Skip to content Faithful Followers: The Character That Matters Jun 1 · 44 min ...more
Faithful Followers: The Character That Matters
June 1, 2025 · 44 min
Pastor Jeff highlights the importance of character development over public persona in the Christian walk. He emphasizes that as believers, we are called to love deeply, work diligently, and live grounded lives, all while reflecting the love of Christ in our actions. He reminds us that our behavior matters in how we witness to others, urging us to be examples of good character in a world that often lacks it. Ultimately, he encourages us to remain rooted in God's love, allowing it to shape our character and impact those around us. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
Series BRAVE Church June 1, 2025 · 44 min · BRAVE Church
Pastor Jeff highlights the importance of character development over public persona in the Christian walk. He emphasizes that as believers, we are called to love deeply, work diligently, and live grounded lives, all while reflecting the love of Christ in our actions. He reminds us that our behavior matters in how we witness to others, urging us to be examples of good character in a world that often lacks it. Ultimately, he encourages us to remain rooted in God's love, allowing it to shape our character and impact those around us. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor Jeff highlights the importance of character development over public persona in the Christian walk. He emphasizes that as believers, we are called to love deeply, work diligently, and live grounded lives, all while reflecting the love of Christ in our actions. He reminds us that our behavior matters in how we witness to others, urging us to be examples of good character in a world that often lacks it. Ultimately, he encourages us to remain rooted in God's love, allowing it to shape our character and impact those around us. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:00 Well, good morning. Will you help me welcome all of our brave campuses who are worshiping with us today? So great to have all of you. It is great to be back with you. Can you believe it's June first today? It's0:11 amazing to me. I I left to go to Africa at the end of April. I was gone 2 weeks, so I was plus 9 hours that way, then came back, was here for a little bit, then when I was in Hawaii last week with my wife celebrating our0:22 anniversary, which was great, but that was minus 4 hours the other way. Thank you. And now I'm home, and it's June, and I don't even know when to go to bed or when to get up, and I can't sleep, and so if I fall asleep0:33 during the message, that's what happened. But I'm glad to be with you today. Reminder, this week is first Tuesday. It's the most important meeting of the month. If you've never been to a first Tuesday, let me just0:44 encourage you. Please come and be part of how we worship and seek the face of the Lord together. We believe God's doing some incredible things through that ministry, so look forward to seeing you there. And with that,0:52 let's continue our worship as we go before the Lord and listen to him and get to hear his word this morning. Would you pray with me? Our father in heaven, we give you the glory, honor and praise for who you are. We thank1:03 you, Lord, that you are a good God, that you're a loving God, that you're a caring God, merciful, faithful Lord. There's not enough words to describe really how great you are. And Lord, we're thankful today1:15 that we could gather to worship your name, to celebrate you, to sing praises to you, to seek you in prayer. And Lord, we're excited to hear your word this morning. Because Lord, we as a people believe that every time
1:25 your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you are speaking. So our prayer this morning from all of us is speak Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now for all who have gathered, who desire to hear the
1:37 Lord Jesus Christ, who will believe what he tells you and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word amen. Amen.
1:49 There are too many people in our culture who are trying to be a character and not enough people in our culture who are allowing God to build their character. It doesn't take very long to look around and see that people
2:00 wanna platform themselves and do different things and make their make their life have a trajectory that goes in a certain way, and yet at the same time, we continue to hear story after story after story about people
2:11 whose character does not match their level of skill and the tragedy that comes with them. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, God not only wants us to know him, but God wants us to continue to grow in Christ
2:23 so that our character gets developed. Because what God is working on is who we are and our identity in Christ. He wants us to be ambassadors for him. We are his witnesses, and so
2:35 he wants our character to reflect who he is. And the reason for this is for some people, you and your life are the only gospel they will ever hear. And so your character
2:47 and who you are is to reflect the goodness and the glory of God. And yet character is something that's built over time. And character is not something that's fun to build. It's not
2:58 exciting because we go through a pruning process of God discipling us because he loves us so much down to the core of who we are. But when God can take a saint that's
3:10 willing to let their character grow, it's your character that will take you to the heights that God wants you to be. And it's character that's important. So as Paul's writing this letter to the church in Thessalonica, a
3:21 church he's very encouraged by, a church that he loves, a church that he cares about, he begins before he talks about the coming of Christ. And next week, we'll be talking about the rapture and the second coming and all
3:32 the things that everybody wants to talk about. But before he gets there, he says, what's really important is your character. And I wanna talk to you about the character today that matters. Because I'm gonna give you 4
3:43 truths from God's word that if you practice them and continue to practice them and continue to practice them, God will be able to use your life in greater capacity. And here's the other thing about
3:55 character. When we're talking about this today, there's only 1 who has ever lived who is perfect in character. There's only 1 who has ever lived that will be perfect in character. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. This lesson
4:06 today is not a teaching on how you can become perfect. This lesson today is a teaching on you following the perfect 1 who is growing you more and more moment by moment, day by day into his likeness.
4:18 And so for this passage today, we're gonna be in first Thessalonians chapter 4, first Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 9 through 12. And then this short little passage of 4 verses here, I'm gonna read those to you, and
4:29 then I'm gonna give you 4 truths about ways in which you can grow your character that reflects the goodness and glory of God. Here's what he says. Now as to the love of the brethren, you have
4:41 no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love 1 another. For indeed, you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, to
4:53 excel still more and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and to attend to your own business and work with your hands just as we commanded you so that you will behave
5:05 properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. And here just nestled in those 4 verses, it's packed with what Paul is writing to them as to how they can
5:16 grow their character and the character that matters for them individually and as a church to be the witness that the Lord wants them to be. So as we highlight 4 of these truths today, let the Holy Spirit minister
5:28 to your heart and show you areas where your capacity can grow and your character can become more like Christ. And the first 1 is this, love deeply. Love
5:40 deeply. Notice what he says. He says, now as to the love of the brethren, that means loving the other brothers and sisters in Christ, you have no need for anyone to write to you,
5:52 for you yourselves are taught by God to love 1 another. He says, when it comes to loving other brothers and sisters in Christ, you don't need anybody to write to you about that. And here's why
6:04 you don't need anybody to write to you about that because you belong to God and God will teach you how to do that. 1 of the evidences that you've been born again is that people that seemed unlovable to you, you'll
6:16 learn to love. When I got saved, my little clique of friends got a lot bigger. I found that I could have capacity to love people that I wouldn't have otherwise wanted to love. And as
6:27 a matter of fact, what we learn throughout the Bible is that love is the metric of everything that God desires. I mean, Jesus, during his earthly ministry, when he was asked questions about what the greatest commandment
6:38 was, you remember how he answered in Matthew 22 verse 37. He said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. On these 2 commandments, hang all
6:49 the law and the prophets. In other words, you get these 2 things right, everything else is going right. Love God translated into loving others. It's that clear. So love is
7:00 central to everything that God is trying to teach us. As a matter of fact, it's not just that he's loving and trying to teach us how to love, but first John chapter 4 says that God is
7:12 love. His whole character is love. He created the world out of his love. I mean, that's who he is. And so the love of God is extremely important. And 1 of the things that
7:24 we know is once we're born again, here's what God begins to do. He puts his love in our lives so that it translates into the lives of others. Let me say it a little more bluntly.
7:36 How you treat other people is a direct correlation to how much you've experienced the love of God. And let's be clear on this because when the Bible says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and
7:48 strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, we need to understand the order of this. First John 4 19 says what? We love because what? He first loved us. We
8:00 don't love and then get God's love. We love as a response to the initiated love he gave us through sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. And that's why when you get to John chapter 14
8:11 and you read a verse like this that says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love me
8:23 does not keep my words and the word which you hear is not mine, but the father who sent me. Here's what Jesus said. If you love me, you'll keep my word. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. And we hear that and
8:34 here's what we begin to think. Alright. I'll try to keep the commandments so that God knows that I love him. That's not what it says. Here's what it says. If you've truly received the love of God, if you really recognize
8:45 and none of us do to the fullest extent just how immeasurable God's love is for us, if you can ever rest in that, you will keep his word. You will keep his commandment. The the
8:57 motivation to be obedient is not you better be obedient because of the fear of God. It's the love of God that compels us. The reason that Paul and the other apostles went out and preached the gospel and risked their
9:08 lives and were willing to be martyred was not because they wanted to show God that they loved him, was not so that God would love them because they're doing so much good work for him. They were so constrained and
9:20 compelled that God could love them that much. They were willing to give up everything. They were willing to be obedient in all things because of the love that they had experienced from God. And friends, this is such an
9:32 important truth for you to realize because even as a believer, you can come to church and hear a message on this and you'll walk away and say, all right, I gotta work on this. I gotta work on this. And there should
9:42 always be those things. There's not 1 person in your life that you couldn't love more. We can always grow in our love. We can always grow in our capacities to love, and we'll never be perfect in the way we do it. But
9:54 what I want you to see is once you understand the love that God has for you, that will compel you to love other people. If you can't forgive someone, it's because you have no idea how much God's forgiven
10:06 you. If you can't pray for someone, you have no idea that Jesus lives to make intercession for you. He's in heaven praying for you right now. I mean, comes out once
10:17 you recognize how much God loves you. And theologically, we're sinners. Theologically, we're wretches. Theologically, we're dead. And yet God in his great love sent his son and
10:29 made us alive by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. And here's what I find. I've known the Lord for 35 years ish, something like that. The more I grow in holiness, the more I grow in
10:41 Christ, the more I become aware of just how sinful at my core I am. The more I become aware of just how deep that depravity hole goes. Just when I think like I I'm a riot. I'm like, oh
10:53 man, it still goes deep. Look at how selfish I am. Look at how self centered I am in this. I mean, that's what God teaches. But what motivates us to love is the love of God. And
11:05 here's what I find. Here's some practical things that you can do. If you're married, you have opportunities to love every day. If you're have children, you have opportunities to love every day. If you have neighbors, you
11:16 have opportunities to love every day. I mean, everybody in your sphere of influence is a person to love. And what tends to happen is the closer you get to people, like in a marriage or something else, you think, well,
11:28 I don't I don't feel like I love them anymore. I mean, a lot of times you'll see somebody and they're premarital and they they know it all and they're gonna get married and they've figured out marriage unlike any
11:36 person's ever lived on the planet because their love's better than anybody. And 3 years later, you're sitting with them and they say something like this. We don't love each other anymore. I wanna tell you something. Love
11:46 is not a feeling. It's not a feeling. Love is a decision. It's an it's an action. Love is a choice. It's not how you feel. It's who you become.
11:58 And here's the reality. If you take any relationship that you have, here's the tip. Take any relationship that you have that you struggle in, like I'm having a hard time being around that person. They're testing my
12:08 patience. I can't seem to forgive them. They're this way or, you know, in a relationship with somebody you're close to, they're disrespecting me. They're not showing me honor. Makes me mad, whatever. Whatever it is,
12:19 instead of taking it out on that person, just go before the Lord and say this, hey, Lord, has there ever been a time where I've disrespected you and not shown you honor? Anything you wanna speak about that? Hey, Lord,
12:30 has there ever been a time where it would have been really difficult to forgive me? Are there any sins that I have that are pretty big? And what I find is that's a great Bible study question because the Lord through his
12:40 holy spirit is able to download all sorts of things in my life about the things that I'm chafed about, and I treat God the same way that I'm frustrated about with the person that I'm around. And if I understand how
12:52 much God's loved me through that, then it's easy to love somebody else. I can forgive because I know how much God has forgiven me. Like, no matter what you do to me, no matter how poorly you
13:04 treat me, it's nothing compared to how poorly I treated God. So I can forgive you because I know how much I've been forgiven. I can love because I know how much I'm loved. Do you
13:16 see the difference? If you start with, I'm gonna be really good and I'm gonna try to love and I'm gonna try to be good. I'm gonna love God more. I'm gonna do all this. You miss out on the purpose of it. I was just
13:26 talking to somebody I know really well this week. We're talking about how to develop a devotional life, and they were talking about what they needed to do about Bible study and prayer and worship. And I'm like, that's
13:33 all good, but it's the core of why you're doing that that matters. If you're doing it just so you can read the Bible more, it may not have the effect you think. If you're praying just so that you can say you prayed more,
13:44 or if you're going to church just so you can tell people you went to church, that's different than saying my whole reason for wanting to do this is I just wanna spend time with Jesus. I wanna get acquainted with his
13:54 voice. I wanna know him. And so therefore, I'm reading the Bible so I can hear what he's saying. Therefore, I'm praying so I can hear his word. Therefore, I'm worshiping so he knows I'm honoring him. But it's all about
14:05 Jesus. It's all about him. We love because he first loved us. Amen? And this is the message to the entire church. Jesus said in John chapter 13, he says, a new commandment that I give
14:17 you is that you love 1 another even as I have loved you. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for 1 another. Well, how did Jesus love us?
14:29 He left heaven and came to earth and was abused and crucified on a cross in hopes that people would repent and come to him. And even if they didn't,
14:41 he was gonna demonstrate this is how much I love you. Right? So therefore, how do we demonstrate who Christianity who Christ is? Through our witness about the way that we love 1
14:53 another? Now here's the question, who are we to love? I mean, the good the the attorney came, asked Jesus 1 time like, well, who's my neighbor? In other words, where does this stop? Like,
15:05 get that I'm supposed to love my my spouse and my family, and I get I'm supposed to kind of be good to the people that are living near me in the neighborhood, but but who's my neighbor? Like, where does it stop? And
15:13 Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan to say, there is no limit. Just be that way to everybody that you meet. So just think about this for a second. Think about your sphere of influence. Think about your immediate
15:23 sphere through your family. Think about, your sphere in your neighborhood. Think about the sphere through your work. Think about if you go to school, who your sphere of influence is. If you go to certain restaurants
15:32 occasionally and you know the people in there or gas station you pull up, you know the person that works there. You think about all the different people in your sphere of influence, that's who God's calling you to love.
15:42 Every single 1 of them. And no matter how much you love them, there's capacity to love them even more. Did you know that? There's always more capacity, and there's always different seasons, and there's
15:54 always different ways. So you can't just say I do at the altar, and I know what to do, and I know how to love. You're gonna grow in how to love for the rest of your life. So how can you love? Let me give you some
16:04 examples. How about this? You can love in many different ways. Here's 1 way you can love. You can love with silence when your opinion would only add heat. Do you know that
16:16 silence is sometimes a great way to love people? You don't have to win every argument. You don't have to give every piece of evidence. You you sometimes it's just
16:28 that's hard for us. But think of this proverb. In Proverbs chapter 17 verses 27 and 28 reads like this, he who restrains his words
16:41 has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool when he keeps silent is considered wise.
16:53 I love that. Even if you're a fool, just shut your mouth. People will think you're smart. When he closes his lips, he's considered prudent. And sometimes silence is the best
17:05 thing. You don't need to say it anymore. You don't need to say anything. You don't need to talk into it. You don't need to be right. Silent. How about this? Sometimes you can love with forgiveness when you'd rather hold
17:16 a grudge. 1 of the evidences that you've been born again is you can forgive lots of harsh things and lots of wrongdoing. Why? Because you've been forgiven a lot more than anybody's ever harmed you. So
17:27 forgiveness, every relationship that lasts, there's ongoing forgiveness. It can't be why I already I already forgave my wife. I forgave her like 4 times last year.
17:39 I'm telling you forgiveness is ongoing daily. It's just I'm I'm releasing. I'm not holding this against you. I'm You know what? I make mistakes too. Forgiveness and not just in a marriage and not just with your kids
17:51 and not just with your With everybody. And what I find is God gives us plenty of opportunity to forgive. He gives us the opportunity to grow our character that way. You can love with generosity when it costs you.
18:03 Sometimes you're giving generosity of your time. It costs your time. Sometimes it's your finances. It's gonna cost you money. Sometimes it's a skill that you're gonna invest in other people. It's costing you that. I
18:12 mean, generosity, but how could you not be generous when Jesus Christ has given you everything? Like, why would you hold back? Sometimes you can love with truth when there's error, and
18:24 sometimes you can love with mercy when it's not deserved. Sometimes you can love with patience when someone's struggling. Sometimes you can love with presence when words just fall short.
18:35 Sometimes you can love with sacrifice when comfort would be a lot easier. I mean, this is how the holy spirit leads us. There's no rule book on how to love and what to do in each season. It's the holy spirit guiding you
18:46 in the moment to say, this is how I can respond to Christ in the moment. Why? Because as a believer, you have the holy spirit living in you. That means your body is to be used as if Jesus was having every
18:58 conversation, every relationship you're having, and you're doing it in his way. So if you don't know how to handle a relationship, you could ask the Lord, how could I show love to this person in this
19:10 season in a way that brings you honor? And friends, only Christians have the ability and capacity to do this. Love your enemies.
19:22 Pray for those who persecute you. Non believers can't do that. Non believers say I'm gonna be right. They wronged me. I'll never trust them again. Believer, they hurt me, but because Christ has
19:34 forgiven me everything, I forgive them. How could I not? That's love. And you love deeply. And so in your relationships, as you grow in your capacity, you're becoming more and
19:45 more like Christ. That's why God gives you challenges in lots of different relationships, lots of different ways. It doesn't mean that it's a bad relationship. It means it's a dynamic 1 filled with
19:57 opportunity. Amen? And so think about your relationships. Think about those seasons where you're like, I can't stand that person. They sit over there. I sit over here. I mean, all those kinds of things. How do you show
20:08 love? What's it look like? How are you honoring the Lord in it? Because if you're receiving from him, then you can give to others. Because that's what he says. He says this, he's like, you yourselves are taught by God to
20:18 love 1 another for indeed you practice it towards all the brethren who are in Macedonia. That means you're doing it in Northern Greece. We know that you're loving the brothers, but he says this, he goes on and says, but
20:29 we urge you brethren to excel more. That means love abundantly. It means this, no matter how much you think you're loving, no matter how much you wanna pat yourself on the back and say, I'm so loving, there's more deeper
20:40 ways to love people. And in your relationships, when you think about pushing people away or I'm done with this or whatever, chances are that's a way that you first need to pray about
20:52 and ask the Lord, how can I show love in this situation? How can I be godly here? How can I respond the way you want? That's called character, And your character always shows up in
21:04 relationships. When you see somebody that can't forgive, it's because they don't know how much they've been forgiven. When you see somebody that can't give mercy, they don't understand how much mercy they've been given.
21:14 Do you understand? And so God wants you to grow in your understanding of how much He's given you so then you can dispense that out to others. So love deeply. Second is this, live grounded. Live grounded. Notice what he
21:26 says in verse beginning of verse 11. He says, make it your ambition. So this should be what motivates you the most about your life. Make it your ambition to lead. And when we're reading, just stop in
21:37 there. It's like, cool. My ambition is to lead. I wanna be a leader. That's my ambition. Wanna be the 1 everybody follows. That's my ambition. That's not what he says. Notice what he says. And make it your ambition to
21:49 lead a quiet life and attend to your own business. How about that? In a world where everybody wants to platform, tweet, post, make themselves known, he's like,
22:00 here's your ambition. Live a quiet life. It doesn't mean don't talk. It just means live a centered, peaceful life, and watch this, mind your own business.
22:12 Like focus on you. Don't wake up every day and go to your, you know, your your social media feed or your news source or whatever, and then start speaking into everything everybody
22:24 else needs to do. Live a peaceful life. Focus on the things that God's given you to focus on. Focus on you. Listen, you do not need to run
22:36 around and fix everybody else. And I got a little news for you. You can't change anybody else because you can't even change yourself. And
22:47 that's not to be hopeless. I believe God can change culture as we do the things we're talking about, and as we live the character God wants us, and as we pray fervently, and as we continue to preach, God can change
22:58 people. But what I'm telling you, you can't so why are you so concerned about what everybody else is doing and how everybody else is wrong? If you spend the majority of your life concerning yourself with how everybody
23:09 else thinks, what everybody else is doing, comparing yourself to everybody else, you are setting yourself up to 1 of the most miserable lives you can ever live. Who cares? Make it your ambition to lead a quiet
23:21 life. Quiet's the same word that's used in first Peter 3 when it's talking about wives of a quiet and gentle spirit. It doesn't mean wives don't talk. He's talking in the context about wives. If you really wanna be
23:33 went over your husbands, you can do it without a word, but just your presence if you have a quiet centered spirit. That's what he's talking about. He's talking to all of us about having that. Make it your ambition to
23:44 lead a quiet life and then tend to your own business. Here's what it means. What has God entrusted to you? Who has God entrusted to you? What skills has God entrusted to you? What resources has God
23:55 entrusted to you? What are you accountable to God for on judgment day that He's entrusted to you? What are the things in your life that God's wanting to change? What are the sins that you need to repent of? What's the
24:05 character that you need built? If you spend the majority of your time focusing on those things, you won't have the bandwidth to be focusing on everybody else. And yet we spend a lot of our time focusing on everybody
24:16 else. They need to change. Their marriage is bad because they focus on your own marriage. Focus on your own kids. Focus on your own stewardship. Focus on your own gifts. And I don't mean that in a selfish way. I mean
24:27 that in a God honoring way to live a calm, peaceful life. It doesn't mean being passive. It just means being focused. Right? In Isaiah verse chapter 30
24:39 and verse 15, it says, in quietness and trust is your strength. God's strength is not found in noise. It's found in stillness. That's why the Bible says, be still and know that I'm God. Be centered,
24:52 be calm, be peaceful, live grounded, spend time with the Lord. I mean, it it goes like this. The more time you spend with Jesus, the more grounded you'll be. The the more time you spend with Jesus, the more
25:03 centered you'll be. The the more time you spend listening to his voice, the more grounded you'll be. I mean, that's what God wants you to know. And yet we wake up and we start thinking it's out there. It's really not.
25:15 It's right here. It's right here. It's always right here. Yes, there's things out there, but that always comes out of an overflow of what's going on right here. And the more centered you are right
25:27 here, the more that God can do out there. And that doesn't sound fun, does it? Because character always gets built when nobody else is watching. Your reputation is what people think of you,
25:39 and that's okay, but your character is ultimately who you are. And we all know stories, and I'm not gonna list any names, and we could talk pastors, we could talk about politicians, we could talk about athletes, we could
25:49 talk about anything that we wanna talk about where you see somebody that's super skilled in what they do, but later you find out they didn't have the character to accompany their skill level, and it left a mark on
26:01 their life to say, I don't wanna be like them. And here's what God's saying. If you wanna have your character match your skill, let me focus on your character. I'll take you to where I'm gonna go. First
26:13 Thessalonians 5 24 says, he who called you is faithful, he'll surely do it. The dreams God's given you and the skills he's given you, he wants to use. He can use all those, but that's why, especially young people listen
26:22 to me, sometimes you have these dreams, these visions, these goals, those are all great things. And you're like, God's gonna get me there. But sometimes it might take decades to get there, and all the while God is
26:32 growing your character so that you can live centered and be in a place when you get to that place that you can lead in the way God wants you to lead and honor him and bless others. Amen? But it's not fun in
26:44 the moment. It's not fun in the moment because it's way easier instead of focusing on what needs to change in me and letting God change me. It's way easier to look at other people. Well, why do they do that? And how
26:56 come they do this? And they shouldn't and they stop all that. It's kinda none of your business. Right? Mind your own business.
27:08 Take care of you. That's what he's saying. That's how you grow your character. That's how you grow your character. So let me give you a third 1. We give a third 1.
27:20 How about this 1? Work diligently. If you're gonna love deeply and you're gonna live grounded, then do this please. Work diligently. Notice what he says at the end of verse 11, and work with your
27:31 hands just as we commanded you. Whether your work is spiritual, whether your work is physical, whether your work's emotional, do it diligently. Do it diligently.
27:43 When the apostle Paul wrote the Colossian church in Colossians chapter 3, he said this in verse 23, whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men. Verse 24,
27:54 knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of your inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. He says this, work is noble. God created
28:06 work all the way back in Genesis. Works good, but whatever you put your hand to, work diligently, work honorably, work knowing this. Lord, I'm working. I'm doing this to
28:18 show you honor. Whether I'm working outside the home, in the home, at a job, at my school, Lord, I want you to watch me and in everything I'm doing, I'm doing this the way I'm doing this because
28:30 I wanna reflect you. That's what it means. Which means this, no matter where you work, your employee your employer is Jesus.
28:42 You're just a missionary where you're at. He's your employer. He's who you're trying to please. Because listen, you're gonna have good bosses. You're gonna have bad bosses. You're
28:53 gonna have all these different things going on, but work hard. And by the way, when you're working hard and you're living a quiet life, quiet life means this, you're not involved in everybody else's stuff.
29:05 Christians, when you're so centered and you're working hard, you don't have time to run. Why why did that happen? And I need to know, and I need answers, and I gotta you gotta tell me why that happened, and I need to
29:13 know, and I gotta give my opinion. You don't need to know anything. Just keep working your quiet life. Keep working with your hands. Keep doing what God's called you to do. Because as you work diligently, the Lord will
29:24 bless them. And that's why God wants everybody to work. I mean, in second Thessalonians, the next letter that he had written them in chapter 3 in verse 10, he said, for even when we were with you, we used to give you
29:34 this order. If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either. What was he saying? Work is noble. Don't give handouts. Don't just give
29:46 handouts. Handouts don't work long term. Sometimes people can be in a crisis where a handout can be okay, but if they don't have the right character, you're gonna have to keep giving them handouts.
29:58 Like sometimes you wanna stop and say, I'm willing to help you this month, but let's figure out why you're short on cash. Let me show you a few things. 1 is you're spending more money than you make, or you
30:10 don't even have a job to make any income but you keep spending. So maybe let's fix some of those things first while we're taking care of these things so that you can learn to take care of yourself.
30:22 Work is noble, which means this, entitlement is always wrong. None of us are entitled. I'm not entitled to this job. You're not entitled to your job. None of us are entitled. And
30:34 yet, I meet and talk to so many business owners, Christian business owners that have said to me in private, which is a shame, Christians are sometimes the worst employees that I've ever had
30:45 because so many of them feel entitled when they find out that I'm a Christian. Friends, that should never be. If you work for somebody, you should be the first 1 in and the last 1 to
30:57 leave. You should be the 1 that if they need extra help, you're jumping in. Why? Because you're not working for that boss and you're not working for that organization. You're working for Jesus. And you want people to see
31:08 like, I want 20 more people just like her. I want 10 more people just like him. Like, you see it in sports teams. You see it in churches. You see it in politics. When you get a group of people together that
31:20 aren't entitled, like, it's not about me, it's about the mission. I'll give everything over above and beyond to make sure this goes. Then you have something that's really special. And Christ in his church wants the
31:31 church to be that special. When we're about the great commission, it's not about us, it's about him and his glory and his fame being known. So we're not worried about what everybody else is doing. We're very concerned
31:41 about who I am and that I'm reflecting his glory, and I'm gonna work as hard as I can in whatever he's given me for his glory. Amen? Everything.
31:55 Which means this. I mean, we think about work as our job. Like, well, if I'm getting paid for it, then I'll work hard. What if it's not your job? What if it's doing the laundry or the dishes
32:07 or the grass or whatever? Studying your homework. I mean, if you get in the practice of being disciplined in the little things, it will grow your character to
32:19 be ready for the the big things. Amen? Proverbs 10 4 says, poor is the 1 who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
32:31 Diligence is kingdom currency. Whatever God's entrusted to your hand, that's what God wants you to do well. Whatever it is, wherever you're at. Why? Because no matter where you go, no matter what you do,
32:43 you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ and you're putting your stamp of approval on it. That's why like having played on different teams and done stuff back in the day when I would see somebody who's an outspoken
32:53 Christian, they were lazy, it drove me crazy because nobody wanted to be like them. Or if you're the lazy person at your job and nobody wants to be like you, but you're like, come to bible study. No, thanks. I don't
33:05 wanna be like you. But I'm telling you, you live with diligence and you live with honor and you live in a way where people respect what you do, then you can talk about your God in a way that says, well, you know what? I
33:16 don't normally like Christians and I I don't like what they stand for, but I I can't say anything bad about you. I mean, I see who you are and I see how you treat everybody and I see what you do and I see how diligent
33:26 you are with your hands and how you love people deeply and you kinda mind your own bit. I can't say anything bad about them. That's a Christian witness. That's a Christian witness. And again, it doesn't mean we don't
33:36 speak out on things. It doesn't mean we don't tell the truth. It doesn't it's just we're more concerned with honoring the Lord in our own life. That's our passion. That's our ambition. That's what we do. That's what
33:46 we're going after. Amen? And I know this is hard to hear because character's no fun to talk about. Character's no fun to build. It's easy to talk about, I should say. It's easy to talk about. But, you know, it's kinda
33:58 like I said in the first service, like, if the Broncos win another Super Bowl, everybody in Denver will go crazy. It's awesome. But what we'll not do between there and then is go to every single practice and have all
34:07 these different relationships and see all the hardships we go through. It's what gets built behind the scenes that makes something great in the front. What makes your family great is not, oh, we got a great family and
34:19 you take a photo. It's all of the relationships. It's the late nights. It's the conversations. It's the I'm sorry. It's the will you forgive me. It's how can I change? It's what can I do? How can I honor you? It's all
34:30 that over a course of time. And then it's like, man, you guys have a great family. I'm like, yeah, but you have no idea how much work it's been. Do you understand? And it continues to be. And it's not a chore. It's
34:42 honorable work because we're working for the who? Lord. In your marriage, why do you love that man? Why do you love that woman? Because you love the
34:53 Lord and you're wanting to treat them the same way the Lord would. Why do you love your children? Because they're the Lord's and you're raising them up to love the Lord. It's Christ's love that compels you
35:05 to do that. So work diligently in whatever you do. Don't be entitled. Don't think I'm I'm owed this or the church owes me, my business owes me, my boss. Nobody owes you a
35:17 thing. Just work hard. Just work hard. Me a fourth 1. If you can do those 3, if you can love deeply and live grounded and work diligently, then you can do this fourth 1.
35:29 You can walk boldly. This is when you can walk boldly. This is when you're actually when Jesus says you're his witness, you're actually gonna be his witness in a way that's gonna be very winsome as his ambassador.
35:40 Because notice what he says. First Thessalonians 4 verse 12, he says, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
35:53 Your behavior matters. We like to say in church, my behavior doesn't matter in the sense your behavior doesn't get you saved in the sense that no matter what you do as a believer, God will still
36:05 love you. But your behavior does matter as a witness and your behavior does matter in your growth in Christ and how you speak about others when you're with them, how you speak about others when you're not
36:17 with them, what your character looks like consistently matters all the time. Because whether you realize it or not, people are watching. They're watching. Moms and dads, you ever
36:29 find yourself as you became a mom and dad that you started doing things and saying things that you said you'd never do or say? Because it got modeled for you that way. And some of those things are fine
36:41 and some of those things are things that you need to change. But when you're around, culture shapes everything. When you get around people that speak well of people, you'll speak well of people. When you get around
36:52 people, married people, married people, you should only spend time with other married people that love their spouse. Do not hang out with people that talk bad about their spouse and don't ever talk bad
37:04 about your spouse. Amen? Why? Why? Because if you hang around with people that talk bad about their spouse and starts pointing out all the flaws, it's very easy when you live close to somebody to point
37:15 out all their flaws just like it's easy for them to point out all of yours. When you're with couples that love their spouse, they're not looking for flaws. They're thanking God for the blessings that they have. And you
37:26 get around other people that are like that, and like, I need to start looking for that blessing in my spouse. That's who you wanna be with. Those are the kind of people you wanna be with in the work environment. Don't
37:35 faction out and talk bad about leadership. No, you're never gonna do that. You're only gonna say positive things about everybody because everybody's watching. Everybody sees and your boss isShow more
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