TEMPTATION TO PLEASE EVERYONE (3 OF 4)
Scripture: I KINGS 11:1-13
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Temptation to Please Everyone (3 of 4)
THE "TEMPTATION" SERIES
Dennis Marquardt
I Kings 11:1-13
INTRO: Everyone loves to be loved by others! We often go to great lengths to please people so they will like or love us. This is a natural desire since God has made us all social beings. This drive to be accepted can help build our self esteem. Yet, this same desire can also become unhealthy when the desire to please is so great that one ignores sound principles in order to find acceptance by others.
Jesus recognized that as humans we will want to please others, but that we must be careful that we don't sacrifice the importance of pleasing God first.
Those who get themselves in spiritual trouble are often those who have lost focus on who it is they need to please first, above all we are to please God! There are Christians who attempt to please man and in the process have sacrificed their souls. The temptation to move away from what God wants first starts with sentences like:
"What will others think of me if they see me?"
"I don't want some to think I am some kind of weird spiritual nut you know."
The starting place should always be, "What will God think of me?"
The pressures to please others above anything else will set spiritual traps for us.
ILLUS: In 1992 Kerrin–Lee Gartner of Calgary, Alberta became the first Canadian in history to win Olympic gold in the women's downhill. In Canada she became an overnight sensation. Shortly after her victory an announcer interviewing her commented that this must surely be the most significant day of her life. To his surprise she answered, "No, the most significant day of my life was the day my marriage to my husband, but this ranks pretty high too!" While pleased that so many of her countrymen was pleased with her she had not lost sight of the one who she wanted to please even more, her husband! If she ever lost sight of that her love for him would diminish as the need to please her ...
THE "TEMPTATION" SERIES
Dennis Marquardt
I Kings 11:1-13
INTRO: Everyone loves to be loved by others! We often go to great lengths to please people so they will like or love us. This is a natural desire since God has made us all social beings. This drive to be accepted can help build our self esteem. Yet, this same desire can also become unhealthy when the desire to please is so great that one ignores sound principles in order to find acceptance by others.
Jesus recognized that as humans we will want to please others, but that we must be careful that we don't sacrifice the importance of pleasing God first.
Those who get themselves in spiritual trouble are often those who have lost focus on who it is they need to please first, above all we are to please God! There are Christians who attempt to please man and in the process have sacrificed their souls. The temptation to move away from what God wants first starts with sentences like:
"What will others think of me if they see me?"
"I don't want some to think I am some kind of weird spiritual nut you know."
The starting place should always be, "What will God think of me?"
The pressures to please others above anything else will set spiritual traps for us.
ILLUS: In 1992 Kerrin–Lee Gartner of Calgary, Alberta became the first Canadian in history to win Olympic gold in the women's downhill. In Canada she became an overnight sensation. Shortly after her victory an announcer interviewing her commented that this must surely be the most significant day of her life. To his surprise she answered, "No, the most significant day of my life was the day my marriage to my husband, but this ranks pretty high too!" While pleased that so many of her countrymen was pleased with her she had not lost sight of the one who she wanted to please even more, her husband! If she ever lost sight of that her love for him would diminish as the need to please her ...
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