The Truth About Building Your Life

Jim Piper | January 11, 2010 | Comments (0)

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. " Matthew 7:24-29

Sometimes, in order to really get what Jesus is saying to us, we need to notice what he didn't say. In this passage he didn't talk about how tall or wide to build your house. He didn't talk about what color to paint it or stain it. He didn't talk about the brand of architecture. He didn't talk about how many rooms to build. His focus was on the foundation.

The focus of building our lives starts with the foundation.

Before we can talk about the building of a marriage, a family, a work environment, or our hopes and dreams, we must talk about leading self. When I talk about leading self in Christian circles, I often get funny looks.

Christians say, "Shouldn't the Holy Spirit be leading me?" But that's exactly the problem. The Holy Spirit will not lead you until you make a decision to follow. Our part is to follow; his part is to lead. Making a decision to follow is a willful act, that's self-leadership. But before we get too far down the road of self-leadership we must understand what Jesus means by "building our house on The Rock."

Jesus teaches us to notice the foundational differences between rock and sand.

The rock is analogous to himself and to his teachings. The sand is equivalent to everything opposed. Jesus does not separate himself from his teachings because they are simply a reflection of who he is. That's why the people were amazed at the authoritative way in which he spoke. In the case of Christ, to reject his teaching is to reject his identity as co-creator of all that exists.

Now let's get back to self-leadership. As builders of our own lives and leaders of environments, we have been given a will to choose. By using the illustration of rock and sand, Jesus makes it clear that this life is about choices.

Therefore, the freedom in self-leadership is the choice.

Each of us must choose between obedience and denial. Obedience or trust is a willful and conscious decision to move from believing in God to believe God. To believe God is to walk in a faith-based relationship with Jesus resulting in the surrendering of one's will to God.

God's will is difficult to understand but can be described as providential, moral, and creative. The providence of God means that God will do what God will do and there's nothing we can do but accept it and trust it or hate it and beat against it. He's moral will is all about the "Thou Shalts and the Thou Shalt Nots" which in the long run keeps us out of a lot of trouble. His creative will is about your uniqueness and ability to choose how you are going to live this life "as much as it depends upon you."

The more you know about God's ultimate plans, his moral decrees, and your uniqueness, the more you are able to make good self-leadership decisions. To do otherwise is to build your life and future on the sand.

One other thing that is clear in Jesus' words here is that everyone will be tested and testing reveals the foundation we have built.

The future of building our lives includes testing.

If there's one thing we can count on while living in the paradox world of God and sinful humanity, it is trouble. Jesus told us, "In this world, you will have trouble."

Because of this, our ultimate goal is not found in the house itself but in the foundation. The storms will come. Sometimes they will cause great damage and human distress. But if we build our lives on Jesus Christ and his teachings, we will not only survive the storms, we will experience a deeper and more meaningful fellowship with our creator within the inner most part of our being.

As much as we might love our spouse, children, family, profession, ministry, and the joys that can come from them. Our foundational hope is in a creator who knows our name and desires for us to seek him with all of our heart, mind, and strength.

Discovery Questions:

1. What are some self-leadership things you need to do to strengthen your foundation?
2. What choice(s) are you willing to make this year to become obedient to Christ?
3. Can you look back at a storm in your live that revealed you were building a house on the wrong foundation? If so, please explain.