The Right Passion

Written by Ed Allen
 Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:00

Sermons - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
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Sermon Outline

James 4:1-2 (NIV)

 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

What is the result when we let our passions control us?

Even when we have the stuff our unbridled passions lead us to want, we also get:
  • Debt. We over extend ourselves financially and otherwise. King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:10, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income."
  • Worry. King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:12, "The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep."
  • Purposelessness. King Solomon pursued and obtained pleasure, wealth, power, and everything imaginable and found it all to be meaningless.
In the unbridled pursuit of whatever we want, we also get:
  • Fatigue.
  • Proverbs 23:4, "Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
  • In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus tells us that He will give us rest.
  • Conflict.
Allowing our passions to control us, in effect, causes us to become an enemy of God (James 4:4).

How do we break the grip that our passions have on our hearts?

We bring them under God's control.

Generally, this means:

  • Submit to God.
  • Resist the devil.

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7

Specifically, this means:

  • Pray.
  • Repent. Psalm 51 is a great example of a prayer of repentance.
  • Do violence to your emotional make-up.
  • James 4:8-9 "...Grieve, mourn, and wail...

More practical helps

  • Think about heaven. (1 John 3:1-3)
  • Fast. (Luke 9:23)
  • Practice generosity. (1 Timothy 3:17-19)
  • Resist coveting. (Exodus 17:20)

Benefits

  • We get God's blessing. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)"
  • God's Protection
  • Pure Pleasure... we need to trade our false pleasures for God's pure pleasure (Psalm 16:11)
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