Here is another guest blog, this one from my good friend Kirkland Polk. I met Kirkland freshmen year of college in the basement of our dorm. We spent countless nights studying for biology and chemistry and laughing into the very early morning. He is smart, hard-working, and a little bit obsessed with golden Oreos (probably because they match his hair). Kirk will begin medical school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences this August and I know he is going to be a great doctor.
Kirk is very insightful and I asked him to share his thoughts on a sermon. Enjoy!
“A few nights ago I listened to a captivating online sermon by Pastor Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life, in which he discussed seven common tendencies humans fall into that lead to their own self-destruction: shame, uncontrolled thoughts, compulsions, fear, hopelessness, bitterness, and insecurity. Throughout the rest of the sermon he discussed how the solutions to all these pitfalls is found in the Bible in the book of Romans chapter 8. This chapter of Romans is too long for me to post here, but I encourage anyone who has not read this chapter to go read it as soon as possible because I believe it conveys of the more fundamental messages in Christianity. In the chapter, it argues that the antidote to all seven of these paths to self-destruction is allowing the spirit of God to live within us. More specifically, it tackles each of these seven pitfalls individually.
The solution to the first pitfall, shame, can be found by reminding ourselves daily of what Jesus has done for us. We should feel no shame in ourselves because not only were we deemed worthy by the Creator of the universe to be made in His image, but also Jesus took all condemnation that we deserve. Verse 1 reads, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Daily reminders of this sacrifice enable us to avoid the pitfall of feeling shameful of ourselves. As for the second pitfall, uncontrolled thoughts, praying and asking the Holy Spirit for good thoughts is a prayer that God will answer every time. Verse 5 reads, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
As for the third pitfall, compulsions, Warren states that it is important to remind ourselves that we have a new ability to say no to things. Our own willpower is not sufficient to say no to everything because of our broken nature, but the Holy Spirit can fill the empty holes in our strength. Fear is the fourth pitfall we fall into that leads to our own self-destruction, and the answer to this is to turn our thoughts to God whenever we are afraid. This is obviously easier said than done, but it helps to remember that the Creator of the cosmos is more than capable of being in control of our lives. This Creator also knows what is best for us far better than we do ourselves, so trusting in Him is the only real cure for fear when we inevitability are afraid of difficult circumstances or the unknown.
As for the feeling of hopelessness, Romans chapter 8 reminds us to always keep the long-term in mind and focus on that more than the short-term, especially as Christians because the long-term for us is eternity with God. This is exactly stated in verses 18 and 19, which read, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” One Harvard study that Warren cites also claims that more successful people spend more of their time focusing on the long-term than they do the short-term.
Whenever we are trapped by the feeling of bitterness, Warren proclaims that we should remind ourselves that God is good and in control. It is critical for us to remember that God is using everything in our lives, both the beautiful and the ugly, for good, and that He wants us to succeed. We just have to remember that our perception of our own situations is extremely distorted in comparison to the way God views our lives. If God loves us enough to have sent us Christ to take all our condemnation that we deserved, doesn’t it make sense that he loves us enough to help us in other areas of our lives as well.
The final pitfall that leads to our own self-destruction is insecurity. This feeling is something I have struggled with personally for a long time as it can propagate and damage so many areas of our lives. The best way to cure this is to reflect on the fact that the most powerful and righteous Being in existence deemed every one of us of equal worth to be created and will never stop loving us no matter how much we screw things up. Verses 38 and 39 are two of my favorite verses in all of the Bible and they read, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” My summarization of this sermon does not nearly do it enough justice for how powerful it is, so I encourage anyone who wants to hear a better depiction of these ideas to look up the sermon “Learn How To Be Set Free From Self Destruction” for yourselves or better still, take some time to read Romans chapter 8. It has some good stuff in there.”
Please comment below if you have any questions or comments for Kirkland!
