Transcript
Rick Warren (0:02)
Hey, everyone. It's so great to have you with us today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We are going to continue our very encouraging series today called Life's Healing Choices. And in these lessons, Rick Warren will guide us through a deep biblical exploration of how to overcome the hurts, hangups and habits that really hold us back. So get ready for some practical insights and powerful truths that can lead to lasting change and freedom in your life. And now let's join Rick for part two of his message called the Sharing Choice.
Johnny Baker (0:39)
Paul in his life. If you read through the New Testament and all those books that he wrote, he is very honest about five different things in his life, things that we don't like to talk to other people about. But Paul had such an impact and single handedly, you know, revolutionized the Roman Empire and Christianity spread all over because he was willing to be honest about things we're not willing to be honest about. What are they? You might write these down. They're on your outline. To help other people, I must be honest about these five things. First, my feelings. I have to be open with my feelings. Johnny Baker was helping me with this point last night and he talked about, you know, this is kind of hard for men. He said, you know, as men, there's two feelings we're honest about, really, when we're hungry and we want sex, but that's about it. He goes, we don't really talk about much else. We're not guys who really share our feelings very well. Notice Paul says, we have spoken frankly to you. We have opened our hearts wide. Paul says, I didn't just teach you, I opened my heart, I shared my feelings. And if you're gonna have an impact in the lives of other people, you gotta learn to share your feelings. Then I learned to share my faults, and that's a little bit harder. I have to be humble about my faults. In the Bible, Paul tells us, each of us must bear the faults and the burdens of his own, for none of us is perfect. So that's pretty easy to admit. But we just are honest about our faults and we're specific about them. Third thing you have to be honest about if you're gonna be an impact on others is your failures. I have to be honest about my failures, frank about my failures. Notice Paul says, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. He's going, man, I'm it. And if you read the rest of the passage, he goes, you know, I helped kill a guy. I stood there when they were stoning Stephen and. And he said, I persecuted the church. And he is very frank about his faults and his failures. Fourth, I need to be truthful about my frustrations. And you gotta stop saying, well, it doesn't bother me or it's no big deal, forget it. No, you be honest about your frustrations. The things in your life that you can't seem to get control of that helps other people. Paul says, I have the desire to do what's right, but I cannot carry it out. Don't you feel that way? Sometimes you wanna do the right thing, but you end up not doing it. He says, I keep doing the evil that I don't wanna do. He said, all that stuff I don't wanna do, I keep doing it. I don't wanna look at that, I don't wanna read that, I don't wanna act that way. I don't wanna say that, I don't wanna respond that way, but I do. It is in that kind of gut level honesty you make a difference in people's lives. Truthful about my feelings and my faults and my failures and my frustrations. And then one more on the back of your outline, he says, I gotta be honest. And this is the hardest one of all. About my fears. We hate to tell people what we're afraid of. But every time you share a fear with somebody else, it does two things. It lowers the level of fear in your own life and it encourages that other person. It lowers the level of fear in your life. Fear builds when you keep it a secret and it lowers it in your own life and it helps other people. My fears. He says, I do admit that I have fears. This is Paul talking. That when I come to you, that you'll disappoint me and I'll disappoint you and frustration with each other will fall to pieces. Just isn't gonna happen. What is Paul saying here? He's saying, you know what? We're all broken. Why don't we just admit it? And if I hold it in, it makes me miserable. It doesn't help anybody else. I need to learn to be honest about my fears and my faults and my failures and my frustrations, my feelings. When I do that, I get healing and other people get healing. First thing, learn to share how pain got your attention. Second thing, I need to learn to share what I've learned in the process. I need to learn to share what I have learned in the process. In other words, since that crisis in your life, since that trouble, since that problem, since that pain, what Have I learned from it? What are the lessons that I learned and that I can pass on? You've heard people say it's wise to learn from experience. Well, it's true. But let me tell you something better than that. Yes, it's wise to learn from experience. It is wiser to learn from the experience of others. Why? Cause I don't have time to make all the mistakes myself. If I have to learn everything by personal experience, I'll die before I learn it all. And isn't it a whole lot better for me to learn from your failure than to go out and do it myself and fail and then go, oh, I shouldn't have done that? It's less painful. And it's quicker for you to learn from the experiences of other people. That's why you need to read history. It's why you need to read the Bible. It's why you need a mentor in your life, no matter how old you are. It's why you need spiritual partners. It's why you need a spiritual small group. Because we learn from each other. Go, oh, somebody who's already been through that can help me move along quicker. Now, what are the lessons that God wants us to learn from pain? Johnny Baker is our director. Celebrate recovery. Would you welcome him? Great.