We Love People // Built Different : Colossians Week 2

So, thank you so much. Those of you who are aware and know, thank you so much for praying for Karen. Karen is my wife. She's gone through some challenges lately, and those of you who are aware of that, been praying, thank you. Just a quick update. They released her from the hospital on Friday. She is now, she's in a rehab now. We're praying for clarity and physical strength. So if you can continue to pray, we'd appreciate that. And I believe Karen and Kelly are watching this morning, so good morning. Glad you're watching. All right, so we're working our way a little bit through the book of Colossians and studying a little bit in Colossians, and Pastor is highlighting to us our core values here at Calvary Church. Core values, what is that about? Core values are those things that we want to value the most and make sure that we put into practice in what we do, because those are the things that create the environment or the culture in which we do church, the way it feels here. You know, there's different amusement parks. If you go to Walt Disney World, there's a particular feel, there's a culture there. If you go across town to Universal Studios,

it's an amusement park, but it feels different, different culture. If you go to Six Flags up here, it feels a little different because the culture, what they value, how they work things out is different. So here at Calvary Church, Pastor did such a great job last week talking about we love God. That's our first core value, love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And when we do, we put Jesus in the center of our life and everything revolves around Jesus. No matter what it is, you and I live for Him, for His pleasure, so we manage all these other areas. Wasn't that a great message last week? Come on, it's good stuff. So thank you, Pastor, for that. Today, we want to emphasize we love people, which is our second core value. Won't you stand with me? We're gonna read a couple of verses, Colossians chapter three, verse 12 and through 14. They'll put them up for you, follow along as we read. It says this, therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone else, forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love,

which binds them all together in perfect unity. Hey, if you would, and it's in your heart to do it, would you pray something like this? Dear God, thank you for your word. Give me ears to hear, mind to understand, heart to receive it, and the will to obey it. In Jesus' name I pray, amen, amen. God bless you, you can be seated. Well, it really is both our sincere desire and our disciplined effort here at Calvary Church to love all people, to love people, no matter where they're coming from, what their culture, whatever battles or struggles or disappointments or difficulties they bring with them. Now, how many of you know we all got some baggage? Are you with me? It's our desire and our disciplined effort to truly love all people. But how many of you would admit with me that it's not always easy to love everybody for two simple reasons. Some people are just not all that lovable. Not looking at anybody, why would I say that? Some people are just not that lovable, and the other side of the coin is, I just don't always feel like loving them. Come on, how about you? Let's just be honest. So that's where the disciplined effort part comes in. But we wanna love people, genuinely love them.

In fact, Jesus actually commanded us to love people. That's interesting. In fact, he said, look, unbelievers, pagans, they don't even know God, they love people who love them. You're not doing any big thing when you do that. He says, you should even love your enemies, people who persecute you and hate you and do evil to you. I want you to love them too, and that's a command that I'm giving to you. I mean, you say, that's pretty tall order. And yet the Lord has commended us. So the question today is simply this, how on earth do we possibly do that? How do we love people when they're not lovable? We don't really feel like being loving. Before we begin to answer that question, let's qualify, let's define what exactly did Jesus mean when he told us to love everyone, even our enemies? Did he mean that we should always have a warm, fuzzy, good, sentimental affection for? every single person. Is that what I command you to feel good about all people? Come on, say no, somebody. Aren't you glad? Come on. No, that's not what he meant. As a matter of fact, we could be feeling not good at all. We may not feel affection, but we can still genuinely love people.

Well, what's the difference? When the Bible talks about loving, when Jesus was talking about loving, he was saying that we should intentionally focus our thoughts on those individuals, to think about them and where they're coming from, what they're going through, and then say or do what is in their highest and best interest at that moment in time. Or I could say it like this. Loving people means we do for them or say to them what is most important at the present moment to enable them to fulfill God's purpose and God's will for their lives. You see, that's what we're about. That's why Jesus is in the center and that's why everything revolves around him. You and I live to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. And so whether it's our marriage, our kids, our coworkers, our money, whatever it is, what are we doing? We're willing to help other people in their highest and best interest that they would come to know Christ, that God would fulfill his purpose and will for them so they can experience the eternal and abundant life that's a result of the spirit of God working in and through them. Are you with me so far?

See, that's why Jesus loved the Pharisees the way he did. He said, you guys are a bunch of snakes. You're whitewashed tombs. You're full of dead men's bones. Somebody said, well, that doesn't sound very loving to me. Well, the fact of the matter is that was the most loving thing Jesus could do for them because they thought they were righteous in and of themselves. They thought because of their religion, because of the rituals they went through, because they tried to keep all of the rules. They thought they were righteous and good enough for God. And for Jesus to point out to them in a way that would quicken and convict them deep in their soul to know that they were not right with God no matter how hard they tried that they would need to repent and trust Christ so they could be perfect in the sight of God. And Jesus loved them enough to tell them what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. How many of you have discovered the Lord does the same for you? The Lord tells me what I need to hear. He doesn't always tell me what feels good. The Lord sometimes will allow things into my life, difficult things. He may do something to bring about something in me so that I realize my desperate need for Him and to continue to cling to Him.

And so He says what we need to hear. He does what we need because He loves us enough that He wants us to experience the full life of His purpose and will as we turn to Him and the full life of the Spirit, the full abundant life the Spirit brings to us is not always about our physical comfort or material well-being. You and I are very focused on that. But the truth of the matter is that it's primarily our spiritual well-being. It's our character development. It's who we are and our becoming. And the Lord works to fulfill all of that in us. And sometimes He may correct a little or allow some difficult things. Let's just be honest, life can be really painful at times. Can I get an amen? We just worshiped a few minutes ago. We sang a song that said, from you are all things. And in our minds, we're thinking, yeah, the good job, the great car, the wonderful spouse, health, are you with me? We're not thinking, oh, that problem I'm experiencing, that challenge I'm going through, that illness that I'm facing. Is God sovereign? Does God love us? Worthy of it all?

From you are all things to you are all things. And so the life of the Spirit, as God develops us for eternal life in heaven, that this life is not all there is. He's grooming us, drawing us in, developing us for eternity, making us more like Christ. Are you with me so far? Here's the point right now that I'm trying to make. Here's the single point. Loving people is not about having sentimental feelings for them. It's about disciplining ourselves to say or do. what they need to hear at this present time for their highest and best to fulfill the will of God and the purpose of God for their life. With that foundation then, how do we go about, how is it even possible to love all people, even those who are being harsh to us or difficult around us? Well, this text tells us, if you notice in verse 12, it says that we should remind yourself of who you are. Here's where you start. You start by reminding yourself of who you are as a follower of Christ. It says in verse 12, therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves. In other words, there's lots of, who are we as followers of Jesus? Well, we can say a whole lot of things.

In this text, it gives us three specific ones to focus on. Number one, you're chosen. That is, you have been specifically chosen by God. You're highly valued. You're intentionally chosen as a member of the Lord's team. Out of the billions of people on planet earth, the Lord Jesus Christ looked down through the corridors of time and he picked you to be a part of his specific team at this specific time in 2026 and what God's doing at Calvary Church in and through this church. How many of you, did you ever play sports and you'd bring your kid out in the neighborhood and you'd pick teams? Anybody ever do that? You know what I'm talking about? And there was always that one kid at, you know, I'll take him, I'll take him, I'll take him, I'll take him, and it came down to that one kid and the guy said, you take him. No, you take him. How many of you were that kid? Never don't, don't answer that. And why did they say that? Well, because the kid brought absolutely nothing to the table, are you with me? As a matter of fact, they probably were detrimental to the team at times, right?

Well, guess what? Spiritually speaking, you and I are that kid. We bring nothing to the table. We bring nothing that will do what anything God wants. And yet you're God's first round draft pick because he looked down through the corridors of time, saw all of the stupidity and the difficult things and the sin, and yet he chose you, called you, and drew you to Christ, and he made you part of his team as his first round pick. Hallelujah, come on somebody. That's what I'm talking about. And so it says in Ephesians chapter one, verse four, for God chose us in Christ before he created the world. Praise the Lord. Knowing all that you would be and do, he picked you. You're chosen this morning. And then not only that, verse Ephesians one, four says, he chose you for what reason? To be holy and blameless in his sight. You are holy. You are completely pure and acceptable in the sight of God. You've been set apart for his special purpose and for his pleasure. It tells us in verse three that you died with Christ, that your life is hidden with Christ in God. It tells us in verse one, you've been raised with Christ. Verse nine says you've taken off your old self and you put on the new self, which is being renewed in the image of Christ.

You know, the fact of the matter is, here's the bottom line. God actually likes you. Sometimes I look in the mirror, I don't even like myself, but God actually likes you. He likes being with you. He wants to be close to you. He loves hanging out with you. He simply wants to be in relationship with you and you don't have to do anything for God to see you as holy because Christ did it all for you. The blood of Jesus was sacrificed. He's covered you with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and you're holy in whose sight? Whose side are you holy in? You may not be holy in my side. You may not be holy in your spouse's side. You may not be holy in somebody else's side, but bless God, it doesn't matter because the creator, sustainer of the universe says you are holy, I accept you, you are perfect, and I love you and I'm with you all the time. You have been set apart for my purpose and pleasure. God wants to be close to you all the time. Colossians 1 puts it like this, verse 22. But now God has reconciled you by Christ's physical body. Reconciled, brought you into relationship. He did it through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation. Not even Satan, who the Bible calls the accuser,

can accuse you successfully because you are completely clean, pure and holy. holy, without sin, in the sight of God, in terms of your standing a relationship with Him. And not only that, but He picked you and set you apart for some specific purpose and made you and created you in a unique way that no other person on this planet can fulfill. He chose you because He made you who you are. Psalm 139, 14, and 15. I love, David kinda sounds like he's bragging, but he's really not, he's bragging on God. When he says, Lord, you knit me together in my mother's womb. Have you ever watched somebody knit something? You know, they got the yarn out there and they're doing it. Have you ever watched somebody knit? It's always amazing to me how they actually create something, you know, little booties or something. That's an amazing thing to me. I did not get that skill or patience right there, I'm telling you. The Lord knit you together in the mother's womb. He created it, and he says, David says this, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Have you looked in the mirror and said, thank you, God, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. During the first service, this is so great, I wish we could replay that somehow. There's a little girl up here, her name was Jade.

When pastor told her name as Jade, and Jade meant beautiful, and when he said that, her face lit up like a light bulb. Why? Because she heard who she is. Remind yourself of who you are. You've been chosen, God selected you. He has set you apart for a very special purpose and reason in this generation at this time. Whatever you're going through, whatever your difficulty, whatever baggage or pain has come into your life. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2, verse nine, you're a chosen person, a royal priest, you're part of a holy nation. And then listen to this, you are God's special possession. Why are you his special possession? Let's go over what it says. That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness, out of deception and lies and error and sin into his wonderful light, his truth and righteousness. I love the New American Standard translation of that text, because I feel like it really gets to the heart of the Hebrew words there. It translates like this. You're God's special possession so that you may show forth the excellencies of him who called you. Show forth, not just speak it, not just sing it, not just say it, but actually you will be dressed in the excellencies of God in your words

and how you live and what you do so that you are showing forth. You're displaying the character and the majesty of God. That's what he called you to. That's what it means to be a Christian. Being a Christian doesn't mean we just get to go to heaven or have lots of financial or wonderful blessings in life. It means we get to be clothed with the character of God and show forth who he is and let people see his beauty and his wonder in all of our pain and all of our suffering, all of our trials, all that Jesus would shine through us. That's what it means to be a Christian for God out loud. You guys gotta settle down. You're just like too worked up for me. Come on. You've got a specific calling. And then thirdly, he says, you are dearly loved children. Not just loved, you're a dearly loved child of God. Not just a servant, not just a tool, not just a worker, no, a precious, deeply and profoundly and totally loved child of God. One of my favorite verses, Zephaniah 317. In that verse, the Lord speaks to Israel. And if you know the history of Israel, you know they were just, you know, they were idolatrous and fell away from God and all the rest of it and God punished them. In Zephaniah 317, the Lord spoke and he says, the Lord, your God is with you. The Lord, your God is with you.

Somebody needs to hear that today. The Lord, your God is with you right now. And he is the mighty warrior who saves. He will take delight in you. He'll rejoice over you with singing. You ever been driving down the road and some song comes on the radio and reminds you of the person that you're romantically in love with. And you just start singing that song. You can't carry a tune in the bucket. You say, but you're singing up a storm. Because why? Because that song just, you love that person so much and you're just singing. God sings over you. He is singing over you with delight because he loves you. And he is singing a song that he himself sings over you as your father. He's qualified. you to share in the inheritance of the holy people in the kingdom of light it says in Colossians 1 12 and nothing that this life or the life to come can separate you from God or his love nothing will change his opinion of you or his desire to be close to you and fulfill you and enjoy you as his child you are dearly completely eternal love by God nothing can separate you and you say well that's great pastor I love that but what does this have to do with loving other people it actually has everything to do with it have you ever gotten on a plane to go anywhere like a commercial flight how many of you have been on a commercial plane let me see your hands you remember you get on and

they do the whole speech thing right and they tell you hey by the way if the plane starts crashing in the air sick sucked out of here these things are gonna drop down how many of you know I'm talking about just makes you feel so secure at that moment these things are gonna fall down and when they fall down what do they tell you put your own mask on because if you're like sucking air and dying you can't help anybody else you and I've got to remind ourselves of who we are put our own mask on first so that we can love people with the love of God not out of our own human nature not out of our ability not because we're strong enough not because we feel like it but because we're sucking the air of the Holy Spirit and he's pouring down into us and we're just loving people with the strength that God gives us we can't even do it in our own strength and the Lord does not expect us to we've got to remind ourselves of who we are and so you can make some just when you get up tomorrow morning just start saying some things yourself you know as soon as your eyes open hey I'm chosen I'm chosen to go get a cup of coffee right at this moment I'm a child of God I'm the temple of the Holy Spirit hallelujah I'm the righteousness God I am holy start telling yourself who you are and begin to watch as the Spirit of God lights up your face as you go forward number two we got to go quick as we're doing that what do we do we continue to ask for and receive by faith continue circle that word to ask for and receive by faith circle that word the presence and the creative work of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit lives in you if you've trusted Christ he's not going anywhere but the truth of the matter is there's this ongoing empowering that the Holy Spirit as he comes upon us with a fresh empowering Jesus as we seek the Lord Jesus and ask him to fill us again for today's opportunities and today's challenges there's a renewing and a strengthening in the moment because the Lord loves us and cares for us and he's with us for those you don't know so my wife had an encounter and ended up in the hospital trauma unit for a number of number of days she was out for like five days so as I'm walking around in there about the third or fourth day in there I was pretty tired I got to be honest with you emotionally tired and just kind of

drained and so as I began I've just walking around her bed and as I walked around her bed I just began to pray underneath my breath I just began to pray in tongues and just thank the Lord and bless it and then it wasn't it wasn't 30 seconds till I started feeling better I started feeling stronger I started feeling the strength and the energy I needed at that moment why because in him I live and move and have my being and if I will ask in faith and I'll refine on the Lord he'll pour into me the strength that I need for every challenge that I face every relational difficulty every financial problem every illness everything we go through our Heavenly Father who loves us is going to use it for our good but we've got to walk in faith and reliance on him not try to do it on our own can you give me an amen so keep asking and keep seeking I know this text doesn't say that but it's implied in the text where you say it's implied in the virtues that we're supposed to put on all of those virtues compassion kindness humility gentleness patience those are the character qualities of the Spirit of God himself we don't have those things in our own human nature pastor said I believe in this service John 15 5 apart from me you can do nothing we're we're just we're just the branches we're not divine but as you and I learn to depend on the Lord and keep praying he flows his his compassion his grace his gentleness his strength his understanding through us so that we can put on what He's putting in, but we ask for him to put in and empower so we can put on. Are you with me? It's a partnership with the Lord that you and I are walking through. He doesn't do it all. We don't do it all. We rely on him. He strengthens us. We do what he's asked us to do. Are you with me so far? I got on the elevator the other day, going back up to the room.

When I stepped on lady by the buttons, the elevator is kind of packed. She's a lady by the elevator. She says, going up. And I said, yes, I am. And I plan on going up later too. Everybody kind of chuckled. And the lady next to me had one of those little Jesus's on her key ring. She said, well, you're going to need a little Jesus. And I said, bless God. I don't want a little Jesus. I want all of the Jesus I can get. I want as much Jesus as he'll give me. I want it all. Elevator went quiet. Nobody said a word. The rest of the way up, get this guy off of here. Come on, somebody. How many of you want more than a little Jesus, man? I want that great big Jesus sitting by the right hand of the father who is sovereign and control of all things and all situations who never leaves me nor forsakes me. I want that Jesus. And I want all of him. I could get. Hallelujah. Settle down. Here we go. Number three. You got to intentionally act to love others in the practical ways they need to be loved.

I'd love to, if I could do it again, I'd switch these words. I would say this, act intentionally, think, be thoughtful, be considerate, act intentionally how to love others, how in the practical ways they need to be loved. If you're self-centered and self-focused, you will never love people. If you're always thinking about you, always thinking about your schedule, always thinking about your feelings, always thinking about what it'll cost you, you'll never love people. That's why we put our mask on first, that we're loved. We're taken care of. It's going to be okay. I don't care what problem I'm going through. I can still love people because I'm loved. And so we put our mask on, we act intentionally. We're loved. And so we put our mask on, we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit, and then we thoughtfully think about others. Look at verse 14. And over all these virtues, he says, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. In other words, love encompasses, if I gave you one big present and it had a whole bunch of little presents in it, the big present I'm giving you is love. And inside of that is compassion, and gentleness, and kindness, and all. You get it, right? It binds them together. So we cannot always put on a feeling of affection. We can't always put on a feeling of warmness, but we can always intentionally act for the highest and best interests of other people to help them really come to know the Lord. And the Spirit lives within us to produce these virtues, and we just put them on. Put on, dress yourself.

Don't be like the little girl or the little boy who wants to wear their Halloween costume all the time. Don't be like the little girl who wants to wear that princess gown all the time, even when it's not appropriate. Don't be like those people who wear their pajamas to Walmart for crying out loud. Sorry, I shouldn't have said that one, but that just bugs the daylights out of me. Come on, somebody. They got their house shoes on and pajamas at Walmart. I'm old enough, I would say, are you kidding me? Come on. Okay, that was a rant. I will not do that anymore, I'm sorry. Just couldn't help it at that moment. Forget I said it, I'm going to bleep that part right out of there. If you're one of those people, forgive me, I didn't mean to offend you. Dress intentionally. Dress intentionally to love people. We all have our comfy clothes. We all love wearing our comfy clothes. As soon as I get home, man, I put on my comfy... Listen, don't wear your comfy clothes all the time. It's just not appropriate. Get over yourself, love people, and dress appropriately. So, these things real fast, we'll do these real quick. Look at it. How do we do it? Look at that. Extend compassion rather than judgment. Extend compassion rather than judgment. You know, Jesus told us to judge not that we be not judged.

Now, do we evaluate, do we assess, are we blind to reality? No. To judge is to condemn someone, to put someone down. It's that air of... Arrogance that says, I can't believe they do that. I wouldn't do that. Yeah, right. You do, you just don't even know you're doing it. So don't judge, he says, don't come at people with judgment first. You can assess a situation and see what reality is, but people don't respond well to judgmental attitudes or rebuke initially. They respond to love initially. Then you can come later on with the truth. Does that make sense? Remember the Good Samaritan, we all love that story. Well, Jesus himself was really a picture of that. We were bleeding beside the road and couldn't live and Jesus picked us up when all the religious people were passing us by. I love Matthew chapter 15, verse 32. In this text, Jesus has been teaching for several days, crowd is following him and they're in a quote, they're in a desolate place, they're out in the desert. There's not a Chick-fil-A within a hundred miles. No McDonald's, no Taco Bell. Taco Bell, God help us, come on somebody. They cannot buy food, there's no place to get it. Matthew 15, 32, Jesus called his disciples to him

and he said, listen to Jesus. I have compassion for these people. They've already been with me for three days and they have had nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry or they may collapse on the way. Listen, Jesus had compassion for these people even though he knew they weren't seeking him for the right reason. Are you with me? Yes. He fed 4,000 plus out of compassion for them because they could not take care of themself at that moment. He cared for their physical need and their hunger and he nourished them because they were in a desolate place and couldn't meet their own need at that time. Now, fast forward into John chapter six, similar situation and the crowd comes to him and says, we want you to do another miracle. You know, Moses gave manna and Jesus said, you're not looking for me because you believe in who I am. You're looking for me because you want another free meal. You just want me to bless you physically and he refused to feed them. Now, what's the difference? The difference was in the first instance, they were in a desolate place where they could not buy food and in the second place, they were right next to Capernaum and there's lots of Chick-fil-A's and Wendy's all over the place.

Listen, the Lord will never take away your responsibility and he doesn't want you to take other people's responsibility away, but he does want you to have compassion because you could be in the same boat, but for the mercy and grace of God to you. So whatever it is you have a tendency to judge other people on, be careful, the scripture says that you don't fall into it yourself. Are you with me so far? We'll do these last two real quick. Express kindness rather than criticism. Listen to the definition of kindness. It's the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. So when I come to church and I don't feel good and things are going on in my life, am I friendly, generous and considerate or am I looking for somebody I can dump my woes on, complain about and tell them just how cold and miserable it is outside after all? Are you with me? Intentional, so we're acting intentional with kindness. People don't need criticism first, they need kindness first. Aren't you glad that it's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance? And even when we speak truth, listen, speaking the truth and showing compassion are not mutually exclusive.

Jesus showed compassion to people, but he also spoke the truth with kindness. Neither do I condemn you. Now go and leave your life of sin. Are you with me? So kindness, thirdly, evaluate others with humility rather than arrogant superiority. I don't know what it is about you and I that we can look down on others. It's our human nature and sin. Romans 12 three says, don't, it says, therefore do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but think of yourself with sober or accurate judgment in accordance with the measure of faith you've been given. The measure of faith he's talking about there is the word of God and the gospel. Think about yourself. rightly in relationship to God, in relationship to people. You have some strengths, but guess what? You have some weaknesses as well. We all have a role to play, we all need other people. He says, think about yourself rightly, because after all, Jesus humbled himself and became obedient even to death on the cross. Are you with me? We're following Christ. And then engage with gentleness rather than harshness. I love 1 Peter 3, 15 and 16.

It says in that text, it's about witnessing and sharing the gospel. It says, in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord and always be prepared to give an answer, to tell people who ask you, why do you have hope? What's the reason for your hope? But do this, he says, with gentleness and respect. Oh, how I wish some Christians on Facebook would read that verse. Gentleness and respect for that person. Proverbs says, a gentle answer turns away wrath. Philippians says, let your gentleness be evident to all in every circumstance. When that person who's supposed to be a helper in the rehab, who clearly doesn't wanna do anything but draw a paycheck, who has no interest in helping, let your gentleness be evident to all because the Lord is near. Now, the context of that verse is talking about the coming of Christ. The coming of Christ is always near. You and I are always to be ready for the coming of Christ. But we can think about it like this without doing damage to the text. The Lord is near, he's here, in him we live and move and have our being. So with gentleness, so with that particular text, you know what I did, right? Oh, thank you so much. I am so thankful for you.

Thank you that you're willing to help out in here. Thank you for helping us get this done. I know it's so, I know you guys have such a hard job. Man, I appreciate you. Said that about two or three times and guess what? About third, fourth time in the room, they're a whole lot more helpful because I didn't say, you know, you're a big jerk. You're just here getting a paycheck. Come on, we need help here. Or how about at home? Would you please shut the cabinet door? I am so sick of having to shut drawers, pick up after you. You're so lazy, please shut the drawers. People don't respond to criticism. They respond to love and kindness. Gentle answers that turn away wrath. Mutually exclusive, truth and gentleness, no. It's just, you speak the truth in wise and gentle ways. The last one is endure with patience rather than quick demands or anger. Patience is the capacity to tolerate delay, trouble and suffering without getting angry or upset. So he says in this text, put up with each other. Come on, bear with each other. Forgive, let it go. Some things are not worth arguing about. Your anger and harsh demands and criticism and sarcastic remarks will never help another person fulfill God's purpose or will for their life.

And remember, that's your goal. Not to get your way, not to get all the drawers shut, not to get all the clothes picked up, but to help that person become the best and highest version of them they can be through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are helping people know the Lord. Conclusion, here we go. We're wrapping up. I promise people need to be loved. Gonna get an amen. God uses us to love them. Loving people takes intentional faith action on our part. What I love about the Christian life is that it is a partnership with Jesus. I love that. You know, Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Why is that true? Because he's in the yoke with us. When we learn to rely on him and let him be, he wants to be. My little, my grandson, he's not little anymore. My grandson, he's about, I don't know, six, five, six, I don't know how old he was. I had an extension ladder. I was dragging it around the house, you know, and he came running up, Bobby, I help you, Bobby, I help you. And so he, I had the ladder in the middle, you know, and he grabbed the end of it and I'm going,

oh yeah, oh, thanks, bud, for helping me. And he helped me put the ladder away. You're that kid. You're helping God. God lets you help him as he works in and through you. I'm so sorry that I made you mad, but I love you. I'm glad to hear it. Praise the Lord.