Light Service Sermons for the Month
Maximize Your Life
Internalize the Right Principles
DATE: January 28, 2001
TEXT: Romans 12: 1-2
Over the last several weeks we have been looking together at some Biblical principles for maximizing our lives. Using the word, Maximize as our out line, we have talked so far about how to: Make Things Happen Achieve Personal Significance X out the Negatives Today, as we continue our series, we're going to focus on perhaps the most important key for maximizing our lives, and that key is to Internalize the Right Principles The reason why I say that internalizing the right principles is the most important key is because it get us down to the heart of the matter-to what's happening on the inside. The truth of the matter is that all of us live our lives on the basis of the principles we have internalized. And those principles will either make us or unmake us; energize us or destroy us; maximize our lives or waste them. Someone once said "people who don't know what they stand for or what they should stand for will never enjoy true happiness and success." That's why clarifying our principles is so important. You see, when your principles are unhealthy, or you base them on a sliding scale, you'll slide through life, always missing out on the opportunities God has for you. But when you internalize and live by life-affirming principles, you'll position yourself to make the most of the life God has for you. With that in mind I want to offer you some questions that will hopefully stimulate your imagination and get you thinking about what principles matter to you. Ask yourself: What do I believe in?
In what guiding principles can I become constructively obsessed?
What governs my life?
What do I stand for?
What puts meaning into my life?
What qualities are important for my life to be complete?
Those are important questions. And the answers can make the difference between maximized life and a missed-opportunity life. God wants to help us answer those questions in a way that will enable us to maximize our lives. And in our Bible reading for today Paul shares some power-packed thoughts on how we can embrace principles that will energize us and help us make the most of the life he has for us. We're going to look at this passage more in depth a bit later but let Sheila share it with you now: SHEILA: 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect. When it was launched in 1936, the Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the ocean. It sailed for four decades and through a world war. As you may know it is now docked in Long Beach, California and serves as a hotel and a museum. As the ship was being restored for its new duties, crews removed the three large smokestacks in order to scrape and repaint them. However, when the smokestacks were removed they crumbled. Over the years the three-quarter inch steel plate had disintegrated and all that remained of the stacks were the many layers of paint that had been applied over the years. While the exterior was polished and clean, the insides of the stacks were falling apart. And once the internal substance was gone, the beautiful exterior collapsed. The same can be said about our lives. Without the substance of healthy, strong principles, our lives begin to break down. They get out of balance and can even collapse. That, in a nutshell, in my opinion, is a major problem in this country. We have built our principles on a sliding scale. The right principles keep us strong and stable, enabling us to maximize our lives. As one writer put it, "Principles are guiding devices to enhance our ability to achieve our purpose. Without them, we drift through life with little or no direction." In the French story, The Little Prince, the title character becomes best friends with a fox. When the time comes for the fox to leave the prince, he offers to share with the prince the most wonderful secret in the world if the prince will meet certain conditions. The little prince agrees and carefully does all that is expected of him. He then waits as the fox shares the greatest secret in the world. And here's what the fox says: "Only that which is invisible is essential." In trying to maximize our lives we often look at the external stuff-the job we have, the money we make, the way our kids turn out, our relationships, our notoriety, and so on. And those are important. But bottom line, what's the most important is that which we cannot see-our principles and values. Those are what will ultimately shape our lives and position us for maximum living. In our Bible reading for today God shares with us how it is that we can internalize the kinds of principles that will lead to life, wholeness, and contentment. We read it a few moments ago but let me read it for you again. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect. God knows that internalizing the right principles is a matter of the heart. He also knows that our hearts have been tainted by self-centeredness, self-preservation, and a host of other self-motivated desires which in turn shape our principles and values that wind up hurting us and others in the long run. So if we're going to internalize the right principles-principles that build up, inspire, affirm, and heal-then we need a change of heart. And that's why God sent Jesus. To capture our hearts with his love and forgiveness that he might transform them and align them with his principles. You see, when we live in a relationship with Jesus, he changes our way of thinking so that our values line up with his values-values like truth, generosity, love, compassion, honesty, integrity and so one-principles that set us free to live life with dignity and honor, principles that need no laws to enforce. When we blow it, he's there to pick us up, wash us off, and give us a fresh start. And as we live with him day after day his love makes us more and more like him setting us free to enjoy the energizing power of principles living. One day a young boy was watching as the balloon man sold large, helium-filled balloons to some of the kids in the park. The young boy didn' t have any money, so he imagined himself hanging onto the biggest balloon the balloon man had-a big, bright blue balloon. As he stood dreaming about it he watched as a young girl gave the balloon man money, took the big bright balloon, played with it awhile, and then let it go. The balloon slowly drifted into the sky and soon was out of sight. The balloon man noticed the fascination the young boy had with the balloons so he asked if he wanted one. The young boy explained he had no money. So the balloon man offered him one for free-a big, gray balloon. Before accepting it the young boy asked, "Sir, will this balloon fly as high as the big, bright blue one?" "Of course it will. Because it's not what's on the outside of the balloon that determines how high it will go but what's on the inside." Winston Churchill once said it this way, "It's hard to expect an empty bag to stand up straight." The truth of the matter is that we are what we value. What's on the inside determines the direction and quality of our lives. You see, all of us live life on the basis of our internal principles. And those principles will either build us up or destroy us. They'll either maximize our lives or undo them. So if we want to maximize the life God has for us then we'll want to embrace those values and principles that help us stand up straight. Jesus stands ready to transform your heart and align it with his values. As his love and forgiveness captures your heart, as his principles become your principles, you'll discover the joy, freedom, and power those principles can give. I encourage you today to welcome Jesus who stands up straight on the inside. I encourage you to develop your relationship with him through daily prayer, weekly worship, and some kind of ongoing study opportunity so that his values will continue to mold and shape our heart, which in turn will set you free to fly high and maximize your life. AMEN
