This is the first week in a series of “give it up” lessons. The theme is about giving up things that are moving us away from God so we can move closer to Him. This week we start with the idea of what can give up to become a better Christian man.
When we think about great Christians, we often associate them with things that they’ve done or accomplished. Maybe they started ministry, preached to millions of people, or feed the homeless every week. It is what they did or what they added that we give them credit for. So, of course, in our efforts to become great Christians, we may be tempted to do something or accomplish something to prove our Christian worth.
But what if that line of thinking is flawed? Is it possible that being a good Christian may be more about what we give up or don’t do than what we do or accomplish? That is not to say that Christian accomplishments aren’t worthy goals but simply that, for most of us, it is premature to make them our focus.
If you buy new furniture for your house, you have to remove the old furniture before you move the new items in. If you don’t, your house will be too crowded. Or if you upgrade your entire wardrobe you should probably get rid of some things so your closet doesn’t become a disaster.
The Christian example of this message is that God has already given us new stuff and it just waiting at the door to be moved in but first we have to move the old stuff out.
Take patience for example. Maybe if I wasn’t so focused on achievement or materialism or vanity, I might be a little more patient. Another example is time that we give to friends, family, and charities. If we eliminate some of our wasted time, we would have more time for others. If we eliminate the bad stuff, God’s good stuff will have room to move in.
Here are some questions to further explore this idea:
- Based on today’s lesson, what are some examples of things that are good to eliminate from our lives?
- Do you agree with the idea that you can’t add the new until you eliminate the old?
- Do you have any examples from your own life that reinforce today’s message?
- What is an example of “God’s good stuff” that you would like to move in to your life once you move out some of the old stuff?
- Can you think of a verse from the bible that supports this idea?
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