We can all identify with this Bible story and understand that it is a reflection of our daily battle with sin in our lives. We should also understand that the root of our sin is not a behavior problem, but a heart problem. We have no power to defeat the sin inside us; just as David had no power to defeat Goliath. What David showed us is that when we put on God's armor and go to battle victory is ours. David knew about God's promises for the people of Israel and he trusted that God never breaks a promise. His faith in God gave him tremendous power.

God wants to help us defeat our giants as well. The root of many of our sin giants boils down to SELF:

1. Self-control (or lack thereof)

2. Self-righteousness

3. Selfishness

    

When God speaks in the Bible about giving up yourself, He is speaking about these three giants.

Those who struggle with self-control giants will have dependencies such as:

1. Tobacco

2. Alcohol

3. Food - over eating or making unhealthy choices

4. Approval of others – they have such a need for approval that they lie or stretch the truth to get it

5. Drugs – over or under the counter

6. Material possessions - feeling they have no value if they do not possess the most expensive shoes, jeans, car, etc

    

If these giants rule you, they are your god; which means you are not worshiping the one true LORD, but instead you are worshiping this much smaller giant with no power to heal you. These are desires of the flesh, not Godly desires. These are things the flesh craves for satisfaction and they are contrary to what God teaches us in the Bible. When you rely on these things for satisfaction, you are letting your flesh rule you, instead of God. Christians who come to this realization and bow down and ask for forgiveness are always forgiven. Jesus will help you with these struggles and it makes Him happy when you come to Him for help.

Proverbs 25:28 - Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.

Those who struggle with the giant of self-righteousness will show signs as follows:

1. Consider their works gets them to Heaven, instead of Jesus' works

2. Judgmental of others about their Christianity and salvation – indicating others have it wrong, but again pointing to their works instead of Jesus'

3. Offended by sinners instead of working to make them comfortable and welcome

4. Segregate themselves from the world, so they don't get infected by the sin

5. Consider they are better than the rest due to their works, how they dress or because of their wealth

    

Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The folks who struggle with the selfishness god will look like this:

1. Anger flairs when they don't get what they want

2. Always expect others to put their needs first even when it causes suffering for someone else

3. Punish loved ones by withholding their love and affection when they are not getting what they want

4. Manipulative and conniving to get what they want

5. Self-centered and self-obsessed, spending most of their time during the day focusing on themselves

6. Low self-esteem

As Christians, we all love Jesus. That is the point of Christianity. We believe He died for our sins and rose from the dead in three days. As far as I have seen, no one church has everything 100% correct (not that I do either), but we should all look at each other and help each other get one step closer to Jesus everyday - understanding that nothing that we do makes us any better than the other person. The Bible teaches us that the most righteous among us is nothing more than a filthy (menstrual) rag to God, so we should not look at each other and consider that we are better because of our works. That would be a lie and God hates liars. Jesus loved all sinners! As shown by his unfailing love on the cross. We must love all sinners as He did, not only a select few. Always keep in mind that it was the religious leaders or Pharisees who crucified Jesus. They were so self-righteous that they couldn't even recognize the LORD when He stood right in front of them.

Jesus reduced the commandments down to two:

1. Love the LORD with all your heart

2. Love each other as you love yourself

If we truly follow these commandments, we will not put our SELF before the LORD, but instead we will view ourselves through His lens and see that we are totally ruined by our sin and fall to our knees in worship and praise of our LORD, because He saved us anyway. Because of our love for the LORD and the sacrifice He made for us, we will dedicate our lives to helping those who are lost and we will die to save them – just as He did for us.

Always keep in mind that satan blinds us to our sin, but we all are very sinful in our hearts. Pray for God to expose your sin and help you work on it, but know that it is a daily battle and YOU will never reach perfection. As Jesus grows inside you; however, you will start to view the world through His lens. When that happens you will feel His love inside you flowing like a raging river. David had this type of relationship with the LORD, but even David lost sight of the LORD from time to time and as a result made huge mistakes. David's sins cost him greatly! His children either died horrible deaths or turned against him – all because of his sin. And he had to live the rest of his life knowing it was his sin that caused their suffering.

Study the life of David – 1 and 2 Samuel in your Bible. It is a wonderful story about us, our relationship with God and our struggle with sin. Also compare David's life to King Saul's life (the King preceding David). You will notice that Saul did not worship anything except Saul. He is a very good example of someone putting themselves before God.

A Hero

created by God
instrumented by Donna Klein

We are all made to worship
Which is why heroes are so important to us
Some of us worship a team
And when we watch them we yell and scream
Others worship a superstar who can sing
And we pay big money to hear them do their thing
Then we jump and cry with hands in the sky
Hoping to touch them as they walk by
Or maybe it's as simple as how we spend our time
What we focus on and how we spend our dime
Whatever it is defines the hero in our life
I pray my poem sheds some light
God gave of Himself when He sent His son
So we would have an example to live from
God Himself came down to earth
Wrapped in human flesh He walked in the dirt
He made it clear that His father had sent Him
To save us all from our sin
Jesus spent his time with us
Teaching and healing and showing us love
He was not sent to help those who were self-righteous
He focused on those who sinned, just like us
For He knew the self-righteous were sick with hardened hearts
Looking down their noses and feeling set apart
He came to help those who knew they were sick
Knew they were drowning in sin very thick
But somehow He recognized the hero inside
And He died on a cross to save our lives
He died on the cross to show us love
And how a hero behaves and what he does
He absorbed our sin within Him
A perfect man who had never sinned
This is what a hero looks like
Study it so you can get it right
A hero will die so you can live
A hero will always forgive
A hero will walk a hundred miles
To save a sinner or a child
A hero recognizes Jesus' love for us
And understands that mirroring His love is the task for us
Not just Him, but each other too
Love every brother, sister and neighbors too
This is the hero behavior
That was taught to us by our savior
So you no longer need to struggle
Your identity is determined with no rebuttal
You were created by God
And you were created to be with God
When you recognize this and surrender
That emptiness will be filled with love so tender
Then peace will start flowing through your heart
And God's hands will mold you to create a perfect heart
The heart meant for you from the very start
Before sin got in the way and tore you apart
We are our own worst enemies, you see
Fighting against ourselves and getting in the way of our blessings
We are all born with a God shaped hole inside us
And we waste our lives trying to fill us
We identify all the wrong heroes
Money, drugs and lust are all zeros
Only God can fill this hole inside us
For He created this hole when He made us
He created it so we would always seek
And one day we would fall at His feet
When our eyes finally open and we see
Just how much He loves me
Understand that He is the hero with power to heal
And the hero you need to reach full potential
Without Him we are lost
Our lives become complete chaos
With Him we are made complete
And our full potential can be reached
A hero will recognize God's laws are for protection
And following them is the right direction
A hero too, will have struggles
But he will celebrate his troubles
For he understands that God is working on him
Molding his character and improving him
Look at the caterpillar when it goes into a cocoon
It changes into a butterfly very soon
Changing from a worm that crawled on the ground
To a beautiful butterfly that flies all around
God works to change us this way too
And yes, it is painful, I completely agree with you
But God is working to save you
He sees that you have a hero inside you too
Father in Heaven, take my hand
Open my eyes so I can understand
How my sin is damaging me
And how while I sin You can not fill me
I want to be filled with Your Spirit
So my full potential will be come apparent
Fill me with You and expose my gifts
So I can use them to uplift
My friends around me who are lost
Save them Father, no matter what the cost
I no longer want to crawl on the ground
I want to fly like a butterfly all around
Take my hand and show me the way
Break my bones and change my ways
I completely surrender my life to You now Father
Take my hand and lead me to water
I see that You are the only true hero
I will no longer worship zeros
Let the scales fall from my eyes
let me see my sin and wave it goodbye
I see now how my sin has damaged those who love me
Please Father, forgive me
Make me clean and fill me with Your Spirit
So the hero in me can become apparent
In Jesus' Holy name I pray
Tomorrow will be a blessed day
Amen