Title: “Weapons of Mass Distraction”

Point 1: If you are a Born Again Believer, then you know that whatever fight you face, it's fixed. You win! You have the victory!

BUT...what keeps us from walking in our victory?
1. Ignorance of God's Word
2. Satan's weapons of mass distraction...

Point 2: In most cases, we have our victory right in front of us, but we’re busy being distracted rather than focusing on the victory.

1. Envy/Strife
2. Unforgiveness
3. Stubbornness
4. Complacency
5. Complaining

Main Study:

I. Envy & Strife

Envy = ill will, jealousy, self-absorbed, corrupt.

Strife = faction, provoke to strife, quarrel, ongoing debate

What was the distraction that took Jesus to the cross?

II. Unforgiveness

Toxic emotions can lead to serious health problems including... heart disease, impaired immune systems, heart attacks and strokes.
—Huffington Post Dr. Cynthia Thaik

III. Stubbornness

Stubbornness is traditionally defined as the resolute, often unreasonable adherence to one's own ideas, opinions, or desires, combined with a steadfast refusal to change. It is the trait of being highly unyielding, making a person or problem difficult to manage, move, or persuade.

Key Characteristics:

1. Unwillingness to Compromise: A tendency to dig in one's heels against outside input, advice, or rational argument.

2. Fixed Purpose: An innate, sturdiness in resisting change.

3. Physical Intractability: Inanimate objects, physical issues, or persistent problems that are hard to handle, manipulate, or overcome (e.g., a stubborn stain or a tight bolt).

Voltaire: "Stubborn and ardent clinging to one’s opinion is the best proof of stupidity."

An example of stubbornness and God's view of it:

IV. Complacency

Define Complacency: lukewarm, passive, slack, rut, stagnant, self-satisfied, smug, apathetic, hard-hearted, numb, callous, insensitive...

Some evidence and possible results of complacency:

1. Job Dissatisfaction
A 2025 study conducted in partnership with Gallup, the Families & Workers Fund, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute found that 6 in 10 American workers say their jobs are falling short. Additionally, Gallup's Q4 2025 data found that only 46% of U.S. workers are "thriving" — the lowest level recorded since Gallup began tracking worker wellbeing.

2. Christians & Daily Bible Reading
Good news here — the numbers have actually shifted! A February 2026 Lifeway Research survey of 2,130 Protestant churchgoers found that fewer than 1 in 3 (31%) say Bible reading is a daily habit — meaning roughly 69% of churchgoers still aren't reading daily. However, there's an encouraging countertrend: Barna's State of the Church 2025 report found that weekly Bible reading among self-identified Christians has climbed to 50% — the highest level in over a decade — after hitting a 25-year low in 2024.

3. Christians Sharing Their Faith
The shift here is sobering. Barna's 2025 data found that only 3 in 10 Christians (31%) strongly agree they have a personal responsibility to share their faith — a dramatic decline from 25 years of tracking. More than half of U.S. Christian adults (56%) now say their spiritual life is entirely private.

4. Marriage Satisfaction Decline
A 2025 study in the *Journal of Social and Personal Relationships* found that marital satisfaction begins declining within the first year of marriage and continues steadily — and up to 1 in 3 married individuals now report low satisfaction in their marriage.*

Oftentimes, we get to a place of comfort, stability, or even just enough and we sort set our life, our attitude, and even our faith on cruise control. Especially people who have been in the church for a long time.

V. Complaining

Complaining = un thankfulness

You contradict our faith when we complain.

Winners do not whine, they roar!!! —-Joel Mwakaskege

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. —— Helen Keller