Ending Caring About “They”

Well, hey everybody. Welcome to Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. I'm so glad you're tuned in with us today here, February 20, 2023, as we continue our journey through Necessary Endings. If you don't have a copy of Necessary Endings, Necessary Endings is my first book that I released and I would love for you to grab a copy of it on Amazon. Just search Necessary Endings, Justin Lester, grab a copy of it. We've been journeying through the book and talking through all of the necessary endings that I speak to. And this week we're going to talk about ending, caring about they. Ending, caring about they. So let's get ready to jump into this because you were Made for Mondays. Mondays don't own you. You own your Mondays. Ending, caring about they. See, so theying or theming is an interesting concept to me. It's beyond otherizing or anotherizing, right? Like, while otherizing speaks to ostrazation, theming to me speaks to unnecessary labels. We put labels on ourselves and allow other people to put labels on us. See, labels are things that separate people who are not the other. But our jealousy for other people forbids us of being jealous for our own future. Like, have you ever noticed how innately we find ways to separate ourselves from others and calling it inclusion? Right? Like we call we're loving everyone and we're a massive melting pot. But we do a really good job of keeping ourselves separated and isolated, right? That we care so much about what title somebody else is giving us is that of the title that you own and the titles that you can create and who you really are. That I understand this internal need to ensure that people like us, that we want people to like us. Every person in the world is living to be seen, to be known and to be loved. The issue to me is when we idolize and have a constant concern about the labels that other people put on you. When people put labels on you to limit you, and the labels that people put on you limit you and distract you from the limitless nature of your possibility. So here's the necessary ending this week. I want you to end caring about they. You ever have someone come to you and say, they said this or they did this or they went this way or they went that way. One of the things I told members of my church, as I told them, I said, listen, if you're going to come to me and talk about they put a name on they. Because we live our lives worried about they, what they think, what they do, what they say. We don't even know who they are consider this. In the last week for you, how much time have you given to thinking about they? How much energy did you give to they Thinking about the food you did eat or didn't eat, the counseling sessions you had, the nights you have not slept, the anger you've had, the emotions you've wasted over? They Think about how many phone conversations you've had had this year thus far, just getting to the end of February about they when you could have been praying about them, you could have been talking about them, or you could have just been engaging with God about you. But we're worried about they. There's an old African proverb that says when two elephants fight, the only thing that suffers is the grass. That there are always unintended consequences felt by the weak in unnecessary conflict. Because whenever we live into winning an argument, we are saying that our pride is more important than the community that can be built with our word. That's not just about building community with other people around us. That's building the community that first starts with you. Your words to yourself and to others have the ability to build instead of destroy. Life and death are in the power of the word tongue. It's not just death, it's also life. You can win people more than seeking to win an argument. Let me give you the scripture. Today I'm going to challenge you to end caring about what people think about you, what people say about you, that how do we practically do this? One day Paul was literally in chains, Philippians chapter one says for the gospel, and he was writing a short letter to one of his favorite little churches, the church at Philippi. And as he wrote his crescendo, if you will, in Philippians chapter three, he said, I press on towards the mark for the prize of the higher calling. In Lester Translation I I want the prize that Jesus has for me in heaven. Because there's nothing on earth that people can give me that can outdo what Jesus already gave me. Eternal life. And then this gift that Paul says is explained in chapter four. He says this rejoice in the Lord. Always again I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all, because the Lord is near. Don't be anxious for anything, but in everything give by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests unto God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable, if any of these are excellent and praiseworthy, think about those things. And whatever You've learned or received or heard or seen in me. Put it into practice and the peace of God will be with you. See, Paul is communicating to them what it means to build community. He says to the church to stand firm in their hope, because that hope is what will keep you upright when life wants to knock you down. So Paul says, rejoice and keep rejoicing. And then Paul gives a list of things that can give you peace, that transcends understanding and guards your heart. He says the key to losing caring about they. He says, look at your life. What is true in your life? What is noble in your life? What is right? What is pure? What is lovely? What is admirable? You know, as a pastor and as a preacher, there have been so many times where I have preached and quoted this scripture. And each time I've urged people to think differently and carefully considering the things that fit into our lives, that fit these descriptions. So when you look at the scope of your life, how would you define these words? What is true for you? What is noble for you? What is right for you? What is pure for you? What is admirable? What is lovely for you? Again, what is true about you? Not what people have said to be true. What is true about you? What is noble about you? What is pure about you? What is right about you? What is lovely about you? Take a moment and write those down this week and allow those definitions to give you direction to where God is calling you. You are someone, even if they don't see it. Pray you have an amazing week. Before we go, let's say our affirmations this week as we go forward and be all that we know we possibly can. Repeat after me. Say, I am me. I can be me, and no one will stop me from being me. Have an amazing week. Know this. You are somebody and you are amazing. Have a wonderful week and we'll be right here next Monday to continue our journey to being made for Mondays. Mondays don't own you, you own your Mondays. God bless you.