WEBVTT - Walking Worthy – Part 1 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.880 Today on Bold Steps, Mark Jobe explains how we can 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:05.519 walk worthy of our calling. 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.960 Because we have a call. We need to live what 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.840 our calling is. You already have everything that you need 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.680 to live up to that call, so do it. You 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.920 already have everything that you need to be able to 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.639 raise to the level of expectation that God has upon 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.280 your life, so rise up. 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:42.280 Welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe, senior pastor 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.840 of New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.960 Institute in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Well, living up to 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.680 your God given calling and purpose. And Mark, today you're 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.040 going to show us how, no matter what we're going through, 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.240 we need to walk worthy, don't we? 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.520 Wayne, some people believe that there are some believers that 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:02.760 are called and others that are the non called I guess. 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:07.880 But this is written to the Ephesian believers and he 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.360 says to all of them, all of them including us, 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.640 walk worthy of your calling. And then he goes on 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.800 to unpack what it means to walk worthy of our calling. 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:20.399 And so I just want you to know, if you're 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:25.600 listening today, you are called. Now listen to this message 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.199 so that you understand how to live out your call. 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:30.160 Yeah, it is a high calling, isn't it? It is. Yeah. 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:32.480 All right, let's get started. The message comes from the 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:35.400 book of Ephesians chapter four. And here's Mark job. 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.200 I don't know if you've ever walked out of your house. 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:40.280 Some. 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.080 Morning, and your wife looks at what you're wearing and 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:50.280 she says, uh, uh, doesn't match. There's something about when 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:54.000 you see someone wearing something that obviously doesn't match, that 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:58.600 draws your attention in a negative way because it seems incongruent. 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:04.890 It's like, whoa, Who put that together? It just doesn't match. 0:02:04.890 --> 0:02:09.850 It doesn't go together. I grew up in a many 0:02:09.850 --> 0:02:11.809 of you know, I grew up in the country of Spain, 0:02:12.130 --> 0:02:14.410 and I came one year to the US when I 0:02:14.410 --> 0:02:17.250 was in high school and I was 15 to go 0:02:17.250 --> 0:02:23.010 to a school, and they happened to have a special event, 0:02:23.050 --> 0:02:27.010 a prom or something of that nature. And in order 0:02:27.010 --> 0:02:29.050 to go to this event, you needed a suit. And 0:02:29.050 --> 0:02:31.210 I didn't own a suit. I didn't want to own 0:02:31.210 --> 0:02:34.089 a suit. I didn't like suits. But my grandfather said, 0:02:34.090 --> 0:02:36.810 you need to wear a suit to this event. So 0:02:36.810 --> 0:02:39.130 he dragged me out to the store and I bought 0:02:39.130 --> 0:02:43.050 myself a suit, uh, for the event that I was 0:02:43.050 --> 0:02:47.290 going to. But I just was kind of dragging my 0:02:47.290 --> 0:02:53.210 feet on it, and, um, I decided I wore a suit, but. 0:02:53.450 --> 0:03:03.050 But I wore my, um, my white gym socks. with, uh, 0:03:03.090 --> 0:03:06.170 you know, with red stripes on the side there. And 0:03:06.169 --> 0:03:08.930 that that's what I wore with my suit. And I 0:03:09.050 --> 0:03:11.730 was sitting there at this event, and my friend looked 0:03:11.730 --> 0:03:14.450 over and said, hey, bro, you can't wear those kind 0:03:14.490 --> 0:03:17.970 of socks with that suit, man. It just doesn't match. 0:03:18.410 --> 0:03:21.649 It doesn't match. It brought his attention right away. Like, 0:03:21.690 --> 0:03:23.730 you know, you can't do that now if you're in 0:03:23.730 --> 0:03:26.410 a gym outfit, you can wear that. But if you're 0:03:26.410 --> 0:03:29.610 in a suit outfit, you have to wear that which 0:03:29.610 --> 0:03:34.809 matches with it because it just doesn't seem to go together. 0:03:35.810 --> 0:03:39.090 And what the Apostle Paul is saying is that you 0:03:39.090 --> 0:03:43.410 have a calling upon your life and that your walk, 0:03:43.770 --> 0:03:48.050 the way you live your life, needs to match your calling. 0:03:48.930 --> 0:03:53.410 And if it doesn't match your calling, then people around 0:03:53.410 --> 0:03:58.290 you will notice you not because they're attracted to the 0:03:58.290 --> 0:04:02.780 message that you're proclaiming, but they'll notice you because they'll 0:04:02.780 --> 0:04:05.780 notice you in a negative way. They'll notice you in 0:04:05.780 --> 0:04:09.220 a way that says, hey, they claim to be this, 0:04:09.460 --> 0:04:17.460 but their lifestyle is that it just doesn't match. Do 0:04:17.460 --> 0:04:24.060 you realize that most people aren't as impressed by what 0:04:24.060 --> 0:04:28.900 we say we are as by how we live our life? 0:04:29.860 --> 0:04:32.500 Most people don't notice the label that you wear. You 0:04:32.500 --> 0:04:35.060 can call yourself a Christian, and most people don't really 0:04:35.060 --> 0:04:39.700 care that much about what you call yourself. But what 0:04:39.700 --> 0:04:43.219 impacts people is if your life is different, if it's 0:04:43.220 --> 0:04:47.820 lived different, if your life is different than the norm, 0:04:48.339 --> 0:04:52.980 then it makes sense to them. And many non-believers tend 0:04:52.980 --> 0:04:57.100 to be turned off by people that claim to be Christians, 0:04:57.100 --> 0:05:02.100 but their lifestyle doesn't match at all their claim of Christianity. 0:05:03.220 --> 0:05:09.900 Now when Paul says, I urge you to live according to. 0:05:09.940 --> 0:05:13.860 To live worthy of the calling that you have received. 0:05:14.620 --> 0:05:17.380 I want to clarify that, because many people seem to 0:05:17.420 --> 0:05:19.500 think that there are people that are called and people 0:05:19.500 --> 0:05:24.100 that are not called. Uh, some people think that only 0:05:24.100 --> 0:05:26.900 those people that are going to be missionaries in Africa 0:05:26.900 --> 0:05:30.580 are going to be pastors or going to be evangelists, 0:05:30.580 --> 0:05:33.380 or have some sort of ministry that those are the 0:05:33.380 --> 0:05:37.740 called ones and that everybody else. Yeah, they're believers, but 0:05:37.740 --> 0:05:42.900 they're not really called that. There's a division between those 0:05:42.900 --> 0:05:47.580 that are called and those that are not called. And 0:05:47.580 --> 0:05:50.460 I want you to understand that that is a huge 0:05:50.779 --> 0:05:57.099 misrepresentation of the gospel, because what the gospel teaches is 0:05:57.100 --> 0:06:03.470 that every one that names the name of Jesus Christ 0:06:03.470 --> 0:06:11.670 as Lord and Savior is called everyone that we're all called. 0:06:12.390 --> 0:06:15.590 If you have proclaimed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, 0:06:15.589 --> 0:06:18.589 if you consider yourself a Christian, call yourself a follower 0:06:18.589 --> 0:06:21.750 of Jesus Christ, that you have a calling on your 0:06:21.750 --> 0:06:24.950 life and it's a high calling. So why don't you 0:06:24.950 --> 0:06:27.390 turn to the person beside you and tell you I'm called? 0:06:28.430 --> 0:06:31.390 Go ahead. Turn to the person on the other side 0:06:31.390 --> 0:06:35.150 and say I'm called. Alright, I want you to know 0:06:35.150 --> 0:06:39.950 you're called. Now that you know you're called. I want 0:06:39.950 --> 0:06:46.789 you to understand that you're calling oftentimes determines the expectations. 0:06:47.550 --> 0:06:50.550 I have an 11 year old son. He's in sixth 0:06:50.550 --> 0:06:55.270 grade right now. His calling is to be a sixth 0:06:55.270 --> 0:06:59.910 grader in my house. So my expectations of him are 0:06:59.910 --> 0:07:03.710 a little bit lower than they would be someone older, 0:07:03.710 --> 0:07:07.430 because that's his calling right now, right? And so I 0:07:07.470 --> 0:07:09.950 don't expect that he gets a job and helps pay 0:07:09.950 --> 0:07:14.510 the light bill. I've been tempted to move in that direction, 0:07:14.510 --> 0:07:16.870 but no, I don't expect that of him. I don't 0:07:16.910 --> 0:07:20.670 expect that he drive a car right now. I don't 0:07:20.710 --> 0:07:23.990 expect that he know how to fill out his tax 0:07:23.990 --> 0:07:27.190 return forms. I don't expect that he know how to 0:07:27.190 --> 0:07:30.870 do trigonometry. Why? Because he's 11 years old and he's 0:07:30.870 --> 0:07:36.150 in sixth grade. So my expectation go along with his calling. 0:07:36.310 --> 0:07:38.830 His calling right now is at a sixth grade level. 0:07:38.830 --> 0:07:42.550 So I have expectations of a sixth grade level upon 0:07:42.550 --> 0:07:47.950 his life. Now, when someone is in office, for example, 0:07:47.950 --> 0:07:51.990 the president of the United States and the highest political 0:07:51.990 --> 0:07:54.870 office that you can hold in this land, we have 0:07:54.870 --> 0:07:59.990 higher expectations of someone like that. Why? Because the calling 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:06.040 determines the expectations that we have on someone. When someone 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:09.240 is living out the calling of being a married man 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:13.480 and has kids and is raising them, then I have 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.200 a different set of expectations upon that man than I 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.840 would upon a single man, a single young man. Why? 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.840 Because he's living out his calling. Part of his calling 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.680 is to be a husband and a father. And so 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:33.200 the expectations are different. Why? Because the calling determines the expectations. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:42.160 And in the same way, Paul is reminding the believers 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.320 that we have a calling on our life. And it's 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:49.960 a high calling. And since our calling is high, then 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:54.160 our expectations need to be high. We don't have a 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:58.160 low calling. We have a high calling. Now, what he's 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.679 not saying is that you have to try to be 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.240 worthy of the call, because you are already worthy of 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.640 the call. Because we have a call, we need to 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:12.079 live what our calling is. You already have everything that 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.720 you need to live up to that call, so do it. 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:20.280 You already have everything that you need to be able 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.760 to raise to the level of expectation that God has 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.439 upon your life. So rise up. You have all that 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:30.079 it takes within you. He just told us in our 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:35.240 previous verses that we read last week in the previous chapters, 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.319 that you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, that you 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:41.760 have everything that you need, all the power of God, 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.400 that you need to be what God has called you 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:50.440 to be. So now be it. So live worthy of 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:54.720 the call that you have received. And then he goes 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:57.680 on to explain what it means to live worthy of 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.130 the call that we have received. And he In essence, 0:10:01.650 --> 0:10:06.610 he tells us that there are two tests that make 0:10:06.650 --> 0:10:09.730 us that help us understand whether or not we're living 0:10:09.730 --> 0:10:13.690 worthy of the call that we have received. One has 0:10:13.690 --> 0:10:18.730 to do with our character, uh, how we live, our attitude. 0:10:18.929 --> 0:10:21.570 And the other has to do with whether we are 0:10:21.809 --> 0:10:27.970 peacemakers or divisive people, whether we're bridge builders or whether 0:10:27.970 --> 0:10:32.610 we tear bridges down. So the first one, I'll categorize 0:10:32.610 --> 0:10:35.929 it as this. It's the attitude towards leadership or what 0:10:35.929 --> 0:10:39.970 I call servant leadership. He tells us in verse two 0:10:40.290 --> 0:10:43.290 what it means to live worthy of our call. And 0:10:43.290 --> 0:10:48.050 he says this. He says, verse two, be completely humble 0:10:48.929 --> 0:10:55.449 and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. 0:10:57.570 --> 0:10:59.689 Aren't there certain verses you just wish you could kind 0:10:59.730 --> 0:11:04.290 of scratch out of the Bible. This is one of them. 0:11:04.330 --> 0:11:09.090 This is tough. A verse he gives us for attitudes 0:11:09.090 --> 0:11:13.130 that every person that's called by Jesus Christ should have. 0:11:13.850 --> 0:11:16.530 And these are not easy attitudes. Believe me, these are 0:11:16.530 --> 0:11:19.730 some hard attitudes he's calling us to live up to. 0:11:20.330 --> 0:11:22.650 I'm going to give them to you. And again, these 0:11:22.650 --> 0:11:26.130 are not optional. These are required of people that are 0:11:26.130 --> 0:11:28.730 called by God to live up to your calling. 0:11:34.490 --> 0:11:37.130 Mark will be back to explain these attitudes in just 0:11:37.130 --> 0:11:39.490 a moment. So please keep listening to Bold Steps with 0:11:39.490 --> 0:11:41.690 Mark job. But right now we want to take a 0:11:41.690 --> 0:11:43.410 moment to tell you how much we appreciate that we 0:11:43.410 --> 0:11:44.370 get to hear from you. 0:11:44.410 --> 0:11:46.810 Yeah. And Wayne, we love hearing from our listeners. And 0:11:46.809 --> 0:11:50.090 by the way, we read every comment. We pray for 0:11:50.090 --> 0:11:53.290 the prayer request. It's just so great to know what 0:11:53.330 --> 0:11:55.410 God is doing in your life. But you can reach 0:11:55.410 --> 0:12:01.540 out to us via our website. Bold. Oh, that's bold steps. 0:12:02.100 --> 0:12:05.339 You can share a Bible question, a prayer request, and 0:12:05.340 --> 0:12:07.420 we'd love to hear testimonies as well. If you have 0:12:07.420 --> 0:12:09.420 a testimony of what God is doing in your life, 0:12:09.420 --> 0:12:12.380 especially related to this ministry, we would love to hear it. 0:12:12.380 --> 0:12:17.380 So remember go to our website or you can call 0:12:17.740 --> 0:12:27.179 by dialing (312) 329-2011. That's 312329 2011. 0:12:27.220 --> 0:12:29.940 Thanks for mentioning that, Mark. Here's a question a serious 0:12:29.940 --> 0:12:32.780 question that comes from Dan. He says it's a question 0:12:32.780 --> 0:12:36.580 that's been troubling me. Why did God make us? Since 0:12:36.580 --> 0:12:38.940 God is complete and needs nothing, why did he make 0:12:38.940 --> 0:12:41.660 a creature that he knew would reject him ahead of time, 0:12:41.660 --> 0:12:45.179 resulting in eternal punishment? For example, I wouldn't get a 0:12:45.179 --> 0:12:47.300 pet that I knew wouldn't be obedient and then punish 0:12:47.300 --> 0:12:49.780 it for eternity. This is on my mind because I 0:12:49.780 --> 0:12:53.059 have a parent who died recently not knowing if they 0:12:53.059 --> 0:12:54.740 were saved. Thank you. 0:12:55.100 --> 0:12:58.339 Yeah, Dan, thank you for your question. And you're right 0:12:58.900 --> 0:13:03.140 in the fact that God is self-contained. God did not 0:13:03.140 --> 0:13:07.620 create us because he needed us. He was self-contained. Uh, 0:13:07.940 --> 0:13:11.780 has no need. He's, uh, not like us human beings 0:13:11.780 --> 0:13:15.179 that we have needs. He doesn't. He's immutable, so he 0:13:15.179 --> 0:13:19.939 never changes. And it's a bit of a mystery exactly 0:13:19.940 --> 0:13:25.860 why God did. However, theologians down through the centuries have 0:13:25.860 --> 0:13:30.100 said that, you know, God, uh, just like a parent 0:13:30.100 --> 0:13:36.020 has children. In the same way, God uniquely created us 0:13:36.020 --> 0:13:40.740 as his children. We're different than angels. Uh, we're different 0:13:40.740 --> 0:13:44.300 than animals. We are made in the image of God. 0:13:44.900 --> 0:13:48.060 And so God made us unique. He took a risk 0:13:48.059 --> 0:13:50.900 with that. And there's a unique love that God has 0:13:50.900 --> 0:13:52.939 for us as well, just like a parent would have 0:13:52.980 --> 0:13:55.980 for a child. And I guess, Dan, I would answer 0:13:55.980 --> 0:13:57.940 the question about if God knew we were going to 0:13:57.980 --> 0:14:01.189 blow it and fall, why did he create us? You know, 0:14:01.230 --> 0:14:04.190 I have three children, and my wife and I knew 0:14:04.230 --> 0:14:08.070 that when we had our three children that they would 0:14:08.070 --> 0:14:11.150 not be perfect children, that they would disappoint us, that 0:14:11.150 --> 0:14:15.230 there would be heartache sometimes. But that's part of the 0:14:15.230 --> 0:14:20.270 risk of loving God could have created robots and pre 0:14:20.430 --> 0:14:25.670 wired them to only do what he wanted, but he didn't. 0:14:25.710 --> 0:14:28.510 He created us in his image and he gave us 0:14:28.510 --> 0:14:32.910 free will. The free will part is our ability to 0:14:32.990 --> 0:14:37.670 choose to serve and love him without being predetermined or 0:14:37.670 --> 0:14:40.670 wired to do so. It's a risk that a loving 0:14:40.670 --> 0:14:46.270 God took, but he took that risk on us and 0:14:46.270 --> 0:14:50.870 we've blown it. But he's also redeemed us. And so 0:14:51.270 --> 0:14:55.030 it makes the story of our creation even more compelling 0:14:55.030 --> 0:14:57.470 that the God of the universe would know that we 0:14:57.470 --> 0:15:00.880 would hurt him, disappoint him, but yet he would love 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:06.000 us to redemption and restore us into his presence. And, um, 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:08.600 there are certain things that are hard to understand. Isaiah 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.280 55 says that God's thoughts are way above our thoughts, 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.080 and his ways are way above our ways. And there 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:17.480 are certain things that only in glory will fully understand. 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:20.880 But God is too good to be unkind, and he's 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.040 too wise to be confused. So if I cannot quite 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:28.000 understand his hand. Spurgeon had said, I can always trust 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:28.520 his heart. 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:31.800 God is love. Thank you Mark. Well, once again, go 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.240 to our website, npr.org. If you'd like to contact us, 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:37.560 you can also email your question or comment to mark 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:41.360 bold steps at Moody's, or give us a call and 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:47.120 leave your message on that line that Mark mentioned. (312) 329-2011. 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:51.200 Now let's get back into today's Bold steps message walking worthy. 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:52.720 Once again here's Mark job. 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:04.560 Number one he says be humble. Be completely humble. Now, 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.880 when I say humble, most of you aren't really excited 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:13.400 to be humble. Most of us do not really value 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:19.400 the attitude of humility highly. It's not something that that 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.960 fathers often tell their sons. They don't say, son, I 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.680 want you to be humble. It's not something that coaches 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:29.240 tell their athletes, hey, I want you to be humble. 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:33.640 It's not. In fact, in the Greek and Roman culture, 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.400 it was looked down upon to be humble. And I 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:43.080 think part of our reticence to accepting humility and celebrating 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:48.080 humility is that we don't really understand what true humility is. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:52.560 For example, some people think that being humble means that 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:57.160 you have an inferiority complex. That being humble means that 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:02.160 you're going to be Like a mat that people sort 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.480 of dust their feet off of. Uh, some people think 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.600 that humble means that you can't look someone in the eye, 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.199 that you kind of walk around hunched over, looking at 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.679 the ground all the time. And when someone greets you, 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:15.040 you kind of look up at them and kind of 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:20.119 shy away. Uh, some people think humility means being shy 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.920 or being timid or not being able to voice your 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.320 opinion or not being assertive or not being able to 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.399 to speak. And some people think if I'm humble, I'm 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.480 going to be someone's doormat. If I'm humble, I'm going 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:36.000 to be stepped on. If I'm humble, I'm going to 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:40.200 be taken advantage of because we have not quite understood 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:47.040 what humility means. Jesus was humble. And yet, do you 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:51.879 remember when Jesus entered into the temple? He turned over 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.120 the tables of the money changers. He got a whip 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.840 and he drove everybody out of the temple. And he said, 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:02.850 my house, My house shall be called a house of prayer. 0:18:03.930 --> 0:18:09.449 But was he humble? Yeah. He acted in humility. The 0:18:09.450 --> 0:18:11.730 Bible tells us that Moses was one of the most 0:18:11.730 --> 0:18:15.850 humble people on the face of this earth. Yet Moses 0:18:16.050 --> 0:18:20.850 challenged an entire nation, and he brought the most powerful 0:18:20.850 --> 0:18:23.210 man in the world at the time, whose name was 0:18:23.250 --> 0:18:26.930 who was a pharaoh. He brought him to his knees. 0:18:27.130 --> 0:18:31.010 He challenged the powers and authorities that were there. And 0:18:31.010 --> 0:18:36.090 he led almost 2 million people out of slavery into 0:18:36.130 --> 0:18:38.690 to look to a new promised land. And yet he 0:18:38.690 --> 0:18:45.210 was a humble man. You see, humility has to do 0:18:47.170 --> 0:18:56.050 with you understanding your proper worth before God and before 0:18:56.050 --> 0:19:03.340 men having a proper view of yourself before God and 0:19:03.340 --> 0:19:10.379 before men is the definition of humility. You don't think 0:19:10.380 --> 0:19:13.859 more highly of yourself than you should, and you don't 0:19:13.859 --> 0:19:18.020 think more lowly of yourself than you should. You understand 0:19:18.020 --> 0:19:23.380 who you are, and you're comfortable and confident in who 0:19:23.420 --> 0:19:28.100 you are. You see what happens when. When you do 0:19:28.100 --> 0:19:31.580 not understand who you are and you're not humble, then 0:19:31.580 --> 0:19:37.420 you have to try to project an image. Uh, when 0:19:37.420 --> 0:19:43.340 someone is proud, they're not humble. And oftentimes what happens is, 0:19:43.740 --> 0:19:46.820 if you don't understand who you are and are confident 0:19:46.859 --> 0:19:49.060 who you are, you have to try to make sure 0:19:49.060 --> 0:19:52.500 that people know who you are. You walk into a 0:19:52.500 --> 0:19:54.700 room and you think, oh, people don't really know what 0:19:54.700 --> 0:20:00.540 I've done or who I am. So you're Impulsively driven 0:20:00.540 --> 0:20:03.619 to hand out business cards with big titles on them. 0:20:05.859 --> 0:20:07.619 And when you talk, you have to tell people who 0:20:07.660 --> 0:20:11.100 you know and what you've done and what you've accomplished. Why? Because, well, 0:20:11.100 --> 0:20:13.300 they don't really know. I need to. And you want 0:20:13.340 --> 0:20:16.020 to sit at the best place in the front. Place 0:20:16.020 --> 0:20:19.300 where everybody can acknowledge you. That the seats of importance. Why? 0:20:19.500 --> 0:20:22.820 Because you have to make sure that everybody knows who 0:20:22.859 --> 0:20:25.500 you are and what you've done and how you are. Why? 0:20:25.740 --> 0:20:29.020 Because you're you're not confident in who you are. You're 0:20:29.020 --> 0:20:33.100 not comfortable with understanding who you are. You see, when 0:20:33.100 --> 0:20:36.659 you're humble, you're not driven to try to show everybody 0:20:36.660 --> 0:20:39.340 that you have value. When you're humble, you know you 0:20:39.340 --> 0:20:43.020 have value. When you're humble, you already know who you are. 0:20:43.060 --> 0:20:45.420 You don't have to prove that you're somebody because you 0:20:45.420 --> 0:20:51.220 know that you're somebody already in God. When you're humble, 0:20:51.540 --> 0:20:54.740 you don't have to take credit for everything because you 0:20:54.740 --> 0:20:58.180 can share the credit. Why? Because you're already you already 0:20:58.180 --> 0:21:01.940 know that you're somebody in God. You're comfortable with who 0:21:01.980 --> 0:21:05.340 you are. You're not trying to secure a name. You 0:21:05.340 --> 0:21:10.500 already know your value because you're humble. You understand that. 0:21:17.820 --> 0:21:21.100 Learning what true humility looks like. That's the takeaway from 0:21:21.100 --> 0:21:24.180 today's message with Mark Jobe. You're listening to Bold Steps, 0:21:24.180 --> 0:21:25.940 and if you missed any of the messages from his 0:21:25.940 --> 0:21:28.300 series called When You Believe. Let me invite you to 0:21:28.340 --> 0:21:32.140 catch up right now by visiting Bold steps.org. And we 0:21:32.140 --> 0:21:34.740 have a special bold step gift available for our listeners. 0:21:34.740 --> 0:21:37.700 It's a book titled envy a Big problem you Didn't 0:21:37.700 --> 0:21:40.460 know You Had. I love that title written by our guest, 0:21:40.460 --> 0:21:41.780 pastor Mike Fabros. 0:21:41.859 --> 0:21:44.540 Yeah. And by the way, many of you are familiar 0:21:44.540 --> 0:21:48.780 with pastor Mike because he's on the radio. He's written 0:21:48.780 --> 0:21:52.780 several books. He's a graduate from Moody Bible Institute and 0:21:52.780 --> 0:21:55.219 actually on the board of directors as well. And so 0:21:55.260 --> 0:22:00.150 love pastor Mike and his ministry. I was, uh, thinking 0:22:00.150 --> 0:22:05.670 about this topic of envy and how oftentimes we just 0:22:05.670 --> 0:22:10.590 don't consider ourselves envious. Pastor Mike, if you were to 0:22:11.310 --> 0:22:15.950 help someone self-diagnose whether they have envy, what would you 0:22:15.990 --> 0:22:18.110 point to? What should they be looking for? 0:22:18.430 --> 0:22:21.350 Well, I would start by saying, are there any people 0:22:21.350 --> 0:22:25.830 in your everyday world that you just find yourself erring 0:22:25.830 --> 0:22:29.949 on the side of being critical when you really shouldn't 0:22:29.950 --> 0:22:31.790 be and you think, well, why am I not happy 0:22:31.790 --> 0:22:35.910 applauding their success? Right. This is hard, but we need 0:22:35.910 --> 0:22:38.030 to look at the people that we are critical of. 0:22:38.070 --> 0:22:40.270 And if you look hard enough, you often find it's 0:22:40.270 --> 0:22:43.590 because I'm really envious of what they get that I 0:22:43.590 --> 0:22:45.790 don't have what they've accomplished, that I haven't been able 0:22:45.790 --> 0:22:49.110 to accomplish, that they make so much money, so much 0:22:49.109 --> 0:22:52.190 more money than I make. There's a lot of reasons 0:22:52.470 --> 0:22:57.030 that we, um, just spring into gossip and criticism and 0:22:57.030 --> 0:22:59.950 just talking behind people's back in a negative way, and 0:22:59.950 --> 0:23:02.909 usually we can start to realize what's happened. Is something 0:23:02.910 --> 0:23:05.470 really between me and God. It's really not between me 0:23:05.470 --> 0:23:06.110 and them. 0:23:06.990 --> 0:23:09.670 Pastor Mike, are envy and jealousy interchangeable? 0:23:10.470 --> 0:23:13.910 Not really. Um, there's a kind of jealousy that's appropriate 0:23:13.910 --> 0:23:16.070 in the Bible, right? God says he's a jealous God 0:23:16.070 --> 0:23:18.989 in Exodus 34. There's a time for you right to 0:23:19.030 --> 0:23:21.670 rightly in your marriage. Be jealous if there's something threatening 0:23:21.670 --> 0:23:25.550 that relationship. But envy is always seen as something wrong 0:23:25.550 --> 0:23:28.630 in Scripture, and we're never to envy anyone. And what 0:23:28.630 --> 0:23:31.310 envy is, is taking a jealous feeling when I have 0:23:31.310 --> 0:23:33.510 no right to feel jealous. And now I start to 0:23:33.510 --> 0:23:37.109 have a a bitterness toward that person for accomplishing or 0:23:37.109 --> 0:23:40.630 achieving or securing something that I haven't been able to. 0:23:40.790 --> 0:23:42.830 And Jesus tells parables about this. You've got to be 0:23:42.830 --> 0:23:45.389 careful in your own heart to guard your heart against 0:23:45.390 --> 0:23:49.150 this kind of envy, because it is different than jealousy, 0:23:49.150 --> 0:23:51.430 because sometimes jealousy can be appropriate. 0:23:51.430 --> 0:23:55.190 That's great. So there you have it, pastor Mike Fabares. 0:23:55.230 --> 0:23:57.270 We would love to get this book into your hand. 0:23:57.270 --> 0:23:59.070 It's called a big problem. 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:03.040 You didn't know you had. Envy. Thank you, pastor Mike. 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:04.720 Of course. Thank you. 0:24:05.040 --> 0:24:06.800 His book is available to you when you make a 0:24:06.840 --> 0:24:09.880 donation of any amount to support bold steps, just call 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:17.040 us at 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. Or give online 0:24:17.040 --> 0:24:21.320 at Bold Steps, or send your financial gift in the 0:24:21.320 --> 0:24:24.520 mail by writing to us at bold steps. 820 North 0:24:24.560 --> 0:24:30.160 LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Today, we also want 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:33.360 to say we're truly grateful for our bold partners by 0:24:33.359 --> 0:24:36.080 committing to giving a monthly gift. You're not only investing 0:24:36.080 --> 0:24:39.440 in this generation, but in the generations to come. When 0:24:39.440 --> 0:24:41.679 you partner with us, we'll also send you some special 0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:45.720 perks and bonuses, like access to our Bold partner. Post 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:49.719 an engaging and inspirational bi weekly email, a copy of 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:53.520 Mark's book unstuck, and a series of weekly video messages 0:24:53.520 --> 0:24:56.680 from Mark that will help equip and encourage you. Sign 0:24:56.680 --> 0:24:59.920 up today at Bold Steps. Org And if you're looking 0:24:59.920 --> 0:25:01.920 for a simple way to stay grounded in God's Word 0:25:01.920 --> 0:25:03.840 throughout the week, make sure you sign up for The 0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:07.119 Bold Stepper Weekly, a free devotional from pastor Mark that's 0:25:07.119 --> 0:25:10.120 designed to kick start your week with biblical truth and 0:25:10.119 --> 0:25:14.720 practical encouragement. Each edition delivers a timely insight from Scripture, 0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:17.480 straight from Mark's desk to help you walk boldly in 0:25:17.480 --> 0:25:21.040 faith and, of course, apply God's Word to everyday life. 0:25:21.359 --> 0:25:24.199 It's a great way to stay connected, inspired, and focused 0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:27.000 on the path God has for you. Sign up today 0:25:27.160 --> 0:25:31.800 at bird-stamps.org. I'm Wayne Shepherd, thanks for joining us today. 0:25:32.040 --> 0:25:34.120 Be sure to come back next time when Mark addresses 0:25:34.119 --> 0:25:37.720 the next three points on Walking Worthy. The message comes 0:25:37.720 --> 0:25:40.680 from our series when you believe everything changes and you 0:25:40.680 --> 0:25:43.880 will hear it right here Monday on Bold Steps with 0:25:43.880 --> 0:25:48.480 Mark John. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, 0:25:48.680 --> 0:25:50.800 a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.