What Drives You? Ephesians 5: 8 - 20 Graeme Sterne 2009

“Everybody’s got to serve somebody. It may be the devil Bob Dylan wrote: “Everybody’s got to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve someone.”

If you have not surrendered your life to Christ, you will have to serve self This is a form of idolatry. “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” John 8: 34

What is the driving force in your life? Problem (s) e.g. Pressure e.g. Painful memory e.g. Haunting fear e.g. Unconscious belief e.g. Taken offense e.g.

There are many forces that can drive your life but outside of Christ all lead to the same dead end: unused potential… unnecessary stress… an unfulfilled life…

Driven by Guilt? Proverbs 28:1 It takes a lot of energy to spend your life running from regrets or hiding your shame e.g. Psalm 32:3,4 Guilty people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future Restlessness, dissatisfaction Isaiah 57:20,21 “Happiness I cannot feel and love to me is so unreal. Can you help me? Help me if you can.” (Ozzy Osbourne)

Release from Guilt We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners of it John 8:31-36 God’s purpose is not limited to our past e.g. Jacob, Moses, Peter, Rahab, Paul Transformation when our sins are forgiven Psalm 32:1,2 & 5

Driven by resentment? Holding on to hurts. Being offended. Clam up? Blow up? Instead of releasing pain through forgiveness we rehearse the memories over and over. Resentment always hurts more than the person we resent Hebrews 12:15 Those who hurt us in the past cannot continue to hurt us unless we let them Matthew 6:14,15

Driven by fear? Have you had a traumatic experience? Do you struggle under unrealistic expectations? (e.g. Growing up in a high control home) Fear-driven people often miss opportunities because they try to maintain the status quo Fear is a self- imposed prison Proverbs 29:25

Driven by materialism? The desire to acquire Matthew 6:33 Never have enough Proverbs 25:16 Possessions don’t love us, they don’t increase our capacity to love others Possessions do not change so they constantly need updating Possessions only provide temporary happiness

Without God’s purpose life is: motion without meaning activity without direction events without reason

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin which so easily entangles, and let us run the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1