone and we could talk about the teacher or the coach or the friend or the person. You said No, you ought to go out for the team. I think you'd be good. You know, it's amazing how you think. Have you ever thought of being an engineer?
Oh no, no, you should apply to a college, you can make it, and now you've got your PhD. Oh, you know something? You pick up those songs pretty quickly. Why don't you try playing this instrument? You're great with people.
Have you ever thought about being a counselor? Hey, we need you. Come on. And you know what?
Someone believed in you before you believed in yourself, and they gave you words of life and words of hope. Be positive. Don't wound with your words. Why? Because there's power.
The second reason. There's consequences. Very interesting. I don't know if you've ever done this, but now and then I've memorized a verse that I wish I hadn't. Only because it's like, oh my lands, I have to live with this.
Luke 6:45 is a very interesting passage where Jesus says that our words are like A spiritual MRI, and they will tell you what's really going on. in your heart. A good man, according to Jesus, brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart. And an evil man brings out evil things of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks by that which fills the heart.
See, the reason you need to be so careful and actually monitor your words and listen to your words. is because a lot of us say things to people, we're critical of someone. We've put put-downs here, innuendo here, a little joke here, a little sexual connotation here. And we think that, what are words? And then we say something in an argument, and then we say, oh, I was only kidding, or I didn't really mean it.
No, no, no, no, you don't get it. What you really mean is what comes out of your mouth. In fact, a lot of the, oh, I'm only kidding, I'm only joking, that's just because you don't have the courage to say it directly and kindly and lovingly. What you really mean is exactly what came out of your mouth. Outbursts of anger tell you about hatred in your heart.
Put-downs and insecurities come out of your mouth because you put someone down, because this is what's going on inside. See Our words. You have to go into training. James said that if you can ever control your tongue, it's like putting the bit in a horse or like the rudder on a ship. You can control your whole life.
We'll talk about some very practical ways in just a minute, but I just want you to get. Go into training to be positive. Go into training where you think about what comes out of my mouth. And if you want to grow spiritually and understand, so what's God doing in me? Listen to your words.
Listen to your tone of voice. Is there an angry heart? Is there a critical heart? Is there a wounded heart? Is there a perverted heart?
Is there a corrupt heart? 'Cause it'll tell you. And if that isn't enough, this is the one that. Maybe another passage that I don't know what I was doing. I had this season where I was memorizing all these verses.
I guess I really needed them. And these are what I call Jesus verses. Th these are ones like Lord, I had no idea that my mouth Was so critical to every single relationship. Matthew chapter 12, verses 36 and 37, Jesus says, But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you'll be justified, and by your words you'll be.
Condemned. Every careless word. Every little comment, every little gossip, every little slander, every little conversation, driving out of the parking lot talking about someone, everything when you get off the phone and you put it down and you talk about someone that you would never say if they were here in those presents. And Jesus says that every careless word that you speak or I speak, I will give an account, and you will give an account at the day of judgment. Can you grasp Can you fathom the impact that would have on your heart, your relationships with God if you went into training?
Because really your words are a reflection of your heart. When you go into training for your speech, you know what you're doing? your building probably the most important muscle in your body. Most important muscle in your body. Is your heart?
And there's few things that you can go into training for. that will let you know how your heart is doing. Like saying to yourself, you know, Lord... I'm going to use my speech as a mirror. In fact, your word is a mirror to me, and I'm going to use my speech as a mirror.
So, that rather than just some sort of external, nice morality Christian, I want to be someone. who's pure in heart. Because according to Jesus, the pure in heart see God. and experience God. And I'm going to go into training to be positive.
I'm going to be positive in my words in my home. And with my roommate? And with my friends. I'm going to be positive when people are around. I'm going to be positive with my tone of voice.
Now, when you go into training on this one, it will be very painful at first because most of us don't think much about our words.
Well, how do you do that? Let me give you a little training apparatus. Practice silence and solitude. Under silence, would you just jot the verse, Proverbs 10, 19? It says, when there are many words, transgression is unavoidable.
This is a funny application. Talk.
Now for some of you that's not a problem. For others, I won't mention any names. It's a big problem. In fact, you might even try. If you have a problem with speaking and you want to get control, you might do the five or ten second rule.
Something comes to your mind. 1, 1,000, 2, 1,000, 3, 1,000, 4, 1,000, 5, 1,000. Before you speak, for some of us, you need to go to 10. But silence. The second is solitude.
And what I mean by solitude is, I don't have a picture of you, although it probably wouldn't hurt most of us to get two or three days away in some retreat center and not speak to anyone for two or three days. Many of us, that would maybe be too much too soon. We'd probably go insane. White jacket, you know. But I will tell you what.
If you would say, God, I'm going to spend solitude with you a half hour or 45 minutes or an hour every day. And since this is the mirror of your word and it is truth, What I'm going to do, God, is I want you to know that I want my heart to be pure and I will deceive myself. And so I'm going to systematically read through your word. And there's lots of good programs. And you read, and then you close your Bible and you say, Lord, would you help me respond?
What do you want to say to me? And then you sit quietly, and for some of you, just sit quietly. You don't need to do this. For some of us that are very, very verbal, then I get out my journal, I begin to write. Lord, would you speak to me?
Would you bring to my mind anybody or anything in the last day or so where things have come out of my mouth and sit quietly? And I will tell you: if you struggle with like God never answers my prayers, you're going to get some answers, prayers in a hurry. He'll bring vivid pictures to your mind of what you said or how you said it. And this will be difficult at first, but you'll start experiencing God. When you go into training on your speech and you begin to open His Word, you'll start to experience God.
Because he longs for your words to give life. He longs for you to be a conduit of life and hope and building up and education in your home and at work and in your family and your neighborhood. But most of us don't think much about what we say.
So let me encourage you. Go into training. Be positive. Don't wound with your words. Station number five.
We go into training to be forgiving. Be forgiving. Be the first. Mm-hmm. I'm sorry.
Verse 31, he says, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another. Tenderhearted. Forgiving each other.
Well, how? Just as God and Christ also has forgiven you. Would you put a line under those key words, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and then skip down to all malice? Then put a circle around Kind. Circle around tenderhearted.
Circle around forgiving. In fact, grammatically, what he's going to say is stop being bitter, and grammatically, it's show yourself or demonstrate yourself to be a kind, tender-hearted, compassionate, forgiving person. The training objective is relational harmony. I mean, that's really what he's talking about: great relationships. The training command is to be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving.
The negative is stop hateful attitudes. in behaviors. Start showing and demonstrating loving attitudes and behaviors. And so the training actions are to put off hate. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled The Power of Spiritual Training in the Transformation Process.
Part of our larger series called Free at Last: How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle. Miss the beginning or want to send today's message to someone you know? The Living on the Edge podcast has this whole series lined up and ready to go. If you'd rather hear Chip's sermon start to finish with nothing cut, that's on the Chip Ingram Sermon podcast. Writing your own to-be list is one thing, actually living it out is another.
That gap is exactly where Chip's book, Yes, You Really Can Change, picks up. Real workable steps for becoming the person you wrote down. It's a clear, biblically grounded look at what spiritual transformation actually requires and where the power to change really comes from. And right now, we'll send you two copies for the price of one so you can grab one for yourself and hand the other to someone beside you, whether it's in a small group or just a friend you'd like to share the journey with.
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Well now here's Chip. As we close today's program, I talked about being diligent. And the Apostle Paul always takes the negative and replaces it with the positive and basically told us, you know, don't be lazy, but work hard. Stop stealing, which is basically a shortcut. And he says, work hard in order that you might have something to give to those that are in need.
And the overarching principle there is don't take a shortcut. And it's not just stealing money. You know, we steal time, we steal relationships. We just think there's little shortcuts we can take. And what we know down deep is it never works that way.
Diligence is a tough one to develop. In fact, one of the fruits of the spirit is self-discipline. And I shared something today that I think might be a great exercise for you. The first time I did it, it took me less than a half hour, but it changed the entire course of my life. I was 28 years old, thinking deeply about the kind of things we talked about today, and I still remember pulling over at that Dairy Queen in Crandall, Texas, and I got out a napkin and I made a to-be list.
Not a to-do list, a to-be list. and let me encourage you, what would happen if you did that? And just you said, I want to be a man or a woman of God. You know, I want to be a great dad or a great mom. You know, I want to be a great friend.
And so I wrote those things down and the key areas of my life, and then. I begin to plug in what would it take to be a man of God? What would it take to be a good, a really great husband? And I put those in my schedule. And did I keep them 100% of the time?
Are you kidding me? No way. But I kept them a lot more. And then that's where my small group kicked in. Because instead of just saying, how are you doing?
Well, I got 133 things to do, and I did 120 yesterday, and now I've got 150 today. I mean, isn't that how life works? It rearranged my whole life. around who I wanted to become. Can I encourage you, take 30 minutes and make a to-be list.
Next time, Chip continues this message titled, The Power of Spiritual Training in the Transformation Process.
So be sure to join us again right here on Living on the Edge. Yeah. Bye. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
