Why Can’t I Change? - Greater Reward Part 2

well do you ever wonder why you want to make significant changes in your life and you try and you try to change but you can't anybody ever frustrated with that what i want to do today is i want to show you what i really honestly believe is an incredibly powerful truth from scripture that may be new for you to give you a change in the way you think that may help change the way you live because once you live long enough like me it's kind of depressing when you start to realize that oftentimes your new year's resolutions seem like they bleed over from year to year i don't know if any of you like this but a lot of times what i want to do this year is the same thing i wanted to do last year and the same thing i wanted to do the year before but i haven't done it yet and you know how it goes so often you like try so hard to make the changes that you want to make and you succeed for a day or a week or two weeks and then you tend to fall back into the very unhealthy habit that you wanted to get out of if you have a new year's resolution and you're still living it guess what you're doing pretty dang good in fact if you keep it all the way to valentine's day you're in the top percentile of those who actually follow through because believe it or not 80 percent of new year's resolutions end up falling apart and failing by the second week of february why is that i'm going to show you today exactly why it is and what god's word says about how we can change because you know all of us were trying to start something new or stop something old and we fall back into the old patterns i don't know what it might be for you but you might want to stop overeating or stop smoking or stop looking at porn and you do for a little while and then you get sucked back into the habit that you wanted to avoid or you want to start something and so you want to start praying faithfully or reading god's word daily or start exercising and you do for a little while and then you skip a day and two days becomes a month and you skip it i don't know what it might be for you this year you're trying and you're trying and you're trying and you're trying you're trying to manage your money you're trying to be wise financially you're trying to get out of debt and eventually you get tired of trying so you just go shopping why is it that we try so hard to change but we end up falling back into the same old patterns the title for today's message is why can't i change and our declaration of faith is going to be this with god's help we will choose what we want most over what we want now at all of our churches could i get you to save this with me just say it after me with passion with god's help we'll choose what we want most over what we want now the power of god's word from first corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 says this the apostle paul asked a question and he said this he said don't you realize that in a race everyone runs but only one person gets the prize so paul says if you're going to run run to win all athletes are disciplined in their training they do it for a prize that will fade away but we as followers of christ we do it for an eternal prize one that glorifies god and one that lasts forever so paul said when i run i run with purpose in every step i'm not just shadow boxing i discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it should i love this now when paul was talking about this competitive metaphor his audience would have cl clearly understood his perspective he was writing to the corinthians and corinth was a city in greece greece the people of greece understood because every four years greece hosted the olympic games and people from all over would come to compete uh also in corinth they hosted their own local version a smaller version of the olympics known as the espion games where they had very specific competitions if you were born in corinth you could train and enroll uh in a competition to be a uh a wrestler or if you grew up where i did you're wrestling uh you could go and compete in chariot races you could compete in boxing you could actually compete believe it or not in the espion games in poetry reading contest that's right you may not know it but poetry reading in corinth was a sport and before you think i'm going to make fun of those who are poets and don't know it i need to just warn you and tell you that i was not always this cool i know it shocked you when i was growing up uh kind of my three proudest moments one is i was a junior fire marshal secondly i was the hall monitor this is all true the third thing is in the fifth grade i won first place in a dramatic poetry reading contest so if i had been born in corinth years ago i might have just entered into the espion games and when you recite poetry you recite to win paul was talking to a group that understood the value of competition and celebrated the thrill of victory he said this in verse 24 i want to look at it again he said don't you realize that in a race everyone runs but only one person gets the prize so baby if you're gonna run what are you gonna do say it aloud you're gonna what you're gonna run to win how many of you just curious all of our churches and you don't have to say yes to this just because i'm firing you up to win but how many of you like genuinely love to win you love to win some people uh in my opinion wrongly say well if you're a christian you shouldn't be competitive you know you should just be loving you have to remember that we are in a spiritual battle and we serve the king of kings and the lord of lords and we're called more than conquerors we have victory in christ and so i just kind of like to stand with the winner whose name is jesus and i like to win if you'll notice paul didn't say run just to finish he didn't say run to place he said run to win. now if you don't like the apostle paul i give you two other famous theologians one is the great theologian ricky bobby who says if you ain't first you're last and if he's not your style we'll go real old school uh with the greek uh uh epiquidis who said the great philosopher he said this about these races he said in the games if you withdraw speaking of the espion games or the olympics if you withdraw without sufficient reason you'll be whipped if you just quit because you're lazy tired or pathetic you'll be whipped and this whipping comes after your training which involves thirst and broiling heat and swallowing handfuls of sand in other words if you're going to compete you better run to win what i want to do is just tell you don't rationalize away the joy of honoring god with your best if you're gonna run run to win in fact when you look at scripture there's some pretty lofty assignments from god go back to the garden of eden god looks at adam and eve and he says be fruitful and multiply he says go and fill the earth and subdue it in other words reproduce conquer go out and kill something bring it home eat it build something significant if you're gonna be on this earth do something with this earth in the new testament in matthew 25 jesus told a story a parable about a an owner a manager who gave three different guys some talents two of these guys went out to compete they went out to win they played to win they invested what they had they multiplied they doubled their investment and the master came back and said well done you won good job my good and faithful servant one guy was afraid to play he didn't even show up he kept what he had he didn't invest it at all and the master looked at him and didn't just call him lazy but he called him you wicked and lazy servant to to peril to paraphrase what he what the master said essentially take it away from the guy who lost and give his to the ones who won give it to those who came to play jesus the very last thing he said before ascending into heaven he looked at his disciples and he said go into all the world and preach the gospel make disciples baptize people in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit he didn't say to my disciples sleep in late be mediocre waste your life looking at social media show up for the participation trophy no in everything we do as followers of christ we do it as unto the lord don't rationalize away the thrill of bringing your best for god the apostle paul says if you're going to run run to win question why aren't we winning why aren't we making progress why aren't we achieving the goals that we want to achieve why aren't we changing the things that we want to change in our lives the answer is and i believe this these truths can change your life why have we not been changing the answer is you've been trying for too long you've been trying for way too long i want you to think about it in the most important areas in life most christians have adopted a theology of trying what are you doing i'm trying to serve god i'm trying to be a good christian i'm trying to go to church every i'm trying to read my bible okay i i'm trying to to stop smoking i'm trying to stop cussing don't grow up to say it again i'm trying to be nice to my children i'm trying to be more loving i'm trying not to worry so much i'm trying not to eat the whole thing i'm trying to exercise i'm trying i'm trying i'm trying i'm trying i mean i really am i'm trying i'm doing the best i can i'm trying the best i can i'm trying not to look anymore i'm trying so hard not to think lustful thoughts i'm trying so hard not to lose my temper i'm trying so hard not to be mean i'm trying so hard to spend more time with my kids i'm trying not to be in debt i'm trying i'm trying why are you not changing because you've been trying for too long that's why i came to tell somebody to change your strategy you need to stop trying and start training it's time to stop trying and start training why because trying never achieves consistent results training does trying never changes anything for long training is an entirely different mindset and perspective let's talk about the difference for just a moment what do you do when you're trying what is trying trying is an attempt to change with minimal commitment we it's often a half-hearted attempt what are you doing well i'm trying to start being more godly you know i'm trying to read my bible i'm trying to be nice i'm trying not to to be so too lazy i'm trying to get into better shape but when you're trying it almost implies that you plan to fail there's no real commitment it's just it's just a try it's just a hope it's just a wish i'm going to bring a little bit to this thing not too much i'm trying but i'm not getting anywhere it's often a half-hearted attempt a a an attempt to change with a minimal commitment but what is training training is very different training is a wholehearted commitment to achieve a specific result and you know the difference between trying and training if you're trying you just show up hoping for a better result i hope this works out i'm trying i'm i'm trying to do it but when you're training you got a game plan you got a strategy you got some fighting you got the eye of the tiger you got some rocky one and rocky ii and rocky iii and rocky iv baby you got some cobra kai season three inside of you you're you're coming to play you're running to win you're not just trying you're in training there's intentionality behind it there's focus there's a defined vision there's a purpose when you're you're trying you give up when it gets too hard i tried when you're trying you you quit when you don't feel like it but when you're training you don't act according to your feelings you act according to your commitment there's a big difference the apostle paul he says it this way he says that everyone who competes in the games they go into strict training you can say they're trying to get ready to compete they go into strict training in fact the greek word is a powerful word that's translated as training is the word agnes and we get our word agony from this like it's hard work this word means to contend for victory it means to strain every nerve toward the goal trying is a half-hearted attempt training is to take every bit of power you have and even some power that you don't have that comes from heaven and strain every nerve toward the goal and the call for which god has created you and when an athlete went to compete in the olympic games they went into a 10-month strict training in greece it was an intentional rigorous training regimen that included a very very strict diet no wine or alcohol they would run a certain amount of time a day no kind of junk food they would expose themselves to extreme cold and extreme heat and evidently there would also be some eating of sand along the way thankfully in my training to this day i've never eaten sand but they were into it they weren't trying to compete they were training to win and there's a difference so imagine this imagine this a marathon and you got a couple of runners who show up to the starting line and maybe there's hundreds of people and one person's ready training strict diet no wine extreme heat extreme cold monster preparation and this guy looks at the guy sitting next to him and says what'd you do to train and before the gun goes off the other guy looks so goes aw man i didn't really get around to it i mean i was trying to get ready but you know things were busy kids were you know having challenges and you know my wife was kind of you know blah blah blah blah blah you know and so i was trying to but i didn't quite get around to it other guy looks and says you mean you're going to run a marathon and you didn't even train for it because well pretty excited to be here because i'm getting a free t-shirt i'm gonna try as hard as i can listen when you're an athlete a competitor when you're fighting for something that matters when you have a vision when you have a dream when you have a spiritual assignment from heaven trying apart from training is unthinkable when we run we run to win we're not trying to honor god we're in training to do what god created us to be there's a big big big difference i i like what scripture says in first timothy chapter four verse seven whenever paul was talking to timothy about becoming godly here's what paul didn't say he say timothy i want you to try to be godly wake up and try your very best what he said was train yourself to be godly somebody here you need to stop trying and start training when people look at you they'll see something different what are you doing i'm not trying i'm in training i've got a different mindset i've got a game plan this isn't a half-hearted commitment this is a full-on all-in every nerve in my body toward the goal empowered by the spirit of god i'm in training so what do we do how do we train what does it look like if we're in training to let god change us into who he wants us to become what is training let's keep it really really simple we'll define it this way training is doing what i can do today to enable me to do even more tomorrow that's training it's that clear it's that simple and it's that powerful what is training it's very simply it's consistently doing what i can do today to enable me to do even more tomorrow what are you doing you might be training for a marathon can you run a marathon today most of you would have to say no way can you walk a mile today you can if you can walk a mile today you're in training you walk a mile and a half tomorrow one day you're running two miles and then three what are you you're in training can you get out of debt by next month most people say no you can't but when you're in training you can bring your own coffee instead of going to starbucks and guess what that's six dollars toward your goal when you're in training can you become a spiritual powerhouse by noon the next day probably not but can you open up your youversion bible app and read the word of god every day letting his living active powerful word convicts you shape you conform you transform you to the image of christ you see we're not trying we're in training we're doing what we can do today that will enable us to do what we can't do tomorrow that we want to do we're training god's giving us his power one step at a time i'm doing what i can do tomorrow i promise i'll do even more and that's why i love the intentionality of what the apostle paul says in verse 26 he says so i run with purpose in every step this is an accidental it's not unintentional there's actually a plan to this i've got a strategy i'm in training when i wake up i know what i'm called to do i know what the plan is today even if i fall back or i'm set back i still step back up and i'm back in training a temporary loss doesn't mean permanent defeat i'm coming back because i'm in training i'm running with purpose in every step i'm not just shadow boxing i discipline my body like an athlete very important like an athlete training it to do what it should i want you to notice what he said is he said i discipline my body like an athlete not like somebody who wants to be an athlete not like somebody who's going to be an athlete in the future but i discipline like an athlete it's identity and we talked about this last week it starts with identity not just what do you want to do but who do you want to become and when you know who god says you are when you know who you are you know what to do because i'm seeing myself as here's an example an athlete i discipline my body it starts with identity you see whenever you're trying whenever you're trying you're hoping to become something that you're not but when you're training you're becoming more of what you already are like an athlete like a godly dad like a godly mom like a bright shining light in my fraternity like one who honors god with purity i'm not trying i'm in training when i show up i put some work in i've got a game plan i'm in training i'm not trying i'm training somebody say i'm training say it like you mean i said i'm not trying i'm training type it in the chat i'm in training i'm in training training isn't a hopeful experiment it's a devoted commitment driven by a deeper why internalize it who you are in other words i'm not trying to have a better marriage we are a great marriage in training i'm not trying to be a godly parent i'm a godly dad in training apply it to your world i'm not trying to avoid a hook up because i keep getting hooked up no i am an ambassador in christ in training honoring god with purity in my body and my mind saving myself for something better in the future you see with god's help i'm choosing what i want most over what i want now because of who i am i'm not trying to become something different i'm entrained to become more of what god already said that i am it's a game changer so sometimes people will look at me and say you seem to have good discipline strong disciplines why is that i hope you'll understand that it's not natural my sin tendency is the opposite but it's born out of working to embrace my spiritual identity who does god see me as who have i learned to see me as let me tell you who i am you ready for this you may laugh and i really don't give a rip but you may not know it but i am a spiritual warrior i've got a calling from god to lead people to become fully devoted followers of christ i help snatch people out of the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the family of god it's a calling listen i got someone to protect and i got a kingdom to advance i am a warrior and because of who i am it drives every area of my life therefore i am disciplined in the word of god because i'm in spiritual training i fight for purity because purity matters i fight for humility because god tends to lift up the humble and tear down the proud i'm i'm in training to become more of who i am it goes all the way down to like my body like honest to goodness what i put in matters because this belongs to god i want to be strong you're getting older like well you know what i'm beta i'll make the strongest 68 year old one day you've ever seen i'm going to be the best version of whatever i am because i'm in training to be who god called me to be so recently i picked up a new discipline that i'm really enjoying let me tell you about it for um probably 15 years i wanted to uh to take up jiu jitsu i've had limiting limited training in other martial arts but i just think jujitsu is cocky it's just these guys are they're it's it's like beautiful it's it's it's it's it's is it it's amazing and so uh bobby greenwald pastor bobby who created created the virgin bible app he got tired of hearing me talk about it because every year i thought well i'm too old now now i'm really too old now i'm way way too old now i'm in my late 40s now i'm way too old so bobby just said hey i'm going to go take jiu jitsu classes you want to go i said sure i'll go with you and so bobby went to two classes and he quit he set me up he set me up and so what i want you to understand is now i am i'm training in jiu jitsu notice i didn't say i'm trying to learn to fight because i'm not trying i'm in training i'll show you my jiu jitsu coach this is uh this is tyler he may look smaller than me and he is but don't let that fool you this is tyler uh recently winning the ib jjf jiu jitsu world championship in the brown belt right before he gets his black belt and what i want you to understand is like i'm not trying to get good at this i'm in training i got three lessons a week private lessons because i need private help and i'm working hard if i miss a class i'm watching videos and i'm training at home and you would not believe it but i am winning and winning and winning and winning and winning and winning and winning i am i'm rolling against 22 year old ncaa champion wrestlers and i'm winning i mean i swear i'm winning now if you looked on you'd probably say you're getting your butt kicked and you could make a pretty persuasive argument that they are sitting on my head and i'm tapping out a whole lot but that's just your perspective you see i got a different perspective on winning i shot 53 and i got two stripes on my white belt and my third one may be coming pretty soon i'm showing back up i'm in training and every day guess what my confidence increases as well as my humility and that's a win for me every day my mind is becoming sharper my body may look older to you but it's getting even more dangerous every single day i'm winning not when i defeat my opponent but i'm winning when i show up and become more of who god created me to be i'm in training so why is it that you tried to change but you can't perhaps you've been trying too hard you've been trying in your own power and there is a power greater than anything this earth offers that comes straight from heaven and when you're weak that power makes you strong and i just want to encourage you i'm telling you it's a game changer change your mindset change the way you think don't let the devil tell you what you're not you're always unhealthy you're always ungodly you're always going to fail you're never going to have a good relation no no no no no no no i'm the righteousness of god in christ i'm an overcomer by the blood of the lamb i am victorious in all that i'm blessed coming in bless go going out you change your identity and when you know who you are you know what to do and you're not trying to become something in the future you're training to be more of what god says you are today i'm in training i'm in training i'm in training and then [Music] it's a game changer you're not successful when you achieve the goal in the future you're successful when you honor jesus today well done my good and faithful servant so when you run run to win we're not trying we're in training spiritual training to become who god created us to be so father we ask by the power of your risen son jesus infused by the holy spirit help us become more like jesus glorifying you in all that we do as you're praying today at our different churches or those of you watching online in whatever area you want to be different you want to change you want to stop the whatever you want to start the whatever you want to be more like jesus you want to be different if you have an area like that in your life and you want to stop trying and start training would you lift up your hands right now just all of our churches just lift up your hands you can leave them up if you want you can type it in the chat i'm ready to start training father i just ask by the power of your spirit that first we would change how we see ourselves not like our failures of the past but god help us to see ourselves as you see us call ourselves what you call us god help us to see ourselves as victorious as overcomers as one who can do all things you call us to do through christ who gives us strength then god give us the courage to stop trying in our own power but infused by the power of the holy spirit the same power that raised jesus from the dead god help us to train to be in training to train to be godly to train to win to train to represent you in all that we do to become more of who you created us to be we believe god you will empower us we're not trying god we're in training as you keep praying today at all of our churches nobody looking around some of you may find that you've tried and you've tried and you've tried and you just you continue to hit a wall i would encourage you again not to try in your own power i want to tell you about about a power force of love that is greater than you could ever imagine sometimes when we mess up we feel like we really let god down and he's probably not happy with us he doesn't love us what i want to do is tell you about a god that loves you no matter what he loves you not just based on what you do but it's based on who he is he is love it's not just something that he does it's who he is there's nothing you can do to make him love you more there's no bad thing you could do to make god love you less he just loves you so much that he sent his son jesus who was perfect in every way jesus was obedient to god and gave his life on a cross and god in his goodness and grace raised jesus from the dead so that anybody and this includes you doesn't matter your doubts your fears your insecurities your hang-ups your addictions the dark spots of your life anyone who calls on the name of jesus you would be saved the old is gone is passed away and listen you become new you're not just better you're new the old is gone all of our churches there are those of you you recognize you need is grace you need his forgiveness what do you do just step away from your old life one one step step toward him you're not trying to be good enough you recognize because of jesus you're becoming a child of god now you're in training to become more of who he says you are and all of our churches those who say i need his forgiveness i want his mercy i need his grace i want to experience his love when you call on his name he forgives your sins and you become brand new all of our churches those who say yes jesus i want you i need you today i surrender my life to you that's your prayer lift your hands high now all over the place and say yes we've got hands going up all over the place those of you online just type it into the chat just say i'm giving my life to jesus just type that in the chat and today guess what we have the honor of praying with people all over the world coming into god's family would you just pray aloud with those around you pray heavenly father forgive all of my sins jesus save me make me new fill me with your spirit so i could serve you show your love and honor you in all that i do i'm not just trying i'm in training to live for you to show your love and to honor you thank you for new life i give you all of mine in jesus name amen because some winners give god some glory today welcome those born into his family

Channel: Life.Church

Views: 107,569

Rating: 4.9366908 out of 5

Keywords: Craig Groeschel, Sermon, Life.Church, Lifechurch, life church, life church sermons, craig rochelle, groeschel craig, church sermons 2020, changing, trying to change, trying to change my life, trying to change your life, trying to change me, change your life, commitment to change, commitment, change, why can't i change, I can't change, i can't change how I'm living

Id: hcePOHfL3EM

Length: 35min 47sec (2147 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 24 2021