Triggered: See It/Be It - Pastor Clayton Tyner

Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast.

My name's Clayton.

I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch.

And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you.

I hope that you enjoy today's message.

Those of us joining online as well.

We're so glad that you guys are here.

Today we're starting a brand new series called Triggered, and this is the perfect time for us to start this because we are officially three weeks into the new year, and of course, you know what that means.

That means that most of you have already given up on your new year's resolutions.

Three weeks in, uh, some some nervous laughter there.

There's some of you who are still going strong.

Uh you're you're, man, you're a goal setter, maybe you're a little bit type A, you you you've set out a plan and you're gonna do it.

You're still hitting the gym, you're still on the keto diet, you're doing the whole nine yards.

And I just want to say on behalf of the rest of us, shame on you.

Making us look bad, the rest of us just struggling along.

Uh they say within 21 days, uh, if it hasn't become a habit, that you will probably have uh stopped doing it.

And really, I've always struggled with resolutions, and I I kind of have a love-hate thing because uh I love the intention behind them, and it's like life gets so hectic, and we set some goals early in the year, but then it's like, man, we're just in the whirlwind of activity, and we're overworked and underpaid, and we're overstressed and under-resourced, and we don't have enough time of the day, and we've got kids, and we've got sporting events, and we're trying to have somewhat of a social life, and like maybe once a year go on a date with our spouse, and it just gets really stressful.

And so by the middle of the year, we're just in the same patterns, the same routines, we're not healthy, we're not thriving, we were gonna read this year, now we're not reading, and then we get to December, and you get a little bit of a break, and you enjoy the holidays, and you start looking to the new year.

And it seems like it's full of possibilities, and it's a new, fresh start.

And so you have these great intentions, and with resolutions, uh, there's all these things that you want to be.

You wanna be healthier, you wanna be better with your money, you wanna be more active with your kids, you wanna be in more of a loving marriage.

There's all of these things that we want to be.

Unfortunately, with all of our good intentions, we usually skip a crucial step.

We want to be something better, and we look to make changes, but unfortunately, these changes don't stick.

And so, what we're gonna do in this series is we're gonna take five weeks to learn how to effect real, deep, meaningful, long-lasting change in our life.

And we're gonna start with the step that is almost always skipped.

My message today is called you have to see it if you want to be it.

You have to first see it if you want to be it.

Would you pray with me?

God, we love you, and uh we're kind of taking it lightly, um, but there's a reason we set these resolutions, and it's because there are things we want to change.

And there are unhealthy patterns that we're so desperate to get out of.

And we are hoping that 2020 is the year that some things shift in our lives.

And so I pray that you would speak to us today.

And as we move through a series that can be very practical at times, that you would also show us the deep spiritual foundation that it is all built on, and you would just give us openness, open minds, open hearts, open ears, God, and that this message would be so much more than the words being projected through a sound system, but that your spirit would take those words and make them just exactly what we need in our own unique life situations.

And we just uh we love you and we're amazed at how you love us, and we pray all of these things in Jesus' name and everyone who wants a change say, Amen.

Amen.

You have to see it if you want to be it.

And the problem is instead of instead of this pattern of trying to look internally and see the picture of the life that God might have for you.

When we talk about seeing it, we're talking about looking in and looking through the Word of God at who God has created you to be.

And once you can see that, you can get on the path to be it.

The problem is that we do the exact opposite in setting resolutions.

We have this idea that if first we can be it, that's our resolution.

I want to be better, I want to be healthier, I want, I want to be out of this addiction, I want to be in this relationship, I want to be in this job, I want, I want to be up for this promotion.

We think if we can be it, then one day we will see it in our lives.

And what we start with is not what's inside of us, but we start with what is outside.

And as Christians and people who are seeking to follow Jesus, and I would like to suggest that even if you are not a follower of Jesus and you're just a skeptic or you're curious or you're agnostic or maybe you consider yourself an atheist, or maybe you're from a different faith background, or maybe you are hurt by the church someday, I would like to suggest that even for you, you have to stop setting your standards by the things that are outside of you and start looking at who you were meant to be at the core of your being.

And this is very difficult to do because this is the way our lives work.

We have things modeled for us, and we see it outside of ourselves and we think if I can just be it, if I can add some things to my life, if I can change some things in my life, one day I will see a reflection of the standard I'm trying to attain.

And so when I started playing basketball as a kid, I wasn't trying to be Clayton Tyner, the basketball player.

That's not a thing.

I was trying to be like Mike.

I want to be, I could have written that song.

I want to be like Mike.

And so I tied my shoes the way he tied his shoes, and I wore my socks the way he wore, and my shorts were the same length as his, and and I and I had a three-inch armband, it has to go halfway up the forearm, and some of you are obsessed with Mike's already know, and I couldn't jump except three inches off the ground, but I would still try to get my tongue out, you know, uh like Mike and I would like the whole, the whole thing.

And and and I was like, if I could just be it, you know?

And so I start watching him, and this fool is so intense, so intense.

And so I was intense.

And he was a trash talker, so I'm like seven trying to figure out how to talk trash, you know.

I'm like, I gotta, I gotta be it.

And then one day maybe I'll see a reflection, maybe I'll really be like Mike.

And this is what's pushed on us all the time, all of these standards, and and it's what's advertised to us.

It does it blow your mind to think that there are people on social media who call themselves influencers who make millions of dollars.

That breaks my brain.

I can't understand it.

But it's actually very simple.

And when I was putting this together, I was like, of course.

They help you see it, they set the standard, and then you try to be it.

And if I can be it, then maybe one day I'll see it.

If I can follow the steps and check the boxes, then maybe it will become who I am.

And so you check out at H E B, and all along the aisle are magazines, and on the magazine covers are models, male models, female models, and they are setting a standard that is near impossible to achieve.

And what do they tell you on the cover of the magazine?

They tell you how to be it.

Six steps to a six-pack.

Yeah.

And you look in your cart and you have six donuts from the bakery and a six-pack of beer.

It's like, man, we're not in line here.

And so it's unattainable, and yet, advertisement is in the business of setting a standard that they know you can't achieve so that you always feel like you're falling short, so you'll keep buying their crap so you think that you will get a step closer.

People who are content with who they are are bad for business because all of a sudden you don't need the crap that everyone's trying to sell you.

Instead, what happens is there's these unattainable standards, and we're looking from the outside in and we're trying to be it.

And the harder we try, it seems like the further we get away from it, and the more we have discontent in our life.

And the more we are dissatisfied, and the less peace we have, and the more life seems hopeless.

And it feels like we will never get to this level of significance as measured by the standard of the world outside of us.

And some of you struggle in your parenting, and it's like really hard for you to show affection and love.

That didn't just appear magically.

It's a pretty safe bet that you probably had a parent that struggled with the same thing.

And that's what we see.

And when we see it, we end up being it.

And what happens is we're gonna take the next four weeks of this series, and we're gonna deep dive into behavioral change, the science behind it, practical, how it meets with our spirituality.

But today we have to start with getting a picture of what our life is supposed to be.

Not from the outside in and the standards of the world, but from the inside out and who God has actually created us to be.

We have to start asking better questions.

The question is not, what do I want to change?

And this is the question that we start with resolutions.

What do I want to change?

What do I want to shift?

What do I want to see that's different?

And we're starting at the level of behavior, and we're basing those changes off the standards that the world has set for us.

The question is not, what do I want to change?

This feels slight, but it's everything.

The question is, who do I want to become?

The question is not what do I want to change?

The question is, who do I want to become?

One is a question of behavior, and one is a question of identity.

One is a question from the outside in, and one is a question from the inside out.

One will create short-lived, short-lasting change, and one will create deep, meaningful, long-lasting, fulfilling, purposeful, powerful change in your life.

Not what do I want to change, but who do I want to become?

It's time for us to get a grander vision for who we were created to be.

If you can see it, you can get on the path to be it.

If you can get the picture for the life you were created to live, then you can begin the process of being molded into the person God created you to be.

You have to see it in order to be it.

Today I want to take a moment to look at one of the heroes of the Bible.

We did a series on him at the end of 2019.

Uh, the man's name is Joshua.

And Joshua can be a little bit frustrating for people like me because it feels like Joshua just always gets it right.

It's like when after when after when.

And I'm sure he struggled sometimes.

I'm sure he was very human, just like the rest of us.

And he even really screws up in the book of Joshua, and that makes me feel a little bit better about myself.

But Joshua is like just, he's amazing.

And you know, he's in Egypt.

And we're in the Old Testament, the Jewish scriptures and God's chosen people in the Old Testament, the Israelites, the Jewish people, they're in slavery in Egypt, and God sends Moses and He uses Moses, and they escape slavery, and Joshua's there.

And of course, the miracle that there's been countless movies made about where the Red Sea parts and there's walls of water, and the Israelites walk across on dry land, and Joshua was there, and he was there in the wilderness, and he saw the miracles of God in the wilderness, and and Moses takes Joshua in and becomes his mentor, his right-hand man.

And finally they get like to the edge of the promised land, and God had already told them, I will give you this land.

And Moses sends in 12 spies, and of course Joshua's one of them.

They go in, and ten of the spies are afraid.

They look and there's huge armies, the men look like giants, there's fortified cities, and where they see opposition, Joshua sees opportunity.

And they were looking at the same thing.

But for the ten who were afraid, they were looking outside of themselves, and all they could see was the problem.

And because they could see the problem, all they could be was afraid.

But Joshua looked inside.

He looked at identity, he looked at the core of who Israel was, God's chosen people, and because he could see from the inside out, he could be faithful.

He could believe that God was already gone before them, was already fighting the battles, had already won the wars before they ever stepped in.

It was 10 verses 2.

Joshua, another man named Caleb were faithful.

The other ten were fearful, and because of their fear, God punished Israel.

They had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

In fact, the entire generation who was too scared to go in died off in the wilderness, except for Joshua and the one other faithful spy.

Not only did Joshua now get to go into the promised land, which is a huge deal, it's like another win for him.

He didn't just go in, he went in as the leader of the nation.

Right before Moses died, he talked to God.

In Numbers chapter 27, Moses said, May the Lord the God who gives breath to all appoint a man over the community who will go out before them and come back in before them, and who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the Lord's community will not be like a sheep without a shepherd.

Numbers 27 · chapter mention

This is a critical moment.

So Moses is asking God to appoint a new leader of Israel.

And God is about to show us what he looks at for the qualification of those that he chooses to use.

And the Lord replied to Moses, Take Joshua, a man who has the spirit in him.

Lay your hands on him.

And Joshua became the leader of a nation.

Joshua has an amazing resume.

I mean, he he has slayed the giants, he has defeated the armies, he has stayed faithful in the face of persecution and opposition.

He is Moses' right-hand man.

He has learned from Moses himself.

He has the huge resume, and God could have said, I want Joshua.

Pick Joshua.

Look at all of his exploits.

Look at everything he's done.

He is famous in the community.

Man, he is revered.

He has killed the giants.

He has led our armies to victory.

He could have laid out what Joshua has done, but instead he looks at who Joshua is.

Choose Joshua.

And he goes past all the superficiality.

And instead of looking from the outside in and making his choice, God looks from the inside out.

He says, Choose Joshua, who has my spirit in him.

And this is so important for us to understand.

I don't want to go by it too quickly.

Because oftentimes we are judging our lives and evaluating each other based on what our lives look like on the outside.

One time God was speaking to a prophet named Samuel, and he said this humans do not see what the Lord sees.

You do not see the world the way that God sees it.

It says, humans see what is visible.

And this is why we get stuck in the trap of measuring our life against the standard that society has set for us.

This is why we fall into the trap of trying to create change in our life from the outside in.

Humans don't see what the Lord sees, humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees past it.

He sees the heart.

He looked at Joshua and he saw a man whose identity was centered in who God has called him to be.

And it's difficult because this is a spiritual movement, but oftentimes spirituality is substituted out for something that's a lot more convenient called religion.

And religion is a lot more convenient because it can be written down in policies and rules.

And a lot of times in religion, we get in this trap of trying to impress God with the things that we do.

And we don't impress God with the things that we do.

God is impressed with who we are.

And so even the good things we do, sometimes we do it the wrong motive.

And sometimes our acts of spiritual service are our attempts to try and impress God as if He is measuring us the way that we measure each other.

We stop at the intersection, roll down the window, give the dollar.

Saw that right, God?

Saw that?

I was gonna go to the vending machine, but I just gave it away.

Did you see that?

And he sees.

He does see.

And he wants our faith to be exercised in acts of service and kindness to other people.

But he also sees your heart.

He sees why.

Are you giving it for approval?

Are you thinking about whether or not the suburban behind you is impressed?

Oh man, they're gonna see my meta church bumper sticker.

I bet they show up at church.

I mean, God, I'm not saying I brought him in church, you know what I'm saying?

I'm just saying there.

They're seeing me give the dollar.

They're probably gonna go to church.

That probably goes on my record.

It's fine, whatever, we'll figure it out later.

We're in an argument with our spouse.

You see that, God?

I let her win.

I mean, you and I both know she was wrong.

Let her win.

You saw that?

I spent a lot of my life trying to impress God with my works.

Appease God with my works.

Trying to like tip the scales.

And I was projecting on God the way of measuring that we measure each other in the world.

And God doesn't look that way.

One of the first times we see Joshua, uh, it's in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis chapter 33, it says, The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend.

Genesis 33 · chapter mention

And this is when they're in the wilderness, and Moses would go into a thing called the tent of meeting, and this is where the Spirit of God would hang out, and he would go in there and he would speak with God, and then Moses would leave the tent and return to the camp, and his assistant, the young man at the time named Joshua, would not leave the tent.

What does this tell us about Joshua?

Moses is a rock star, Moses is a superhero.

Moses is the guy that brought them out of 400 years of slavery.

And things weren't different back then.

We're clout chasers today, they were clout chasers back then.

They were trying to build their status.

You want to know a shortcut to build your own status?

Find someone with status and attach yourself to them.

Their status elevates your status.

Hang around with Moses.

And if Joshua is concerned with measuring himself based on the way the world sees him, when Moses leaves, Joshua leaves.

Of course he would.

He would walk out of the tent, arm in arm.

Oh hey, bro, did you see that?

I was in the tent with Moses.

Were you in the tent?

Probably not, but I was with Moses.

No big deal.

I've got his number.

We text each other sometimes.

It's pretty cool.

Of course.

Moses left, Joshua stayed.

It shows that he was not measuring his worth or value by the way that the world's standards are set.

He was measuring himself by how God sees him at the core of who he is.

And we want change in our life, but we often skip a step.

We go straight to behavioral change, and we're gonna spend some time on behavioral change in this series.

But before we go there, we gotta speak to our identity because maybe you do it.

Maybe you're like, I'm getting healthy this year, and you do it.

And it's like, man, I I stayed in the gym, I started going three times a week, I started going five times a week, I started going seven times a week, that wasn't enough.

I started going twice a day, seven days a week, no carbs, I'm on it, protein shakes, and man, let me tell you something.

If you haven't dealt with what's going on inside of you that is causing you to devalue yourself and to see yourself as less, and you think it's because you're not in good shape, and you don't deal with the identity issue, then you're gonna get to the end of the year and you're gonna be buff and you're gonna be healthy and you're gonna be in the best shape of your life, you're gonna have a whole new wardrobe, and you're gonna be just as miserable as you started.

And you're like, this is the year, I, you know, I'm gonna kick the addiction.

The addiction is a symptom.

And it's like, why are you taking the pills?

Why are you taking the hits?

Why are you downing the bottles?

Why are you surfing those sites?

And what could be more depressing than getting to the end of 2020 and you've dealt with the addiction, but you still feel just as much restlessness, as much discontent as when you started.

You're trying to work from the outside in.

You're answering the wrong question.

It's not about what we need to change, it's about who we are becoming.

And it feels like such a small shift, but it has such huge outcomes.

You know, one of the most common resolutions is to quit smoking.

Every year, millions of people, this is the year I'm gonna quit smoking.

And let me tell you the difference between answering the question, what do I want to change, and who do I want to become?

If you're trying to change something, then when someone inevitably offers you a smoke, you're gonna say, uh, no, thank you.

I'm trying to quit.

This is what I want to change.

If you're going deeper, if you're going from inside out, if you're addressing your identity, if you're going to the core, if you're answering the question, Who am I becoming?

Then when they offer you a smoke, you say, No, thanks.

I'm not a smoker.

It's a statement of becoming, it's a statement of identity.

It's not I'm gonna try to read a few more books so that I can get a little bit smarter.

It's I'm becoming a reader.

I'm not gonna try to keep the house a little clearer.

I'm becoming organized.

When we get to the root of our identity, things begin to shift, and change that takes place is real, long-lasting change.

Maybe this is the year that we start with what's inside.

That we really believe that you have to see it.

You have to see it if you want to be it.

You have to get the picture of what God is doing and where he's taking you and who you're becoming, and if you can see the picture, you can follow the process.

And it will unlock your purpose, it will unlock your power, your potential.

You will become an impactful person that lives with meaning, that's filled with peace, that's experiencing hope, that's expressing love.

It starts with asking the right question.

It starts with looking at change from the inside out.

And so we've saved a lot of time in service.

We did less songs, I wrote a shorter sermon, very, very difficult for me to do, and I uh I want I wanted some time in service for us to walk through an exercise.

I learned from Pastor Craig Rochelle about daily declarations.

And it's very simple.

This is a list of statements that we are making about who we are becoming, and it helps you see it.

It helps paint the picture of what God wants to do into your life, and these are positive affirmations of where you're going in life.

Positive affirmations of who God has created you to be.

And we're going to walk through them together.

Don't get in a hurry.

We're going to walk through them together.

And you've got a daily declaration in your seat, and you've got a pen that you can write with.

And if you're watching this online, you can get a piece of paper, you can plug it into your phone.

We're going to walk through some categories.

And once you have these, the ones that speak to you, you're going to write them down.

And here's how they work.

Day after day after day, morning after morning after morning after morning.

You wake up, you take your daily declarations, there's a reason they're called daily, and you speak them out loud over your life.

We're going to claim these truths about who we're becoming.

We're going to claim these truths about the power of God that's inside of us.

And let me just, let me just like address the elephant in the room, which is some of you don't want to do this.

And the reason I get that is because I'm you.

And if I'm in this room right now and I'm just attending this and I don't have any idea, I I don't want to do it.

It feels soft.

I don't know.

It's like I'm gonna wake up and like say positive things.

Like I'm not a freaking cheerleader, you know what I'm saying?

Like I'm not, I'm like, I got stuff to do in the mornings, you know.

This isn't, and you know what really started to shift how I thought about this is that I'm I'm so hesitant to wake up and say out loud, and it matters, to say out loud positive things about my life and my future.

But I bet I'm not alone in the room that I am so quick to speak negative things into my life.

And I am so quick to affirm negative narratives that have guided my life and taken me off trap.

And out loud we'll say all the time, it's just I'm just not good with money.

You're speaking that into your life.

Maybe I'm just not relationship material.

You're speaking that into your life.

I've just never been that smart.

I just don't know, I'm just kind of stuck.

Maybe this is as good as it gets.

Maybe this is the only job I can handle.

I just, you know, I'm not really like the parenting type.

I just kind of let my wife do that.

What happens is we try to be it, and we try to be it, and we try to be it, and we fail, and we allow that to be the conclusion.

I'm just not enough, not valuable enough, not worthy enough.

And if I can be so quick to speak negative things into my life, and to repeat false narratives, why wouldn't I have the courage to get up every morning and to speak the truth of God over my life and to claim it for my life?

It's time to change the narratives.

And they're just there are too many people who have decided I'm unworthy, I'm unworthy, I'm unworthy.

And and how many times have we gotten out of a meeting and gone back and sat at our desk and said out loud, God, I'm an idiot?

And we speak it into our lives, and another relationship doesn't work out, and we just say it out loud, maybe I'm unlovable.

And we see these patterns in our life, and it's like, why do you keep going to the same bar at the same time to be preyed on by the same vultures who just want to have sex with you?

And it's like, man, because I have convinced myself and told myself so many times I don't have any words, and it's the only time that at least they care enough to pick me up.

And what if you just woke up every day and you claim the truth of God that you are so worthy and so valuable that God would send a son who would change his life for yours, who would nail himself to a cross because that's how much you mean to him.

So we're gonna walk through these categories and we're gonna put some words to help you on the screen.

And the first one on your card is because of Jesus.

And this is where we have to start because it's gonna be very difficult for some of you to speak positive things about yourself.

And I think you need to hear what God thinks about you.

And every one of these comes straight out of scripture.

Because of Jesus, I'm a child of God.

A child of God.

And we love our children, and we try to be good parents.

We don't always get it right, but God always does, and he always loves, and he always pursues.

If these speak to you, write them down, expand on them, say more, say less.

For me, that this first piece is important because of Jesus.

I am forgiven of my past.

And and because of my role as a pastor, a lot of times I start feeling unqualified because of all of the times that I've screwed things up in my past.

And I've got to declare this over my life, or else that false narrative will start running my life and ruining my ministry.

I am forgiven and my sin has been removed.

As far as the East is from the West, I'm forgiven of my past, and I have purpose in my presence, and I believe there is power and potential in my future because of Jesus.

Because of Jesus, I'm alive.

I'm Christ's ambassador, I've got work to do.

There's a spiritual battle going on.

I hate my job, but there's a reason I'm going because I am Christ's ambassador, crying out to people to come to Jesus and find hope.

Because of Jesus, I'm a masterpiece, not a mistake, not a mess.

Not hastily slapped together.

A masterpiece.

If you can't believe it, you've got to write it down.

You've got to start declaring it over your life.

Because of Jesus, I'm chosen, I'm known, I'm loved, I'm free, I'm unashamed.

Because of Jesus, I'm strong.

And if you spend most of your life feeling weak, you need to wake up and declare this over your lives in the morning.

Because of Jesus, I'm fearless.

I'm secure.

Some of you are just hoarding everything you can get your hands on.

And you need more, and you need more money and more in the bank and more stuff and more vacations and more influence, and there will never be enough.

Until the day you learn that you are secure in the hands of the gods of the heaven, the God of the heavens and the earth.

Because of Jesus, I'm a new creation.

I'm not shaken.

I am born again.

And if any of them speak to you, write them down and add ones that aren't on there and expand on the ones and make it mean something to your life.

The next category is in my relationships.

Who are you becoming in your marriage?

In your parenting, in your friends, as a son, as a daughter.

This one matters to me because you guys know I have three kids and uh none of them share my DNA.

I have no biological kids, and in my relationships, I choose to be a father.

And some of you are step parents in the room, and you need to declare over your life that you're taking the step out of parenting, that you are going to love and cherish these kids as if they came from your own body.

I choose.

In my relationships, I lay my life down for my husband and my wife.

And how much more difficult it's gonna be to walk into breakfast and try to manipulate to get your way in a situation that is selfish to lift yourself up over your spouse when you wake up in the morning and declare that you're gonna lay your life down.

I'll serve my spouse with humility.

In my relationships, I lead my family to serve the Lord.

I'm a role model.

I'm trying to show them the love of their Heavenly Father.

In my relationships, I honor my parents and I cherish what they gave me.

And some of y'all just heard that line and said, eh, pass.

Bad parents, neglectful, shut off, abusive.

And some of you have a root of bitterness in your life over the way that you were raised, and its tentacles are reaching out and affecting and destroying every other part of your life.

And your parents didn't do anything, and they were crappy parents.

And let me tell you something: some of the greatest gifts you will ever get in life is the lesson of what you don't want to do and who you don't want to be.

And perhaps your parents were the very role model of what you don't want to become, that they've helped shaped you into the person that you are, and you can honor them for that.

And if you begin to honor them, then the root of bitterness will begin to disappear.

If you hold on to it, then you're allowing your crappy parents' authority into your life to continue ruining your life, even to this day.

In my relationships, I prioritize my kids above my own selfish purpose.

And morning after morning after morning after morning, if you declare that in your life, it's gonna become very difficult to continue working 80-hour weeks and only seeing your kids at bedtime.

In my relationships, I empower my friends.

I'm a sincere listener.

I care deeply.

I ruthlessly protect the people that I love.

What do you want to declare over your life?

At work, we spend most of our lives at work.

Is your time there gonna matter?

At work, I speak up for what is wrong.

No more staying silent about injustice, even if it costs you.

At work, I'm the hands and feet of Christ.

I'm focused, I'm fearless.

At work, I'm all in, but it is not my identity.

I give up my all.

Boy, I work hard, but I can lose my job without losing myself.

I can change careers without a midlife crisis.

I can get laid off and still thank God for who I am.

At work, I help all people succeed.

Yeah, I want to climb the ladder, but not on the backs of the people around me.

I look out for the needs of others.

At work, my contribution matters, even if it's never acknowledged.

At work, my vulnerability is my strength.

Because of Jesus and in my relationships, and at work, and now we go to God has gifted me.

There are some things inside of you that are unique to you, and those were created in you by God who's given you such a great purpose.

What are they?

God's gifted me to make a difference.

Man, some of you wake up and you feel that.

And it's like, man, you leave here on Sundays and you're like, man, I want to get up in the morning and I want to be the kind of person that my feet hit the floor, and man, hell starts shaking in its boots because I'm headed out.

But man, life gets hard and you get distracted.

And what if this became your identity?

What if you declared it over your life?

God's gifted me to lead courageously, to stop and to really see people, not the armor that they put up, not the facade, not the way that the world measures them, but to really see who they are.

That's a gift.

God's gifted me to influence, change.

He's gifted me to boldly share what God has done in my life.

Man, you don't have to be a preacher, you don't have to memorize the Bible.

You can go into the world and tell people your story.

What has God done to you?

How has He helped you?

How has He brought you peace?

God's gifted me to create an environment of hospitality.

Some of you are so focused on wanting to be the center of attention that you're missing out on the gifting that God has given you to create environments for other people to feel welcome and loved and to thrive.

It's a gift.

God's gifted me to empathize with the pain of others.

An incredible gift.

To be fearless in the face of opposition, to love those that's society's forgotten.

God's gifted me to make financially wise decisions.

Some of you have the mightest touch, everything you touch turns to gold.

Some of you make money in your sleep.

That's a gift.

How are you gonna use it?

God's gifted me to start businesses, to minister to men, women, teenagers, children.

We're gonna move into our last category, and it's our most difficult.

This is the category where our statements start with, I am.

And before we get here, let's remember where we started because of Jesus.

This is uh about who you're becoming.

And this is difficult because it might feel like you're bragging on yourself.

And don't get it twisted.

We're not bragging on ourselves.

We are bragging about the power of God inside of us.

Who are you?

If you're a leader, write down, I am a leader.

Declare it over your life because God needs leaders to step up and push his movement forward.

If you are a servant, say it.

You got a servant's heart, don't hold it back.

God sees it in you.

Declare it over your life.

This is an opportunity to speak truth to the false narratives that have been running and ruining your life.

Some of you, your whole life, you've been told you weren't smart, and you believed you weren't smart.

And it's so much a part of who you are that people can't even question you without you assuming they're calling you an idiot.

And you need to write down and you need to wake up day after day after day, and you need to declare, I am smart, I am intelligent, I am capable.

Some of you don't have any value, and you don't know that you're worthy, and you gotta write it down.

I am enough, I am loved.

Who are you becoming?

Some of you feel scared, and you need to write down that I am courageous.

And some of you feel devalued, and you need to write down that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

And some of you aren't sure if your whole life is just gonna be a reflection of your worst mistakes, and you need to write down, I am forgiven, I am more, I am a conqueror, I am and you wake up day after day and you say it out loud, and you declare it over your life, and when you declare it each morning, you wake up and you start by being able to see it.

You can see the picture of who you're becoming through what God has for you in this world.

You work from the inside out, and as you begin to change in the inside, the rest will take care of itself.

Would you pray with me?

God, we love you.

And I pray over these declarations, and I pray that we would have the courage to wake up day after day to say them over our lives.

I ask that you would give us just the clarity of mind to think through, to add as time goes on, to speak against the negative narratives that have crept in.

I pray for real, deep, long-lasting change.

We thank you.

And we love you.

And we pray it all in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks so much for listening to the message today.

If this was helpful to you and you want to help us get the word out, you can subscribe to this podcast.

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Man, I love you guys, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.