Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: When it comes to the kingdom of God, our serve is very important. You can't please God without getting good at dealing properly, correctly with people he loves. I say it a lot, but it bears repeating. Don't think you can love God and not care about people.

Guest (Male): Pay a visit to any local bookstore and here's what you'll find: hundreds of books on self-improvement and not nearly enough on self-denial. Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Sheppard. It's always a pleasure to have you here with us.

The Bible teaches us to take up our cross daily, to think of others as more important than ourselves. Study God's word closely, and you'll see that the key to self-improvement is, in fact, a life of self-sacrifice. Stay with us now to see what the life of service looks like.

To hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand, including today's, stop by pastorpaul.net. You also can subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts. Now, here's today's Destined for Victory message, Improving Your Serve.

Paul Sheppard: The 12th chapter of Paul's letter to the church at Rome, beginning with verse nine. If you have it, say, "I've got it." Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

I want to talk to you from the subject, Improving Your Serve. As we continue to explore this letter, we come to the ninth verse of chapter 12. In the earlier verses, we've seen that Paul has discussed three what I call governing principles for life in the will of God. The first is surrender to God. Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Surrender to God is the first governing principle if you want to live life in the will of God.

The second principle we saw is sober thinking about ourselves. Paul went on to say in verse three that we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, but we are to think soberly according to the measure of faith God has given each of us. We talked about the importance of sober thinking, getting yourself in perspective. If you want to please God, you've got to get right in terms of the way you think about yourself. There was a word there for both those who would tend to be conceited as well as for those who would tend to suffer with low self-esteem. We want to think soberly so that we're in the best position to be used of God to do the third thing.

The third governing principle for life in the will of God is service to others. We talked in the last couple of messages about the need to serve other people and to use the gifts God has given all of us. Don't try to be someone else because God didn't make you someone else; he made you, you. He will use you. He'll use the gifts he's given you. He'll use your style, your personality and temperament, your station in life, your socioeconomic standing, your career. He'll use everything that makes up who you are and what you're all about for his glory if you have yielded to him, if you're thinking soberly about yourself, and then make your gifts and callings available to God.

You can serve others in his name. That's what it's all about. Life in the will of God is about serving other people. God wants to bless you, yes, but he wants to bless more than you. He wants you to go to heaven, yes, but he doesn't want you going by yourself. He wants you to take a busload of folk with you that you influenced into the kingdom, you prayed until they got saved, you invited them to church, you shared your faith, you practiced evangelism of one form or another until they came into the kingdom. It is about serving people into the kingdom and serving them once they're in the kingdom, serving your brothers and sisters in Christ through the gifts and the callings that God has placed in your life.

With that background, we want to pick it up and realize that as he continues to talk about this matter of serving people, Paul gives us some practical pointers for serving others. I've likened it to improving your serve. Some of you perhaps play tennis, and so you know how important your serve is. Others play table tennis, and you know again how important your serve is. I never played regular tennis, maybe a time or two, but have never played it seriously. But I grew up playing serious table tennis. We would play until your arm was hurting.

The serve was very important. I happened to be very good, by the way, back in the day. I haven't played in years. Don't challenge me now because everything's rusty. But back in the day, I commanded my neighborhood. Folk came to my house if they wanted to be sobered in their thinking. Pray for me. But you know how important a serve is if you play table tennis or regular tennis.

When it comes to the kingdom of God, our serve is very important. You can't please God without getting good at dealing properly, correctly with people he loves. I say it a lot, but it bears repeating. Don't think you can love God and not care about people. That's a strange phenomenon that some people try to live, this whole business of "I love God, but I don't fool with people." Well, you've got to fool with people if you're going to love God because God loves people. He has sent you into the world as his ambassador, and you're not here just to show folk how much you love him; you're here to show folk how much he loves them. He loves them through you, and therefore, we're called to improve our serve.

What you see as Paul closes chapter 12 are a series of exhortations that give us some practical pointers for improving our serve when it comes to other people. Let me just throw a few at you for your consideration. First of all, the first practical pointer Paul gives us is to love people without compromise. He says in verse nine, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good." What does he mean by love must be sincere, hate what is evil, cling to what is good? You might think he's talking about two separate issues, but that would be better rendered to say love must be sincere as we hate evil while clinging to what is good.

There is a connection in Paul's mind as he writes this. Not two separate focuses, but one. He's talking about loving people, and our love, he says, must be sincere while at the same time we take our stand against what is evil. When he talks about what is evil, he means anything that's not good. We tend to have categories that the Bible doesn't necessarily speak about. We tend to put a lot of things between good and evil, like good intentions. I didn't do good, but I meant good. I didn't treat you right, but I didn't mean you any harm.

One of the worst things you can do is try to justify poor behavior by good intentions. Fact of the matter is, God has called us to serve people well, and that means to treat them properly. If we fall short, from time to time we fall short. I don't know anyone who hasn't fallen short. If you think you are the one who has never mistreated people, I won't ask you, let me ask the people in your life. You don't get to tell us whether you treat everybody right. The people you deal with get to tell us whether you treat them right: your husband, your wife, your children, your parents, your relatives that get on your nerves, your coworkers, not just the nice ones, the friendly ones, the ones you hang out at lunch with, but the ones that you see them coming and say, "Oh Lord, they're not sick today. I was hoping they'd caught a cold over the weekend."

Love must be sincere while hating what is evil and clinging to what is good. Meaning in God's economy, you do good by doing his will, and everything else is considered evil despite intention, despite the fact that it might not have been motivated from the heart. Mistreatment is evil because God's standard is for us to love people in the same way that he loves them, and he loves us and does right by us.

When you come short, there is grace. Thank God for grace. There's grace not only to be forgiven by God, but in many cases, there's grace to reconcile with people. Which means you have to be willing, and that's what the sober thinking about yourself is, that's why that's so important because you have to be humble enough to say, "I was wrong. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." If you are one of those people walking around this world who has never said those two words together, "I'm sorry," I suggest to you that there is no such thing as being in the will of God without at some point or another having to get things right with people. You don't get things right by making excuses; you get things right by saying, "I see what I did wrong. I'm sorry. I didn't see it, but I see it now. I'm sorry. Please forgive me," and you get right.

Guest (Male): Don't go away. The rest of today's Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard is coming right up. In John 8:32, Jesus said that the truth could set us free. That's why Destined for Victory is here: to share timeless truth for a victorious life and to show as best we can that Jesus Christ is exactly who he claimed to be. You can help keep these messages coming your way all year round by sending a generous gift today. Stop by pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. That's pastorpaul.net. Or call 855-339-5500. It's not always easy to hate the sin and love the sinner, but that's what God has called us to do. Now, let's listen closely to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, Improving Your Serve.

Paul Sheppard: And he says love must be sincere while hating what is evil, clinging to what is good. I'm calling this point, this practical pointer from Paul, loving people without compromise. Don't compromise when it comes to loving people. Don't love them in a wrong way, in a way that doesn't benefit them. So, you can have both the heart to love and the resolve to take a stand for good.

When he talks about hating what's evil, I submit that he's talking about hating what's evil in us as well as in other people. Not just in other people. "I love you, but I hate what you do." Well, before you go there, have you taken a good look at yourself? Remember Jesus said on one occasion that you don't want to try to get the speck out of your brother's eye until you've gotten the log out of yours. It's important that we understand that if you want to step to someone with correction, do it in the spirit of meekness, Paul said in Galatians chapter six. In the spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Meaning I don't want to step to you with a holier-than-thou attitude, even when I want to confront you about what is evil, your mistreatment of me or other people.

I want to make sure that I'm coming in the grace that I myself stand in. I'm the product of grace. You're the product of grace. You're not getting what you deserve, and never ask for it. You're the product of grace and mercy. And so, as we love people, we love them in the grace and mercy in which we stand. So, there is such a thing as taking your stand against evil in your own life and in the lives of others. This is a love that can at times be confrontational when necessary, a love which can be tough when necessary. Parents have to exercise that sometimes, tough love. "I love you, but no." Some folk don't know how to say "love" and "no" in the same breath. But get used to it because the love some people write, you have to draw the line and say, "This is it. This is where I take my stand."

You have to do it in lots of different types of relationships where you make sure people do not mistreat you. Hate what is evil. If someone is disrespecting you verbally, physically, or in any other way, then you take your stand and you say, "This is not appropriate. I will not stand for this." It has nothing to do with not loving you, but I can love you in Christ and at the same time take the stand against evil in your life just like I take it against evil in my own life.

He says the key to hating what's evil is to cling to what's good. I submit that if you cling to what's good, that becomes your focus. I think about what is good. I strive for what is good. I seek to do what is right. I think about it. In Philippians four, Paul said, "Think on these things. Whatever is good, think on these things." So, you want to cling to what's good by letting that be the focus of your life. When I wake up in the morning and worship God and thank him for another day and pray my day, one of the things I want to do is say, "Lord, as I go through this day, help me to keep my mind stayed on you and on those things that please you so that I live with a God-consciousness."

If you live more with a God-consciousness than a people-consciousness, you'll be further down the road toward pleasing God. You focus on him. "Lord, how do you want me to interact with this person? How do you want me to deal with those folk on my job? How do you want me to deal with my family holiday celebration and reunion and barbecue and whatever it is that you've got going on?" You know who's coming over, Jesus, help me now. You focus on what's good. I want to please God with my heart as well as with my words and with my actions.

This is the Greek word agape. This is unconditional, sacrificial love. This is the love that reflects the nature of God. In verse nine of Romans chapter 12, he's talking about the love that emanates from the heart of God. Love must be sincere, agape. This is a love that is not because of; this is a love that can handle in spite of. "Because of" love won't get you very far when it comes to pleasing God and serving others. Because that means you would end up just serving folk you like, just serving folk who don't get on your nerves. If you haven't learned it yet, you'll learn very quickly that that's a smaller group than the other one. There are a lot of people who have idiosyncrasies you don't like, personalities you may clash with. You're quiet, and they're way too loud for you. You're talkative, and they're way too quiet for you. You are positive and optimistic, and they are way too negative and pessimistic for you.

There are lots of things that would cause you to not deal with certain people were it not for the grace of agape, the love which God gives to us and which he can shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit so that you can love people with the love he has given to you. It's an in-spite-of love. It's sacrificial. It's not because of. It's not "I love you if." "I love you if you treat me right. I love you if you don't get on my nerves." "I love you," and that's the bottom line. That's agape.

If you don't have it, then you go before the Lord and say, "God, I want to reflect your love because it's the one that you have called me to serve others from. It's the foundation of service." I serve to benefit those that God loves. I serve to bless them. If I get anything out of service, that's the byproduct. But the motivation is I want to please God. God loves people, has placed me in the world to bless others in his name. And so, what I get out of it, a lot of times we talk about service to be personally fulfilled. Well, thank God there is fulfillment in service, but that needn't be my primary motivation. My primary motivation is, "Lord, I want to serve others until you're happy, until I have done that which pleases you." So, that requires that you have the love of God. You operate by agape, the love of God.

That ought to be the foundation for marriage. Across the years, I've told singles looking to get married, don't just marry because of. You've got to marry in spite of. We're losing our way because we've thrown out the compass. The word of God is the compass. The word of God says that agape is to be the foundation for marital relationship. It's in spite of, not just because of. It's unconditional. It's sacrificial. It's "I love you and there's nothing you can do about it. I love you when you are getting on my nerves." Married people can attest there will be times when they will get on your nerves. You singles don't understand it because you might be in that kind of love that just ignores people, ignores the things about them you don't like. You ever been in that kind of love, that kind of infatuation? That's not legit.

It's fine, but I'm just saying it's not good enough to marry someone because of. Because sometime soon after the honeymoon, and perhaps on the honeymoon, you will begin to see things that were there all along, but your infatuation blinded you. One old saint I grew up around said love is blind, but marriage is an eye-opener. Marriage gets your eyes open. You say, "Oh Lord, was that there all along?" Your friend said, "Yeah, tried to talk to you, you wouldn't listen to anybody." The way to make your marriage work is you've got to make sure you're rooted and grounded in God's love, which can and does draw lines and say, "Listen, this is inappropriate. This is not treating me correctly," but it doesn't change love. I can love you and hate what is evil while clinging to what is good all at the same time.

You want to pray that God will bless you to really live out and reflect his love. Again, this comes largely through your focus. He said, "Cling to what is good." You've got to focus on God and his will and his purpose. That's your focus. You put what is evil to your back; you put what is good to your face, and you focus on that which is good. You spend more time thinking about that which pleases God than anything else. Praying about that which pleases God, reading the word and allowing God to transform you and renew your mind. So, he says we must love people without compromise. Take your stand when people in your life are living in sin. You can love a sinner while hating the sin. It is possible. I take my stand against the sin. I do not participate in the sin. I do not condone the sin. But I can still love the sinner. In fact, that's the only way to reflect the love of God because that's exactly what God did with us. While we were sinners, Christ died for us. He did the best thing he could for us when we were in the worst possible condition. While we were sinners, while we hated him, he loved us. And so, since that is what brought you into the family of God, it stands to reason that that is how God calls you to deal with the other people in your life.

Guest (Male): You know, it is possible to hate the sin and love the sinner. God has given you that ability through the power of his Holy Spirit. We can be in the world but not of it, which means we can give people a hug without embracing all of their choices. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory. Remember any of our recent messages, including the one you heard just now, are available on demand at our website pastorpaul.net. While you're there, be sure to check out our online store for some great resources to help you grow in your Christian faith, including books and video messages from Pastor Paul Sheppard. That's pastorpaul.net.

If you haven't already downloaded our free mobile app, now's a great time to do it. Search Destined for Victory at the App Store and listen to these messages on demand. That's the Destined for Victory mobile app. Download it today, absolutely free. And before we leave you, I want to let you know about a brand new resource that goes along with the message you just heard, and we want to share it with you when you make a generous gift to Destined for Victory. It's our booklet, Improving Your Serve. If you want to develop a lifestyle of service and follow in the steps of Jesus in the process, you'll want to get yourself a copy of this great resource today. That's Improving Your Serve, our gift to you for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. Or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: Promote the good news more than you denounce the bad news. There are things you take your stand against. There are things you denounce. No, this is wrong. But the good news is Christ loves us, he died for us.

Guest (Male): That's next time in our continuing message, Improving Your Serve. I hope you'll join us. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.