Jump Start # 1860

Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.’”

I know a Christian that is struggling. His journey is like a yo-yo. He’s up and doing well, and then he’s down and not showing up much. There are several factors. Part of his problem is the friends in his life. They are not Christians. He seems to keep one foot in the world and that trips him up. Another problem is his internal struggle with faith and forgiveness.

When he is doing well, he helps teach classes, attends most times and seems to be getting a great grasp of what God wants. However, the better he does, the more he struggles with guilt and that opens the door for him to slide back down spiritually. He seems to have a hard time believing that he can be what God wants and that he can please God. He knows of his failures and his mistakes. That haunts him. That keeps him from ever being the consistently strong Christian that he needs to be. There has been Bible studies one on one with him. He’s been encouraged. He’s been invited. This constant up and down seems to be something that he can’t get over. I fear that one day he will just grow weary of messing up and throw in the towel completely.

I also fear that he is not the only one that struggles with this. It is the thought that we simply cannot please God. No matter how hard we try, God is never happy with us.

I chose our verse today because it helps us to see several things.

First, the master in this parable of the talents, was pleased. The servant did what was expected and the master rejoiced. It is possible to please God.

Second, the master entrusted the servant with even more to do. His accomplishments weren’t the end of the story. There was more that was expected. This is part of growth and responsibility. The more we do, the more we grow, the more that we will be expected to do. For those with the wrong spirit, they’d think, ‘well, I just won’t grow much so I won’t have to do much.’ That spirit certainly won’t please God.

Third, the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. We tend to beat our selves up more than we should. If God has forgiven us, then we need to do the same. The problem with forgiveness is that we can still remember the sin. We remember what led up to the sin. The stain and the scars are there, even though God has forgiven us.

We are not the Lord. We will not be sinless nor perfect. We try. We give it our best shot. We learn. We make adjustments. We change. But at the end of the day, we still sin. The servant from this parable of the talents, was not perfect. No one is. Could it be that our expectations are too high? Could it be that we are expecting to be flawless? Could it be that we see others that way? We see each other on Sundays, wearing our best clothes, and it seems that everyone around is doing so much better than we are. That’s not true!

All of us are a work in progress. Some are doing better than others, but all of us have issues, areas we need to improve on and moments and struggles that seem to get the best of us. But we journey on. Progress is being made. We don’t stop. We don’t turn around. And we certainly do not quit.

It’s hard to see and to measure growth in ourselves. There are things that we can do that will help.

• Challenge yourself—and force yourself to do things that you haven’t done before. I know a young married couple that recently invited 13 people from church over to their home for a dinner during a Gospel meeting. It was the first time they ever did this. They were calling their parents to ask how to cook this, seat that many and do this and that. They cleaned and cleaned before everyone came. It went beautifully for them.

Maybe challenge yourself to help teach a class.

Maybe challenge yourself to have some families over to your home.

Maybe challenge yourself to memorize some passages.

Maybe challenge yourself to really dig deep into a difficult book of the Bible

• Surround yourself with someone who is spiritually strong. Get to know them. Take them out to lunch. Ask them questions. Find out what they are doing that you are not. Rely upon them to help you find the answers to your questions.

• Engage in Bible classes as a college class. Come with paper and pen. Come to learn. Look at God’s word carefully. Notice the words. Put yourself in the passages. What would you be thinking if you were there? Do more than read words in your Bible. Let the Bible fill your heart and allow it to push you and change you.

• Don’t quit because you made a bad choice. Temptation is strong. Satan is powerful. God chose one of the strongest animals known, a lion, to illustrate what Satan is like. He’s not a kitty cat. He’s not something that is cute and adorable. He’s not something that you’d want to hold. Satan knows you. He knows how to pick at you and tempt you. Learn your weak spots. Get stronger in those areas.

• Don’t lose ground because somethings are not easy. It’s easy to do whatever you feel like. It’s hard to do what God wants. It’s easy to not put a filter on your mouth or your attitude. It’s hard to watch what you say. It’s easy to be selfish, indifferent and only concerned about your own happiness. It’s hard to be compassionate, forgiving and Christ-like. The best things often are not easy. It’s not easy to make the honor roll. It’s not easy to be varsity. It’s not easy to get the promotion. All of those things takes effort. They don’t just come, but a person has to be focused and try hard.

• Watch what you fill your self with. Our choices of music, friends, TV shows, books, movies, all influence us. Filling your mind with violence and hanging around angry people will turn you into an angry person. Too much of the world in us, pulls us closer to the world. Not every great show needs to be watch by the people of God. Not every blockbuster movie is worth seeing. You are steering your own boat. Set the course toward Heaven. You will have to make decisions that affect which direction you will go. If you want to be in shape, you must watch what you eat. Donuts and Coke won’t get you there. If you want to please God, dancing with the world won’t get you there. We must be transformed people. The list of popular TV shows through the years that many strong Christians never watched would amaze some of us. They found better things to do with their time. They didn’t see much value in those shows. Now, all these years later, the shows are off the air and these Christians do not feel that they missed something in their lives. It was just a show. You decide what you want to use your time and fill your heart with.

Pleasing God—it is possible. You can do it. It involves more than just one day.

I hope this helps.

Roger