"People Skills" - Touré Roberts

[Music] [Music] I want you to look at John chapter 13 really quickly with me I think this is such a critical an important word I'm not going to be preaching today today will be teaching not gonna preach I just want to teach a little bit I wanna to empower us in a life skill and I believe with divine life skill that might quite frankly be the most important life skill that that any of us ever have and Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another and then in verse 35 it says by this by this by this culture of love that you demonstrate this love culture by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another and that word have can be better translated hold so it better reads by this this this culture this love culture this culture of interaction with people by this people will know that you're my disciples if you hold hallelujah if you hold love for one another in other words love is something you got ahold because that's easy to fumble love yeah you get hard enough you get hit hard enough pun intended on Super Bowl Sunday you get hard enough sometimes as easy to fumble love and as long as you've got the rock you can score did you catch the analogy a little corny but that's okay that's okay by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another today I want to talk about people skills people skills you may be seated people skills people skills it's when you think about the workplace you think about any sort of business any school anything in fact if we regulate it to the workplace one of the things that any employer wants to know is whether or not you have people skills and it's kind of funny how we make people skills like this added bonus benefits skill like like most people don't have it but if you have it you're special when the reality of it is unless we are living alone on an island we're gonna have to interact with people and so you would think that that people skills and the pursuit of having people skills and to develop people's skills would actually be the norm it's almost like it should be taught in school I mean we all are people and we have to interact with others so this shouldn't be some sort of bonus that this shouldn't be an elective this should be mandatory and and in the text Jesus is basically saying that his idea for reaching people one of his prime strategies for reaching people is that people will ultimately see our people skills they will see this this culture of love and this this culture of interaction with one another and and the demonstration of that will be so attractive to society and so attractive to culture that they will want to meet our teacher it says by this you will know they will know you are my disciple my disciple means my pupil which means that they will be attracted to the teacher so in other words one of the most strategic evangelistic outreach strategies is not you handing out a tract it's not you knocking on a door hoping and wishing to tell somebody about Jesus although that's wonderful you got to do you make it do you move okay that's fine I'm problem with that but what Jesus is saying is let me tell you how for sure for certain you are going to attract people to me it's the culture in which you do life it's your people skills it is how you love it is how you interact with one another because right now the world is greatly depraved people skills and there are a lot of things that can be responsible for it social media I love social media I use it I have a you know a significant social media following social media is wonderful but one thing that social media and the culture and the era of social media one of the things that is done is it has robbed us a little bit of people skills because we deduced people down we reduce people down to an avatar or a photo and that's why on social media people can be so nasty you would never see people in the grocery store saying this the things that they say to people on social media something has happened to us and now we are just not you because you all are saved and wonderful and beautiful and full of like love but some people can be so nasty I mean talk about you like you are an absolute worthless piece of nothing and just hit sin and move on with their life and so so there is this this deficit which means that there is an opportunity for the church to model in society and culture what humanity godly humanity looks like there's an opportunity are you tracking with me it's almost like Jesus knew that the world would ultimately be polarized he said this is gonna be one of the ways that you know one of the ways that you know that I'm in this thing is how you love people how you treat people and you know what's interesting is a lot of times you can miss read that verse and think that Jesus is saying that people are going to know or recognize that you are a child of God or one of Jesus's disciples by how you treat one another and a lot of times we think that he's just talking about how church people treat church people and sometimes that that stands to need a little well I won't even go there but the reality of it is he's not just talking about how church people treat church people he's talking about how humans treat humans oh you're gonna catch it it's it's this culture it's it's it's this culture of love and it's this culture we're gonna talk about what some of those people skills are in just a second but is this this culture of love that we have to establish through our interactions with those who are not just in the church but more importantly outside the church because any culture you do not engage you cannot transform say it again any culture you do not engage you cannot transform Jesus is also saying that the mark the mark of a true believer is in our excellent people skills fill the Holy Spirit our excellent people skills can I teach today now here is the truth here's truth about it truth about it is you and I cannot do it without the Holy Spirit because we've got limits we got limits on our people skills we'll do real until you cross the line come on somebody you know what I'm talking about we mean we'll come out of church and we'll be hallelujah bless the Lord I love everybody thank you Jesus I love everybody and you'll get cut off once or twice yo this thing is hard I mean like it's really hard to be a full time lover can we have a real conversation in here on this Sunday morning come on LA let's have a real conversation it is hard to be a full time lover one comment on social media will just flip you completely out you will no longer be saved you will use some words that you haven't used since yesterday now more than any other time in history we have to embody people skills we've got to deal with people and the climate in our country and really truly in our world the climate in our country in our world is so polarized and everybody's got an opinion and you know what there is nothing wrong with having an opinion that is your right and your prerogative the problem is when someone else has a different opinion all of a sudden we go into attack mode and and and watch this and it's not in my notes but watch out for grouping and the categorization of self I gotta I gotta say this I gotta say this don't be so quick to label yourself anything because in a polarized society one of the things one of the underpinnings of a polarized society is a society where we are quick to want to put you in box a or box B I feel the holy spirit and that's why as believers we can't let anybody put us in any boxes you know what I am a believer I'm a lover I'm not of this or that I'm not of that or this what I am is a child of God I represent the king I love you no matter what you do no matter what you think I'm not here to argue I'm here to model something are you tracking with me just tell your neighbor don't let nobody put you in a box don't let don't let don't let because because in a polarized society in a polarized society in a very antagonistic society which is the world we're living in right now the reason why I want to define you is so that I can judge you that that's why I need to define you because because I you know I'm cantankerous there as a cantankerous spirit in our nation right now that there's a spirit of argument and and rebellion and there's a lot going on and and so what I want to do quickly because I'm lazy I don't want to take the time to get to know you because that would be work and that would be this thing called empathy which we'll talk about in a second I don't want to get to know you so instead of taking the time to get to know you what I would rather do is define you very quickly so I can judge you as one of them and justify my religious conscience can we have a real conversation today can we talk about the world for real come on not sweet little baby Jesus in the manger that's Talladega Nights oh you haven't watched that movie huh it's really funny yeah I want you to be ready for the real world I want you to not be swayed or moved by the whims I want you to understand what's happening you need people skills if I can define you I can judge you if I can define you I can justify my right so don't let anybody define you oh I filled all this spirit what denomination are you I just love Jesus I don't know if you can tell me what you think I am I'm a lover how about that what what faith are you I'm a lover I love God I love myself and I love people come on the church with me are you tracking with me and so we can't do this without the Holy Spirit this is so important so important we can't do without the Holy Spirit and so so I want to show you a couple of additional passages that I believe will help us to be who we need to be because Jesus is saying this as he is making his way to the cross and he's trying to set us up and he's saying Lord Lord people as I have loved you I need you to love other people and if you love other people right you're gonna demonstrate something that the world is looking for me let me tell you something right now what no one can deny is real love and some people will test your love some of you have been engaged in arguments not so that you can prove that you were right but to see how deep your love runs do your does your love run as deep as Jesus mm-hmm and something about this love culture something about these divine people's skills is going to begin to attract people to you it stands out in a culture of division and I think people are tired of being sick and tired we can't get anywhere arguing and fight we couldn't even agree on a budget can I talk to you real people this is not a political thing I'm not swinging to the left or to the right but what I'm saying is that cantankerous spirit we can't even get stuff done and people are getting a little you know furloughed and money's all backed up and stuff like that it doesn't work division doesn't work we need people in America and abroad we need people skills so let's look at some let's let's talk about it a couple of passes of Scripture and I think it will kind of allow us to get a little more into the weeds of this thing because I really believe that society is looking for leadership because this enmity is not it's not productive and it's exhausting it's tiring it's tiring so let's look at Galatians 5 and 22 we all know this we've seen this passage of Scripture forever I love this I love this and for the first time as I looked at Galatians 5 and 22 I begin to see what are the characteristics that will develop excellent people skills excellent and not just for the world for your family for your marriage for you boo for your ex boo for you who are looking for a boo for your family for your kids we need people skills here we go all right it says but the fruit of the Spirit hallelujah I love it it says the fruit of the Spirit the fruit the fruit is what evidence the evidence of the Spirit the evidence of the Spirit are these nine things Paul lays out he says the evidence the fruit the evidence of the Spirit if you don't have the spirit you don't have this and if you don't have this you don't have the spirit because the Spirit has evidence Hey here we go okay it says but the fruit of the Spirit is love the first thing that is right there is love and you know this word love it's a gap a it's real love it's love that's not easily shaken and I believe that he throws love out there first because love is the the substratum it is the foundation on which all of the other skills and attributes exists that's why we've got to figure this love thing out that passage says that that first passes says we got to hold our love we got to hold on to it we can't we can't fumble it as the people in this room right now and one news report and your love goes right out the window it's just came out couldn't we just have a real conversation here love is something not simply to be had it's something to be held are you tracking with me I don't you know it talks about you'll talk about long-suffering in just a second but I don't be honest with you man I don't I don't like the way unforgiveness feels guy just said the truth but I was a little salty you know a couple weeks ago because somebody done something and and I'll be honest with you you know at first I was kind of like you know I felt justified and my saltiness uh-huh little seasoning never hurt anybody you know I felt justified my saltiness but if I'm honest like you know and I think that we ought to always be examining ourselves taking inventory so but if I'm on honest it didn't really feel good you don't know talking about it didn't it didn't it didn't feel right it just I didn't feel like myself there was almost like a flow head stopped like a flow it was like like like there was some sort of you're not gonna like this analogy but there was like some constipation like you know like you know and that never feels good but it was like it was like like the best version of me the me that is creative and productive and and beautiful and healthy got clogged up because sometimes let's just keep it 100 sometimes you need a little more motivation to do the right thing than it simply being the right thing cuz we know what to do but sometimes we don't always do what we know do we know that we're supposed to forgive this is not new to anybody you know you're supposed to get I know that and then we make up these little cute little yeah I'll forgive but I won't you've heard that before you've said that before it feels good it feels real spiritual but it's not because actually to a certain degree for getting is a part of forgiving you don't like that you don't like that that doesn't feel safe that doesn't feel safe bt me not forgetting helps to protect me from it ever happening to me again that doesn't feel safe I do forgive you but no you don't let me show you something shows up that means how I'll go in size up go to Isaiah 45 real quick Isaiah chapter 45 I believe or whatever I gave y'all just a second ago whatever that that verse was Isaiah 43 I think I put it up there somebody got it put it on up there Isaiah 43 and 25 okay so I didn't feel good something didn't feel right I didn't feel clean I felt clogged even though I was justified in that what that individual did to me was wrong but it didn't feel right and then I saw this first I thought about this verse and it did something to me so this is the prophet speaking on behalf of God and he says this is God speaking he says I even I am he who blots out your transgressions for whose sake not for your sake he says for my own sake and for my own sake I will not remember your sins so I looked at that and I was like oh my god I totally get it God cannot remain holy by retaining the sins that his children do did you catch that so if God is saying God says look he says look I know you're tripping I know you messed up but I still need to maintain my god and so for my own sake so that I can maintain Who I am I am gonna block out your transgressions and not remember your sins anymore now if this is God's portion then surely it must be my portion because let me tell you something you do not mean enough to me to keep me from being me I am NOT gonna be constipated because of what you did I want to flow so I'll forgive and you know what I'm gonna forget too because unforgiveness the truth be told unforgiveness truthfully is the memory being repeated and it creates something in your heart let's just tell the truth you play again in your mind what happened to you and that's why you feel the way you feel and what you may need to do is get another narrative about what happened to you see oftentimes we know what a person did but we don't know why they did it I'm a teach today I'm a teacher no shouting today only learning we know what a person did and we make judgments based on what they did but that judgment will all almost always be in error if you don't know the why Oh hallelujah I know the what but I don't know the why and I might need to reserve some degree of judgment until I get the wide now some things are crazy now I know that but I'm saying most things we judge people's actions and we fail to be empathetic let's run through these real quick I'm gonna show you some more stuff are we tracking together can I teach today can I not preach and shucks thank you so much I was gonna do it anyway but it's just great to have a level of agreement when you're in a room so the fruit of spirit love that's easy but not easy gotta hold it joy right that's just cheerfulness peace this word was interesting I looked at that Greek word for peace and it has the idea of to join in it to join so part of what it means to be a believer is to be a peacemaker it should not be so quick to jump on the side but figure out what can I do to join these sides together oh I feel the Holy Spirit the Bible says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God there's a connection between that and that passage in John where John says they will know you by your love by your love culture and by your people skills right then in Matthew different writer still recounting the words of Jesus says blessed are the peacemakers that the ones who know how to not be so caught up in two polarizing climates but to try to find the middle ground and to bring two people together to join them together we can agree to disagree but do not have to allow our disagreement to have to divide us I've taught my people skills see to truly be a child of God you can't be lazy it is lazy to say look this just what I believe I've had some interesting conversations with some people on social media I think sometimes I just need to back up off of I've had some interesting conversations and I challenge people and I challenge people on both sides of any argument and some people will be so locked into their position that even when I try to pull out a middle ground they will agree that there needs to be a middle ground but then just swing to their opinion and stay on the others it's the craziest thing ever and I'm thinking of myself what Bible are you reading and what Christ are you following because Jesus was a bridge builder do I have any bridge builders in God's house today whoa commit to be a bridge builder but I got to keep I got to keep going back you I'm sorry I keep going so this word piece it says love it says joy it says peace that means to join to join to create peace sometimes you got to join two people together long-suffering I kind of talked about that in order to be a good lover you've got to be long-suffering you got to go through some stuff there's some people that in fact they ought to add a few more O's in that long just long Oh from the diaphragm all suffering yes as long as it takes in order to preserve love kindness is pretty simple its kindness but it also has to do with you doing things I'm just running through these really quickly so it's not just you're just a sweet person if this the underlying thought in this kindness is that you actually do things you get out there it's it's you're it's a character it's the character that acts it does something goodness is goodness faithfulness that's not really faithfulness like you faithfully do something it's pistis in the Greek which means that you're full of faith so you have faith gentleness and this is meekness and humility how many of us know meekness is not weakness it's not weakness meekness is is all these things but just look at this type of person this person has love this person has joy this person has pcs joining people together this person is long-suffering this person has kindness this person has goodness this person has has faithfulness this person has has a gentleness or humility or meekness this person has self-control if you break those two words down I love that word self-control means inner dominion inner dominion in other words I have dominion over my insides hey I have dominion in other words I just I don't just blurt out things I don't just I don't I don't just move with underwhelm the different things I just I've got dominion over my inside this is what the Spirit gives you now if you look at all those things says against such there is no law if you look at all those things who wouldn't want to be around learn from or follow somebody who embodied all those things who would one do that but I want to take it a step further don't take a step further now I want to look at James chapter one and this is really one where I want us to spend our time really looking and understanding and hopefully this challenges us something to more because if you don't have empathy you can't do this if you don't have input that you can't do this and I've seen people describe this world and this culture that we're in as as to sensitive culture you know you just get it everyone gets offended of everything right and and I could understand that position but let's just think about this thought for a second and you have people that walk around like you know I'm tired of being politically correct and I know some of you said it don't get mad at me I'm this is gonna be a teaching moment I just want us mean what I say and say what I mean why do I have to always say things the right way or avoid these things and these offensive things and and sometimes you know in our culture and in our nation in our world you have people to get to this place where I'm just tired of being I have to tippy-toe around and basically what you're saying is you are content with being lazy I understand the frustration because the reality of it is you have many cultures and subcultures and and and lifestyles and and and we are you know we are we're not just Americans were people from all over the world who have become Americans which means that you have a lot of the appraisal or for that and so you have a lot of different ideas and cultures and various things and so to take the position I wish that I didn't have to be sensitive is to subscribe to being lazy oh you didn't like that that's okay that's okay yeah that's what lazy people say I don't want to do the work to understand someone I don't value that person enough to try to understand their culture or what might hurt them and harm them so I would rather just stick to what I know I'd rather be in my little myopic world and myopic space and not give a doggone about anybody that's different from me which is not what our Christ represents at all and you got to break that spirit the faith is not for lazy people it is for people who will work hard who will learn who would whatever they have to do to by any means win somebody else if I've got to sit with you and learn of you and learn what moves you and try to understand what I don't understand I'm gonna do it because you were created in God's image you are valuable to me you are more important to me than my opinion I will sit down and learn I don't have to agree with everything but I will honor you and value you enough not to be offensive to you especially what I didn't mean to do so are you tracking with me do I have any people in here you're not gonna be a lazy Christian you know what I'm gonna sit with you I'm gonna hear your thoughts if this makes you feel bad that it makes me feel bad are you tracking with me you got to break out of this thing with this juice my Bible and it is okay okay but the Bible says he who wins Souls is wise look you're my Bible I need my Barbara it says right here that's wonderful but what if that person doesn't subscribe to your Bible that is called circular reasoning I don't need my Bible you know what I'm gonna show you I'm gonna show you my love I must show you my people skills I will show you that God is with me and I am with God because no one cares what you know until they know what you care we need people skills it can't be a lazy Christian can't be a lazy believer you got to sit with people so in James check this out soon James I love this it's beautiful James says and interestingly enough James is kind of known as being kind of hard James don't play when it comes to words that James series him and Peter you know but James really is that's why I looked faith without works is dead don't just be here be a doer I mean he was kind of tough and it's interesting that that James starts talking ultimately about empathy it says so then my beloved brethren I love this I love this it says let every man be swift to hear slow to speak oh I love that swift to hear let's sit down and reason together a little bit top my people skills you're gonna need them to win some Swift to hear see when you stop and actually listen you will learn so much about someone that we would have almost a knee-jerk reaction to judge oh I gotta take my time here quick to here before I cast this judgment on you let me sit down and hear how you think how did you get to where you are what is your perspective on this anybody knows that one of it the most significant and critical people skier skills is to be a good listener sometimes you got to even go beyond hearing because it's sometimes you can hear but not listen are you tracking with me and so you're hearing but you're already calculating your argument so you've been there before let's just keep it 100 come on somebody especially when you marry and you got a good and while you're your partner is is talking to you or you know if you're not married even when you're single when you're in this debate or whatever while they're talking and something will go off and you have like this real strategic chess move play that comes up if you're like me I'm cuz I'm like a lawyer to be honest with you I struggle with this right if you say something I mean not stupid say something uh I will have out dismantle it really quickly in my head and what happens is and I'm actually the one that's being stupid in that moment because I didn't take time to listen to the entire argument and so I open my mouth and speak and I speak improperly because I was a hear but I wasn't a listener and we have to be good listeners aren't you glad that Jesus is a good listener can you imagine going to Jesus with a problem and Jesus saying hold on I'm busy right now hold on I can't really I ain't got time aren't you glad that anytime anyplace anywhere you could go sit at the feet of Jesus and he is listening he will listen to your trauma come on you know we got drama sometimes Jesus I wonder if every believer on the planet would be slow to speak and undeniably in that speaking there's judging so slow to judge and quick to hear I wonder I keep going back to social media I wonder before we would comment on something if we would be more Swift to hear with the goal of gaining an insight of the other person's perspective Oh hallelujah sometimes we are so in love with our own perspective that we have no desire at all to hear someone else's we are so infatuated with our own belief system that we won't stop and at least try to understand what another person believes and why they believe it it is easy to judge and to criticize what you don't understand it is much more difficult to be mean to another human being once you have unpacked the reason why they're in the position that they're in it's easy to drive by somebody on the side of the road with the sign saying give me five dollars it's another thing to pull over hello somebody and have a conversation and try to understand how the person got there so that you can develop empathy that's what we're missing in this world we're missing empathy on every side we stop caring we care about our opinion more than we care about that which was created in God's image we need people skills so James says so James says he says be quick to hear and slow to speak now what does it mean by slow to speak I think that James understands the power of words he understands the power of words I need to be slow to speak because once this comes out of my mouth I cannot take it back oh I feel this once and my words are powerful I was created in God's image which means that I create with my words there's some people even sitting in this room sitting in LA watching via livestream and your life is broken down not because somebody hit you but because somebody shot you with with a bullet word and you're trying to recover from the damage not of physical abuse but verbal abuse I have to be responsible with my mouth because it is more deadly than a pistol sometime I can heal from a gunshot wound prayerfully but I cannot kill from the creative power of of a word from somebody I respected or different respected people right now that are struggling and they have strongholds simply because somebody did not shoot them with the gun but they shot them with the word we have to go and get license and get training to carry a weapon in this country some of us need to get license and training before we open our mouth because we're killing people with our word and as a result of that we got to be slow to speak the Bible says let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth and if you look at that that if you studied in the Greek is interesting because what it says let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth that word proceed is almost like a gun blasts don't let no corrupt communication out of your mouth man I feel that we're gonna do some praying in here in a minute I feel the Lord after the Lord he says be quick to hear it's gotta be us it's gotta be us quick to hear slow to speak quick to hear quick to learn quick to listen quick to listen slow to speak allowing an opportunity for wisdom to arise allowing for opportunities for me to get out of my feelings because the most dangerous the most dangerous your your your your a dangerous weapon when you're in your feelings and if you're in relationships let me tell you some at wisemen tell me once and it was simple but it was profound he was like young man no you haven't been married a long time that's his voice he says but whatever you do with your wife make certain you don't say something that you can't take back and it didn't sound all profound but it was I gotta live with you for the rest of my life I don't want to give you something that will cause division in our relationship you could say something you have forgotten about it because you didn't really mean it you were just in the heat of the moment and you said it and sometimes the people that are closest to us are the ones that we verbally abused the most because we expect them to know we didn't mean it you know I was just playing yeah but you caught me a sudden something um zone [Music] yeah but you didn't know I mean but you said it it came out of your mouth and it was directed at me quick to hear slow to speak we have to make up our mind that the only word that's gonna come out of our mouths is a word that's gonna add value to somebody oh I feel the Holy Spirit and that takes time that's why you gotta be slow to speak I don't want to say anything to you unless it's gonna add value to you and some people that means you just got to stand there for about five minutes until it comes to you what if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything at all now if you you your friends that are with you if they stop talking to you you're gonna know what's going on quick to hear slow to speak slow to wrath what else does it say it says so then my beloved brother be quick quick to hear slow to speak slow to wrath right that means that we've got to deal with this temper they have anybody has a temper any to tell the truth just look straight ahead just don't yeah anything can throw you off here is the problem there's a proverb that ultimately says on the paraphrase it says he who doesn't who is unable to rule his spirit is like a city whose walls are broken down that means that if I don't rule my spirit I can't protect my life are you tracking with me being a hothead is dangerous III can't I have to rule my spirit I have to have inner dominion especially in today's time because people are going to throw stuff at you I'm telling you if they haven't done it they will do it they're gonna throw stuff at you people want to fight they want to argue it just is what it is it is crazy I don't know what's going on in our world and if you are not a ruler of your spirit they're gonna rule your spirit and the next thing you know something terrible is gonna happen on you you're gonna miss opportunities because somebody pushed your button the devil is a liar I don't want anybody to be able to push my buttons but me are you tracking with me people will manipulate you if you don't know how to rule your spirit push your buttons I used to get in trouble because I had a tip for when I was in school I got a landed plane just about done I used to get in trouble at school cuz I had a temper and everybody knew it so what they would do was ever talk about my momma I love even now see even now Holy Spirit come Holy Spirit come but let me tell you that and they knew if you talk about his mom he's gonna go through the roof you catch it when I'm saying he's gonna go through the roof and it was true they'd be like your mama so and I'm oh my god and I was just the day would be ruined I'd be fight and you know what they never got in trouble some of y'all know what I'm talking about just be even to this day right now somebody said about your mama right here in church you will start fighting and pull out knives and everything all right and then I realize I realized that they were controlling me they're controlling me first of all it's not true it's not true so you're pushing my buttons no slow to wrath and then this is the last thing it says it says for the raft of man does not produce the righteousness of God that word righteousness really means character so the raft of man does not produce the character of God what am I saying and this simple basic but very critical and necessary message family we have to walk in something different we have to walk jesus said it these aren't my words these are Jesus's words we've got to walk in something different we got to walk in empathy yep in empathy I love everybody man but I tell you if I could pray for every leader in this this is this country in this world in this age the number one thing I think that I would pray for is empathy I'm just seeing things in it and they're spinning out of control and and people are getting bold in their arrogance and there's no empathy in sight nobody's thinking about the other person and I see the world splitting in half I see it and I believe that the church I think we're the answer I really I think that we we play the answering and I think people are tired of being sick and tired of people are tired of this enmity and Jesus says let me say let me tell you something by my spirit you can operate in something different it's okay to be mad the Bible says be angry but sin not in other words don't lose don't lose who you are and I really believe that there's there's something that God is wanting to do in the hearts of believers that allows them to flow in something different if the fruit of the Spirit love joy peace long-suffering gentleness kindness faith self-control if these things aren't flowing in our lives then maybe were clogged up somewhere you know what unforgiveness is it's subtle hate if you're honest that's what it is because when you have that memory something shoots through your heart and it closes you up and it shuts you down from the person but then also from anything that could look like that person and God wants to use it he wants to flow through you we got to have people's skills we got to be negotiators we've got to be reconcile us we can't be instigators of drama I'll be honest with you sometimes it's not even about being right it's about being one sometimes being one is more important than being right hello somebody Jesus prayed this in John 17 he didn't pray that they'd be right he said my prayer is that you'd be one because if you can get one in me you'll get two right I want to pray for you I want pray for you empathy is everything I want us to practice the the discipline the habit the routine of right when I'm getting ready to cast a judgement think for a moment and then put yourself in the other person's shoes we can't be lazy let's okay I disagree with you where it stands there's no doubt about that but let me try to consider what it's like to be you and what would I want you to be to me if you were me an hour you are you tracking with me Jesus modeled empathy he modeled empathy so masterfully that he comes from heaven and becomes like us and sits with us in order to win us people who have good people skills rise to the top of everything they rise to the to the top of schools they rise to the top of business they rise to the top of of corporations they rise to the top of society and I believe this is one of God's strategies so I want to pray for you if you hear and you know you like people's skills if you hear and and you're one of those ones it'd be better off of fighting on Instagram fighting on Facebook and you look up and you just use replying and then you're waiting to see what they reply and you're fighting I want to have a real moment I know it's crazy out there and I know everything is big bad and bold right now and that's wonderful but God is looking for some people who would love like him who will be empathetic like him and I believe according to what Jesus said that's how we're gonna win the world so what everyone is staying real quick we're gonna pray I'm pray I need people skills I need to learn how to be quick to hear I need to learn how to be slow to speak I look up in this up my mouth did I say that yep you did I need to forgive because it's I'm losing myself when I don't if that's you you hear and you feel slightly convicted not condemned because that wouldn't we don't do that here but you feel slightly convicted and you look more like the arguer than the unifier I want you to meet me at this altar la you can come down as well I want to pray for you this is real I personally believe honestly you can come on talking I won't pray for you I personally believe that there's some things that are held back from you because of I must say this you're not gonna like it on the same day the truth because of your attitude and no one will tell you so I'm telling you I'm telling you you kind of mean you kind of mean you kind of mean just a little bit it's a little bit sometimes brokenness is a part of it to been so broken all you know how to do is break stuff relationships I want pray for you God's gonna heal something and it's gonna open doors for you they're people I don't know who this is for sometimes you got to kind of listen to people if all of the relationships that you have are engaged in whether romantic or platonic or whatever if they all seem to go away one thing you have to consider is that you are the common denominator and all those things seriously I'm like well no they did this and they did that they did that and it's all below but today like a hundred days and they are all different and one you and that's not a judgment this is real and I just want pray for you I want I want us to be like Jesus Jesus most people a lot of people know his name they've heard his name but they haven't heard his culture his lifestyle Jesus was he had incredible people skills he dealt with everybody from the harlot to the the rich tax collector who was ripping people off from the lowest to the highest the word says that these were his friends like friends which means that he had incredible inter-relational skills his amazing he had this wide contrast a friend's interesting enough what he says that lets your love for what when he was talking Judas was sitting right there and he knew who Judas was from the start he had his betrayer right there in his company and never said anything in fact when he finally said something he said something to him in cold as to not embarrass him in front of his peers people skills people skills and you're gonna get it because the spirit embodies Christ people skills I'm not asking you and myself to be who we're not this is about awakening to who we truly are as believers and I'm afraid that if we don't get this right we're gonna be swept up into something and will ultimately be ineffective in the kingdom the Bible says in the last days says the love of many is going to grow cold and we can't let that happen to us we got to hold it we got to hold it young man Jesse Smollett who you may have heard about it was viciously attacked and beaten in in Chicago recently because of his both race and his sexual orientation and this was earlier this week and in California last night he had a concert and although he was still basically he wasn't healed yet they threw stuff on his face chemical on his face and beat him down a bunch of racial slurs and and and all and put a rope around his neck and your I didn't hear about that but whatever maybe you did maybe you didn't and he fought through his pain to get to this concert and one of the things that it was reported that he said is I couldn't let hate win I had to show up because the love is greater than hate I respect that I respect that love keeps showing up even when you're wrong even when people treat you bad even when people try to keep see to not love since God is love to not love is to die I've gotta forgive you because if I for my own sake it's not even for you you'll get yours and I and I'm not even gonna be standing around looking forward you'll get yours I gotta get that out of my mind I have to remain a lover last thing I'll say so far out of time I remember when I first planted the church now I love the pastor that I grew up under I love him but there were some things that that went on that he did that quite frankly I didn't understand I didn't have the why I had the what and the what was painful and I left with the what not the why and quite frankly I was bitter I was bitter with this pastor and and it wasn't quite it wasn't right what he did but I but when you grow you understand the why and the why would have made me not bitter I would have still moved but it wouldn't have made me bitter anyway a planted church the church would not grow on Easter in two years on Easter Sunday there were a whopping 27 people after two years of preaching my face off a whopping make a Church of 27 people on Easter Sunday hallelujah and then the Lord came to me in a dream and he said you need to forgive him this is for somebody so you need to forgive him and it was interesting because in the dream he came to me in the dream and he said I'm sorry and you were right it was just a dream but it gave me the grace to forgive him something is happening spiritually right now something's happening spiritually because I couldn't forgive him on my own so God ultimately what he was doing in that dream was God was showing me the highest version of him the true version of him and he had in the dream the true version of him apologized to me for what he did that was a grace and it healed my heart and I forgave him the moment that I forgave him revelation started flowing and revelation told me where to go and plant the church it was almost like Jesus and Peter Jesus Peter had toiled all night and caught nothing my wife taught on it the other night he had toiled all night and caught nothing and then Jesus says okay put your net down here that's how it was for me once I forgave Jesus says now go plant your church over there and I planted the church over there by faith after I forgave after I forgave him after I released it I planned that church there and it became the fastest-growing Church in Los Angeles overnight multiple thousands of people came and it would not have happened had I not forgiven because there was a flow that would not come to me if you here and you need to forgive Los Angeles Denver come get to this altar right now something is happening by the Holy Spirit I'm past the time we're supposed to be done right now but something is happening you need say you need to forgive you need to forgive you need to forgive come on just come down to this altar right now something is happening by the Holy Spirit come on come on come on come on get here I see you coming in LA come on come on get here get here get here get here get here get here you haven't been able to up to this point but you're getting ready to be able to get here get here for my own sake for my own sake for my own sake for me for my future for my destiny for my calling for my legacy for my children for my children's children for the mission of God that's all my life keep coming keep coming keep coming keep coming keep coming keep keep keep keep keep keep get here don't miss this moment so here's the thing the reason I believe that God showed me in a dream the highest version of the one who hurt me listen to this day he has never said that to me that dream was almost 15 years ago he's never said it but I have received it ah you gotta catch this good God Almighty you gotta catch this I'm not waiting on you to say I'm sorry what does that mean that has nothing to do with me okay I don't have I don't have time to wait I don't have time to wait for your apology if I would have been waiting if God wouldn't have come to me in that dream I would still be stuck so sometimes God will show up in a service or he'll show up in a dream or will show up in a moment to give you the grace to do what you couldn't do in your own strength here is what you need to understand hurt people broken people break people which means that hurt hurt you not the person brokenness broke you not the person not the person you got to understand that for others and for yourself and for yourself because you've hurt somebody - yes you have and you've broken somebody somewhere along the line - so God shows me who he is supposed to be and what I did was I forgave him not according to who he was but according to God's intention of who he should be I haven't gotten an apology and I don't need one I'm heels I'm healed I'm free I'm I'm good like it wouldn't even mean anything to me now but I'll boy on that boy I'll serve no need for that so we're gonna leave it at this altar for my own sake for my own sake I want to be pure I want to be like you father I thank you for those who are gathered here at this altar right now for a number of reasons and father you have channel this this service to this very moment to get us to this place of grace where we can release something that up to this point we could not find the grace to do I want you to put your hand over your heart Jesus I pray right now that you would touch from Los Angeles to Denver to those who are watching via live stream I pray God that your love yep your love would baptize their heart right now would baptize their heart right now Lord fill us to such an overflowing reality of your love that there will be no further need to try to protect ourselves we are rich in love we are rich in how you feel about us we are rich in the consciousness of your plans for us we are rich in our identity in you and therefore there is no more space for bitterness release it right now I want you to repeat after me Heavenly Father you've spoken to me today I hear you and I receive your words I thank you for Jesus Christ thank you for putting in his body every offense every hurt every damaging thing every evil word every evil deed the brokenness of humanity was placed in his body nailed to the cross and put to death by his stripes I am whole so today I transfer my brokenness and my unforgiveness to his body on the cross off of me and onto him and God as Jesus was raised up because I'm in Christ I'm raised up too and I leave my bitterness and my unforgiveness in the grave now I want you to envision that thing and let it go and I want you to envision that person that hurt you in a perfected state because God loves him too and God loves her too and God wants that person to be whole and that he wants that person to be his vision for that individuals life I want you to see that person loving I want you to see that person the whole I want you to see that person healed I want you to see that person remorseful [Music] and what you here to see that person saying I'm sorry forgive me for I knew not what I was doing [Music] if I would have known that what I was doing would hurt you the way it hurt you I would have never done it forgive me you've got a smooth desalter lawyer yeah it's over you survived you made it it didn't kill you and what it costs you if you forgive you'll get back a hundredfold what it costs you if you forgive you'll get back a hundredfold you are not damaged beyond repair God would not allow it if he would not bring restoration from it everything that happens to you must be pre-qualified before it can happen to you and I hear God saying if you forgive your latter will be so much greater than your former ass Joseph they meant it for evil but God meant it for good [Applause] we're gonna lay at the altar today I just want you to take 10 seconds and praise the Lord like I'm laying something down I'm late I came in with it [Applause] [Music]

Channel: ONE | A Potter's House Church

Views: 29,994

Rating: 4.8444443 out of 5

Keywords: LA Churches, TPH, The Potters House, TPH LA, The Potters House LA, One LA, Toure Roberts, Sarah Jakes Roberts

Id: 30TBlauSYxI

Length: 74min 19sec (4459 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 03 2019