Good morning. Today, as we continue to take a look at our Desperate Households, we will wrap this series up with a look at The Power To Change. Today’s sermon will be a little shorter than usual, but I think that that will be okay. So on to our topic of change.
Each and every home in the World has the power to change their Desperate Households into Godly Households if they will put in the effort and truly take Godly advice and apply it to their homes. As we look to God’s word today, we will find some things to watch out for, as well as a few helpful suggestions as to how to change our Desperate Households into Godly Households for the year that we are currently in.
So, before we look at the power to change, let me begin our time with a word of prayer.
If you want to go ahead and turn with me to Luke 15:13-20, this passage will be our key text for today. Even though it is difficult to change we all want to be people who can change. We each year we make resolutions as to what things in our lives we really want to change, and then some times we succeed, and other times we fail. But we always enter in wanting to change. I think that the biggest change that needs to happen for us is to turn our homes into Godly homes for our families. This morning, we are going to examine 3 steps that we need to take to begin to change, and we will look at a couple of the barriers that we need to be aware of that will stop God from changing our hearts and lives.
To start, let’s read that passage. Again, Luke 15:13-20 tells us, “1”
Now, that is a very familiar passage. We know that the son ill advisedly took his inheritance and then went and made some very poor decisions. He then needed to change, and was successful in that. In our lives, there are many things that may need to change in order for us to be better people and to have better homes. So now, let’s turn our attention to a couple of potential barriers that stand in the way of us changing our desperate homes into Godly homes. First, Beware, The Trap Of Denying The Need For Change.
We haven’t talked about this problem yet. It’s one thing to make a change in your household when you acknowledge the problem. But when you are denying that there are problems present, it will be impossible to make change in that situation.
How many people do you know of that have problems of some kind, yet they cannot admit that they have a problem? Maybe it is a problem with spending: they don’t do too well with their money, but they cannot admit that. Maybe it is a problem with drinking: everyone around them knows that they have a problem, but they go on denying that there is a problem. Perhaps it is a problem with their lifestyle as a whole: there are some serious issues and problems that need to be addressed, but they cannot own up to them and do anything about them.
You see, if you cannot confess that there is a problem present, you will only be able to compound that problem. If you go on denying that there are problems in your marriage, in your parenting, in your dealing with conflict, and in your home in general, then things are only going to get worse for you and your family.
Denying the problem is no way to develop a Godly home. In fact, in I John 1:8 it says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” And then in Proverbs 28:13 it says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
If we want to begin to change our desperate households into Godly ones, then we need to make sure that we avoid denying the need for change. But there is also one other barrier that gets in the way of change a lot of times. The Second Barrier Would Be, Deciding That Real Change Is Impossible.
Another problem that I think people face when trying to change is to think that real change is impossible. Now there are some things that are impossible. For example, I will never be able to hold my breath under water for 20 minutes. Another impossibility is that you cannot fit a Car through the eye of a needle. It would be impossible for God to tell a lie. Teachers say that it would be impossible for a whale to swallow a human. In fact, here is a story that I found about a teacher discussing that with her kindergarten class.
The teacher was telling her class that it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because a whale’s throat is too small. One little boy raised his had and asked, “What about Jonah in the Bible, he was swallowed by a whale.” To that the teacher again demanded, “No. It is physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human.”
At that point the boy finally said, “Well, when I get to Heaven I will ask him if it is possible to be swallowed by a whale.” The teacher then asked, “Well what if he isn’t in Heaven?” The little boy responded, “Then you can ask him.”
Well, we don’t know about that impossibility, but the other things that I mentioned are impossible to happen. They are just facts of life, and nothing can be done about them. However, the problems that you face in your marriage, the problems that tear apart you parenting, and the issues that you face when dealing with conflict are just that, they are problems. And problems, no matter how big they may seem, can change if you will seek God.
Change in the home, and change in your life is not the result of trying harder, but trying humbler. We need to humble ourselves, admit that there needs to be change, and then hand it over to Jesus to take care of. Turn with me to Romans 7:24-25. Here in Romans 7:24-25 it says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” You see, the only way that you are ever going to really change your home into a Godly one is to find the answer in Jesus Christ alone.
II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come.” If we want to see things change, we need to be in Christ and we need to see the old way of life go, and a new way of life take over. We are to really be different people.
So, the barriers to look out for are, beware the trap of denying the need for change, and beware the trap of deciding that real change is impossible. In the parable of the Lost Son that we read earlier, we find that the son realized that there were some problems, and he didn’t decide that it was impossible to change. And as a result, he took action and began the trip to change.
Now, in the time remaining this morning let me share with you 3 steps in beginning the trip to changing. The first thing that you have to tell yourself is, “I Have Not Been Thinking Strait.”
Verse 17 of our Luke passage again said, “When he came to his senses…” You see, he was living in the condition that he was in, until he came to his senses and began thinking strait. Change comes only after we have had a changed thought process. He began thinking correctly and realized that he needed to change his lifestyle.
For some of us, the first step to changing our homes and our lives involves our thinking. Romans 12:1-2 talks about transforming our minds to know and to do God’s will. In order to transform our minds, most of us need to begin thinking a little straighter.
In John 8:32 it says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” If you want to be free of the problems in your life, and if you want to see real change occur in your homes, then you need to start thinking strait, and that all begins with looking at things through God’s eyes. If you can do that, then the truth will set you free, and change will occur.
The second thing that you need to tell yourself is, “I Must Not Blame Anyone Or Anything Else.”
This goes back to what we looked at last time. Own the responsibility of your actions. There in verse 18 of our passage, it said, “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, “Father I have sinned against Heaven and against you.” Here in this verse, it shows us that the son has taken full responsibility for his own actions. He doesn’t blame the famine that he was hit by, he doesn’t try and place the blame on anyone else other than himself. He simply says “I” have done this, and he seeks forgiveness.
In our society today, it is all about shifting the blame to someone else. When we have fights in the home, it is the other person’s fault. When we have money problems and we go into debt, it is the credit card company’s fault. What about the guy that drank his coffee at McDonalds and burnt himself. It was the restaurant’s fault for the coffee being hot. No, it wasn’t, he’s the idiot that drank the coffee, common sense tells you that it will be hot. That is the way that we like coffee.
So, our society tells us to blame others, and forget about it. But God tells us to take responsibility for out actins, to confess them, and to seek forgiveness. If we want to see our households continue to be desperate ones, then we can continue to blame others. But if we want to see some real change take place in our homes, and see them turn into Godly homes, then we need to begin taking responsibility for our actions.
So, we need to start thinking strait, we need to quit blaming others, and finally, we need to tell ourselves, “I Don’t Have To Stay Where I Am.”
Verse 18 again shows us that the son realized that he didn’t have to stay in the mess that he was in. He came to his senses, picked up, and got out of there. That is a huge step in changing our lives and our homes. We need to realize that we don’t have to stay in the situation that we are in, all we have to do is change.
Now, I think that there are 3 main reasons why we stay where we are, even when we want to change. First, is that we let our problems become our identity. Then, if we change, what are we going to do? Second, we must accept responsibility in order to change, and many times, we don’t want to do that. And finally, we think that if we try and fail that we will feel worse in the end. What we need to realize is that if we don’t change, things are going to get worse no matter what we do.
Realize that if your marriage is struggling, all you have to do is change. Now I am not saying change spouses, even though that is what a lot of people end up doing. What I am saying, is change the way that your marriage is operating, focus on God and make the big change.
If your parenting skills are lacking, make the change and seek to do things God’s way. Don’t allow the problems to continue to pile up and get worse. Take care of it and change your ways.
Whatever the problem is in your life, all you have to do is change things. And it is possible. Look at the guy from our passage. He was down on his luck and facing many problems. However, when he went through these 3 phases in his life, he was able to make a real significant change. The son changes his situation by going back to the father to be a servant, and things ended up better than he thought and dreamed that they would. Instead of being a servant, his father rushed out to meet him and welcomed him home with arms wide open.
You know what? It is the same for us. God wants to see us change even more than we do. So if we will make the effort to make real life change, I think that God is going to surprise you in the improvement that it will make in your family and in your home. God’s desire for the Desperate Household is to see it improve and develop itself into a Godly Household. So make the effort, and make a change today!
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