Rick Warren's Blog, page 643

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, I don’t have enough energy for me, I don’t have enough money for me, I don’t have 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?”

Don’t Give Up!

The difference between faithful people and unfaithful people is unfaithful people give up at the first sign of difficulty. Faithful people keep on keeping on. Faithful people are determined. Faithful people are diligent. Faithful people are persistent. Faithful people don’t know how to quit. You know how a little acorn becomes an oak tree? An oak tree is just an acorn that refused to give up.

Faithful People Serve Others

God uses my talents to test my 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.

The Little Things Count

God uses little things to test your integrity. We think it’s the big things in life that create a leader — 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 of life. That’s where integrity shows up — in the stuff that nobody sees, in the stuff behind the scenes. In the small, unseen, unspectacular choices of life where you do the right thing even though nobody’s ever going to see it.

The Importance of Faith

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

Sin Leads to Relational Distance

The fourth result of sin is relational distance and discord.

In a perfect environment where there is no sin, you’re not going to have any conflict. But in a marriage where you take one person who’s imperfect and another person who’s imperfect, it cannot make a perfect relationship. It is impossible. You’re not going to have a perfect relationship. You’re going to have problems in any relationship.

Sin Causes Emotional Distress

The third result of sin is the area of your emotions. Sin causes emotional distress and disappointment.

Sin Has Damaged Everything

Nothing works perfectly. Because the entire human race has made poor choices …

Everything’s broken, and nothing on this planet works perfectly. Sin has damaged everything.

Why Is Life So Hard?

Everything seems to be a battle. Nothing is easy. The fact is, life is difficult.

So, why is life so hard in this world?

The Bible says rebellion against God broke everything.

Change Requires Honest Community

To change the defects in your life, you have to have people in your life 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.