Purpose Without Apology

Guiding Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:18 - “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (NLT)

• As Christians, we know that God is calling us to become more and more like Him over time, but what does it look like to move from one level to the next? How do we know when we’ve achieved a new level of holiness and maturity in God, and how should we respond?
• Your prayer life changes.
  • You spend more time recognizing where your weaknesses end and God’s strength begins (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
  • You spend less time praising God, and more time worshipping Him. Praise is acknowledging God for what He has done, while worship is acknowledging Him for who He is.
  • You spend less time talking to God, and more time hearing from Him.
• Your thinking changes.
  • Romans 12:2 - “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
• Your speech changes.
  • Psalm 141:3 - “O LORD, set a guard at my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips.
  • 1 Corinthians 13:11 - “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.”
• Your behavior changes.
  • You are more stable and not easily swayed in your emotions by false teaching (Ephesians 4:14).
  • You have studied the word of God to the point where you can teach or explain it to others (Hebrews 5:12).
  • You don’t just listen to God’s word, but you also do what it says (James 1:22).
• Your relationships change.
  • Proverbs 12:26 - “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
• Listen to Season 2, Episode 41 of Purpose Without Apology (“When God Changes Your Social Circle”) for an in-depth discussion about how to respond to this type of “leveling up.”

Action Step: Answer the following questions during your quiet time with God: What is one way that God is encouraging me to “level up” in this season? Have I been embracing this change or resisting it? How can I respond to God’s maturing process in a better way?

Guiding Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 - “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens... a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak…”

• One of the most powerful lessons we can learn as believers is recognize when to speak and when to be silent. Christians can either make or break our witness based on what we say, how we say it, and when we say it. Many times, we do great damage because we talk too much and don’t listen enough.
• Being silent at the right time is a sign of wisdom.
  • Proverbs 17:28 - “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.”
• Silence can keep you out of trouble.
  • Proverbs 21:23 - “Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.”
  • Proverbs 10:19 - “Transgression is at work where people talk too much, but anyone who holds his tongue is prudent.”
• Silence can help us receive advice or instruction.
  • Psalm 62:5-6 - “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.”
  • Psalm 37:7 - “Be silent in the LORD’s presence and wait patiently for him. Don’t be angry because of the one whose way prospers or the one who implements evil schemes.”
• Sometimes silence is necessary before something significant happens.
  • God was silent for 400 years before the birth of Christ.
  • Zechariah lost his ability to speak before the birth of his son John due to his lack of faith (Luke 1:20)
  • Even Jesus only spoke what God told Him to say and how He told Him to say it (John 12:49). 
• At the same time, we can’t keep silent when God has specifically called us to speak out.
  • Galatians 6:1 - “Brothers, even if a person is caught in some transgression, you who are spiritual should correct that one in a gentle spirit, looking to yourself, so that you also may not be tempted.”
  • Proverbs 31:9 - “Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.”
• Ultimately, we need God’s help to know when to speak and what to say.
  • Psalm 141:3 - “O LORD, set a guard at my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips.
  • Moses was afraid to go before Pharaoh because of his stutter, but God promised to give him what to say (Exodus 4).

Action Step: Read the scriptures outlined in this episode and ask yourself the following questions: 1) In what ways does God want me to be silent when I want to speak; and 2) in what ways does He want me to speak when I want to be silent?

Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, a well-known leader in the personal and professional development industry, famously said, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." Most of the time, you choose who those people are, but sometimes God chooses for you.

How to know that God is changing your social circle:

1. You start feeling uncomfortable around your current circle.
   • This discomfort can take many forms, but often it shows up as a sense that you no longer belong. Things may irritate you that didn’t bother you before, for example.
2. Conflict increases between you and your circle, often seemingly out of nowhere.
   • This is different from the normal conflict that occurs in every relationship. Don’t let an aversion to conflict convince you that a relationship is over.
3. Your support system begins criticizing you, claiming that “you’ve changed.”
4. You meet new people who you connect with easily, and who have a positive impact on you.
   • This often happens when God wants to increase your responsibility.
5. You are “reintroduced” to people you already knew, but now you see them in a different light or get to know them on a deeper level.

What to do once you realize God is changing your social circle:

1. Identify what God is saying through these changes.
   • For example, I struggle with confrontation, so God has been pushing me to take an active role in ending certain relationships lately, instead of just passively pulling away.
   • Make sure that God is pushing the change and not the enemy.
   • Accept that you may not completely understand why God is changing certain things until later, if at all.
2. Acknowledge how the changes make you feel.
3. Embrace the changes and believe that God’s plans are best (Jeremiah 29:11).

What not to do:

1. Fight the change by either holding onto the old or rejecting the new.
2. Isolate yourself from people in general.
3. Cut off people when God didn’t tell you to.

Key Point: There’s a difference between following God and acting out of your own bitterness, unforgiveness, or immaturity. If your social circle changes every year, you are the problem.

Action Step: Get out a sheet of paper and divide it into 3 columns. In the first column, list the top 5-10 people in your life right now. In the second column, write a few words that describe the positive traits each of these people brings to your life. In the third column, write the positive things that you contribute to their lives. How do Columns 2 and 3 compare? Do they feel balanced? Are you happy with who is on your list? If not, what are some changes you could make today to improve things?