Rick Warren's Blog, page 520

Faithful People Are Generous

Faithful people are generous when they don���t have anything to give. Anybody can be generous when they have a surplus. I can be generous with my time when I���ve got a lot of extra time. I can be generous with my money when I���ve got a lot of extra money. I can be generous with my energy when I���ve got extra energy to spend. It���s when I don���t have enough time for me, enough energy for me, enough money for me, enough talent for me that God says, ���This is a test. I���m watching you to see if you are faithful. Will you be faithful, and will you trust me?���

God Uses Our Talents to Test Our Unselfishness

God uses our talents to test our unselfishness. You have to decide in life for whom or what you���re going to live. You���re either going to live a self-centered, miserly life or you���re going to live for something greater than yourself ��� the Kingdom of God.

Being Faithful in the Little Things

God uses little things to test your integrity. We think it���s the big things in life that create a leader ��� but no. The big crises in life reveal leadership, but leadership is not built in the big things of life. It���s built in the small things. That���s where integrity shows up ��� in the stuff that nobody sees, in the stuff behind the scenes, and in the small, unseen, unspectacular choices of life where you do the right thing even though nobody���s ever going to see it.

God Is Looking for Faithful People

The Bible tells us three things about the importance of faith.

Change Requires Honest Community

To change the unhealthy habits in your life, you need people who tell you the truth. You���re not going to get well on your own; you���re going to need other people in your life. You���re going to need support. You���re going to need a small group. Change requires honest community.

Change Requires the Holy Spirit

You need more power than just willpower in your life. You need God���s power in your life.

Change Requires New Thinking

Change in your life requires new thinking. The battle to change the unhealthy habits in your life is always a mental battle. It starts in the mind, and it���s won or lost there.

Change Requires Making Choices

It���s not enough to want to change. It���s not enough to desire to change. It���s not even enough to say, ���I have a dream of changing.��� Dreams are worthless unless you wake up and act on them. You���re not going to change until you choose to change.

Change Requires Learning the Truth

You will never change the things in your life that you know are unhealthy unless you learn the truth. Change requires learning the truth.

Not Sinless, but We Can Sin Less

We all have parts of our lives that simply don���t work. Nobody measures up to a standard of perfection. To pretend like we���ve got it all together when everybody knows we don���t is silly. In fact, the Bible calls it self-deception.

You will never be sinless on this planet, but it is possible to sin less. So why is it so hard to change stuff in us that we really don���t like?