Pastor A

I do understand how important it is for most people to feel good about themselves. But, feeling good about yourself never forced you to do anything. If you listen to a speaker who makes you feel good, I doubt you will ever do a thing. If you listen to a speaker who makes you feel uncomfortable, then you might do something. This is the problem with the watered-down preaching in the pulpits across America today. Preachers are more worried about their congregants feeling good and not getting upset than with preaching the whole counsel of the Word of God. It is through the foolishness of preaching that men and women’s lives are changed.

Allow me to give you an illustration of something that took place just a year ago in my life. Statistics tell us that an astounding 70 percent of Americans are overweight. We consume vast portions of food, sugar, sweets, etc. and it shows. Do you believe me? If not, look down. If that does not work, then look around, as it will not take long to find that I am right. A year ago I was sluggish and just didn’t feel very good. I had put on weight and weighed the most that I have ever weighed in my life – the problem, Dairy Queen Butterfinger blizzards! They will be in heaven!

As I gained weight I learned the trick. Wear bigger clothes and wear a lot of black. That way when I dressed up and looked in the mirror I could still feed myself the lie, “You know, you still look okay.” BTW, as long as you convince yourself that you look pretty good, you are never going to lose weight. It is when you are on your way to the bathroom about three in the morning and you catch a glimpse of yourself in the bathroom mirror with your gut and backside hanging out, and you stop and honestly assess yourself, “What happened; I’m huge!” That is when you are going to DO something. WHY? Because you are not comfortable with yourself. You do not feel good about yourself.

Jennifer always has a way of putting things in perspective… “Wow, Daddy, you have a big stomach!” “Ouch Jennifer.”  She became my motivation to DO something about it. And I did! I went to work and lost 14 pounds in less than three months. I changed my eating and drinking habits. I walked with my wife at the park next to our house. The late-night run to Dairy Queen stopped! It worked… I became uncomfortable and I didn’t get mad at the world, blame someone else, act like a victim, etc. – I simply changed because I was uncomfortable about the way I looked and felt and I knew what the problem was; it just took a very direct statement by my daughter.

Only after you become uncomfortable will you ever begin to change! Feeling good does not create change. Feeling uncomfortable creates change. Why do you change your position in your chair? Because the position you are in is uncomfortable and you are changing your position to get more comfortable. If you were not uncomfortable in your current position then you would not move. You would just stay where you are.

I want my words in my blog this year to make you uncomfortable. Why? I want you to change. I want you to discover your best and GO for it. I want you to believe in what God created you to accomplish with your life. You are able to DO, create, accomplish and achieve. I greatly desire to give you a focus and a direction. I want to encourage you to do something. I want you to take action. I greatly desire to see the lives of people changed into all that God desires and then to make a difference as you DO today!

It is not easy, nor does it create a warm, fuzzy feeling to be so direct; however, that is exactly what the world wants – feel good about the way you are right now. NO! You were created for a purpose and are selling yourself short to settle for anything that this world has to offer. Let’s be willing to move, today, out of our comfort zones; change and do something about the areas of our life that need immediate attention.

Don’t try today; DO today!