Cut the Strings
We just finished our first lesson in the series Attached. You can see my teaching outline here. My bottom line assignment to my students was this–CUT THE STRINGS! Let me explain.
We all have STUFF in our life that we are too attached to that drives our emotional world. Our day’s outlook usually depends on how that STUFF goes. For example, if we have worked hard studying for a test we can become so ATTACHED to it that if we don’t get the grade we think we deserve our attitude changes. For parents, we become so attached to our job that if something doesn’t go as planned we often come home bring the baggage of our bad day to our family. This is all because we are ATTACHED.
Now I am not saying that it isn’t important to study hard for a test or to work hard on a project at work, but if our emotional state is TIED to the outcome of those things (that in all reality really DON’T matter in life) than we have ATTACHED ourselves too tightly.
Instead of ATTACHing ourselves to things that change (such as money, relationship, etc), we need to attach ourselves to the ONE who NEVER changes.
Some of you will have a horrible day today due to the loss of the Buckeyes in the Feista Bowl. Strings are attached too tightly to things that don’t matter!
I have been wrestling this past weekend over some confusion parents have about our upcoming Summer Camp and some of the things they are saying about behind my back. Strings are attached to tightly to me over things that don’t really matter!
What I am learning and the challenge I have given our students is that we need to CUT THE STRINGS! Instead of putting our focus on self and things let’s put it on God!!
Attached: Strings
TEACHING OUTLINE
INTRO:
Our moods can change quickly.
How many emotions do you experience in a typical day?
TENSION:
Our moods change because we’re attached.
People are like human yo-yos, up and down. Why do things in life affect us so much?
TRUTH:
We need to attach ourselves to something stable.
What if instead of clinging to other people, accomplishments, or stuff, we attached ourselves to something more stable?
“Who but a fool would make his own god—an idol that cannot help him one bit!” (Isaiah 44:10 NLT).
“He [the wood-carver] uses part of the wood to make a fire to warm himself and bake his bread. Then—yes it’s true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god for people to worship! He makes an idol and bows down and praises it! He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. ‘Rescue me!’ he says. ‘You are my god!’ Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think. The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, ‘Why, it’s just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a chunk of wood?’ The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He is trusting something that can give him no help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this thing, this idol that I’m holding in my hand, a lie?” (Isaiah 44:15-20 NLT).
APPLICATION:
Don’t let things that change define your emotional world.
CONCLUSION:
Attach yourself to the One who never changes.
What are you attached to? What are you trusting in to make a bad day good or a good day better?
