Good Shepherd Community Church

Freedom from what hinders us: If you want to change your behavior, start with what you believe

“It’s not what you don’t know that will hurt you, it’s what you do know, that just ain’t so.”
~ Mark Twain

Paul’s language in this letter regarding the False Teachers is really strong

Why the strong language…why is False Teaching such a big deal to Paul?

Big Idea:
“If you want to change your life, you must identify and silence the lies that you believe, and replace them with the truth”

Where do beliefs come from? What we think, leads to what we believe, which leads to what we feel, which leads to what we do.

Man is the first creature God creates that requires instruction

God also designed humans with the ability to think

“Thoughts are basically what you have consciously learned and are aware of. Beliefs are deeper perceptions of life, truth, people, and reality. They are mostly perceptions that result from experiences. Beliefs are in your heart, which is why they can be such a mystery. Beliefs of the heart have an emotional and spiritual foundation. Thoughts people will argue about, beliefs people will die for.”
~ Michael Dye

“We do not live our life based on the facts of our existence (Thoughts), we live our life based on our interpretation(beliefs) of those facts.”
~ Paul Tripp

Emotions are born from our beliefs.

Our emotions lead us into our behaviors

“It has been my experience that Christians can be more difficult to work with than addicts. I think the reason for this is that even though many Christians are just as deeply wounded as many of the drug addicts, they are still functioning at a socially acceptable level. They use more socially acceptable addictions like anxiety, food, work, religion, and control to mask and cope with their pain.”
~ Michael Dye

Misinterpreting who God is

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
~ A.W. Tozer

“Nobody is more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you as much as you do.”
~ Paul Tripp

Lie Number 1: That we are not truly loved by God – Unconditionally loved and accepted

“As long as I keep running about asking: “Do you love me? Do you really love me?” I give all power to the voices of the world and put myself in bondage because the world is filled with “ifs.” The world says: “Yes, I love you if you are good-looking, intelligent, and wealthy. I love you if you have a good education, a good job, and good connections. I love you if you produce much, sell much, and buy much.” There are endless “ifs” hidden in the world’s love. These “ifs” enslave me, since it is impossible to respond adequately to all of them. The world’s love is and always will be conditional.”
~ Henri Nouwen

Lie Number 2: That God’s grace is not sufficient for us

Looks one of two ways:
- Either: I am too bad to be loved so I need to earn His love but will therefore never measure up
- Or: We are sufficient unto ourselves and are not really in need of God’s grace

First: What we believe about God effects what we believe about ourselves

“If we are not getting our identity vertically, then we will shop for it endlessly horizontally.”
~ Paul Tripp

Temptation 1: I am What I Do (Performance)

Temptation 2: I am What I Have (Possessions)

“Consumerism is our context, but consumerism is fast food, it masks our hunger for a few minutes but it does not nourish our deeper desires, it does not fill us with life and vitality to go on living the full life in this world…The evangelical church and the American dream had a child and we are its offspring”
~ Tyler Stanton

Temptation 3: I am What other People Think of Me (Popularity)

How do we silence the lies of the enemy, especially when they come from within?

Watch your life: What are you allowing to form you?

You have to know the truth, and preach it to yourself

“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?...Now [David’s] treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.”
~ Martin Lloyd-Jones