June 2, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on BOLD STEPS with Pastor Mark Jobe, we’re discovering Rock Solid Living. In your life, are you more of a giver or a taker? It’s an honest question to ask, given that we live in a consumer-driven culture. We’re often reminded to take care of “#1” at all costs … but is that what God wants from us … or is He calling us to more? That’s the question Mark answers as we continue our study on Rock Solid Living.
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S1 (00:00):
Today on bold steps with Mark job, we're discovering rock
solid living.
S2 (00:06):
You're not defined by your background. You're not defined by
your social status. You are not defined by those things.
You are defined by the presence of God. You have
something to give. You're a giver and you're not a taker.
That's the value of the Kingdom of God.
S1 (00:37):
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody
Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New Life Community
Church in Chicago. And Wayne Shepherd, in your life, are
you more of a giver or a taker? It's an
honest question to ask. Given that we live in a
consumer driven culture, we're often reminded to take care of
number one at all costs. But is that what God
(00:58):
wants from us, or is he calling us to more?
That's the question Mark answers today as we continue our study.
Rock solid living. If you've missed any of the messages
in this series, you can catch up online at Bold Steps.
But right now, here's Mark Jobe with today's message titled
Thou Shalt Not Steal.
S2 (01:18):
In Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 17, it says, cursed is
the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone. Now, in
an agrarian society, your land is your most important source
of income. You plow you till you plant and your
(01:39):
income comes from that. So if you lose land and
what some of the ancients would do is they would
move the boundary, they would move at night, they would
move the rocks that mark the boundary of their land.
And if they could move it over 3 or 4ft,
they would gain a whole stretch of land and increase
their income. But it was robbing their neighbor. And God says,
cursed Is the man that moves the stone. In other words,
(02:04):
when you rob your neighbor, there's a curse that comes
upon your life. The withdrawal of the favor of God.
First Corinthians chapter six, verse ten says, do you know
the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived. And then he lists a whole bunch
of things that will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(02:25):
And he among them he says, nor thieves, nor the greedy,
nor drunkards, nor the slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God. What I'm pointing out to you is
that God takes seriously the breaking of the Ten Commandments,
the Ten Commandments, but he takes seriously the breaking of
the eighth commandment that violates the nature of God's heart,
(02:48):
which is the heart of giving and turns us into takers.
One last verse I want to give you under this
is Malachi chapter three, verses eight and nine. It says,
Will a man rob God, Yet you rob me because
you ask, how do we rob you in tithes and offerings?
You're under a curse, the whole nation of you, because
you're robbing me. God is saying anything that you take
(03:10):
that doesn't belong to you. Anything that you owe someone else,
including what you owe to give to God. And yet
you do not give, becomes a curse to you. I
believe that giving and releasing jumpstarts a Kingdom of God
cycle in your life that counters the enemy's cycle of destruction.
(03:32):
Notice what the Apostle Paul told to the Ephesian believers
in Ephesians chapter four, verse 27 through 28. I want
you to listen to this. This is huge. I want
you to grasp this because some of you may be arguing, well, pastor,
I don't see what the big deal is. Okay, so
I checked out a half hour early at my job
(03:54):
without working. I don't see what the big deal is. Okay,
so I lied a little bit on my income tax.
Do you know I need the money a lot more
than the US government needs the money. Okay, so I
took a few tools from my job. Our tendency could
be to excuse it. What I want you to understand
(04:17):
is that it's not just about the quantity. It's not
about the dollar amount. What it's about is the seeds
that you are planting in your life, and the negative
effect that they can have. And you may be sowing curses,
so to speak, into your life without even realizing it.
Upon the violation of the eighth commandment, I want you
(04:40):
to see this. Ephesians 427 through 28. It says, the
apostle Paul says, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Now how many of you know what a foothold is?
If you don't know all you all you have to
remember is when you were in junior high And your brother,
(05:02):
your older brother was chasing you around the house because
mom was out buying groceries and he's chasing you around
the house. I'm going to get you. I'm going to
get you. And you run into your bedroom and you
slam the door closed and you think you're safe. But
you realize that although the door is almost closed, it's
not closing all the way. And so you slam it again,
(05:23):
only to realize as you look down that he's got
a foot in the door. Oh, and you can slam
it and slam it, but once there's a foot in
the door, then what comes next? Oh, you know, once
he's got a foot in the door, then he's going
to put his hand in there, his shoulder in there.
And before you know it, he will overpower you to
open the door, because when there's a foot in the door,
it gives room for more to go in the door.
(05:45):
And pretty soon he's in there beating you. And spiritually,
what God is saying is that when you give a
foothold to the enemy, it means that the door is
wide enough open so that more and more can start
slithering in through that foothold that you've given to begin
to bring about an atmosphere of destruction upon your life.
(06:06):
And so the Apostle Paul says, and do not give
the devil a foothold. And then he says, he who
has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work
doing something useful with his own hands, that he may
have something to share with those in need. Hold on
(06:26):
a second, he says. If you've been stealing. Stop the stealing.
Get a job. Get a job for what? To pay
your bills. He doesn't even mention your bills. He says
get a job so that you can earn income. So
that you can begin to share generosity into other people's lives. Why?
(06:48):
Because the Kingdom of God is about giving. The King
of the enemy is about taking. Anytime you see a taker,
it's part of the Kingdom of God value system. Anytime
you see a giver, it's part of the Kingdom of
God value system. The takers. The Kingdom of the darkness
value system giver is a Kingdom of God value system.
(07:09):
And you need to ask yourself, what kind of mentality
do I have? If you got into marriage thinking, well,
why did you get married? Well, I have needs. I
want them met. I need someone to love me. I
need someone to give me companionship. I need to have
sex on a regular basis. And I'm thinking maybe I
have someone to do my dishes. Do my laundry. You know,
(07:31):
my mother says I'm 30 years old. I should do
that on my own. She's not doing it anymore. So
I got married because I have knees, let me tell you.
Wrong answer. But here's what happens. As soon as your
needs stopped being met, you will feel like I want
out of this deal because my needs are not being met.
And you entered into that relationship with a taker mentality.
(07:52):
Let me tell you how God wants you to enter
into that relationship. You enter into that relationship saying to yourself,
I want to go in. I want to give of
my love. I want to give of my heart. I
want to pour into this. I want to serve. I
want to flow. Give as much to this relationship as
I can. And the byproduct of you giving was that
(08:13):
you will receive in return, but you go in with
a giving mentality. Kingdom of God mentality. We go into
a community, and our mentality, even as a people of God,
needs to be a giving mentality, not a taking mentality.
(08:36):
Even as a believer, as you come to a community
of faith like this, you could you could take on
a takers mentality and you could ask yourself, well, I'm
going to see what I can get out of this service.
I hope I get a lot. I hope I like
the songs that they choose. I hope the message is
for me. And if I if I can get, then
I'm okay with it. If I don't feel like I'm getting,
(08:57):
then I'm not okay with it. And you can come
with that mentality, but I call that an immature mentality. Oh,
I hope you receive and I hope you get. But
maybe not every service you're going to get as much
as the other service. But I believe that a mature mentality,
a kingdom of God mentality comes into a community of faith,
not only saying, I hope this will be a blessing,
but I hope I can be a blessing. And you
(09:21):
enter in. Yeah, this is how you enter in God.
I know that every Sunday, with 1400 people meeting at
our midway campus, I know that there's someone that's going
to be discouraged, someone that's going to have maybe marital trouble,
or contemplated suicide, or lost their job, or praying for
a prodigal son. And so, God, I pray that as
I go to church this morning, oh God, help me
(09:43):
to be a blessing to someone I hope I can minister, encourage, deposit.
I'm going to be looking to do something to give away,
to help someone out. Because I'm not just coming to
take man. I'm coming to give.
S1 (10:01):
While you're listening to pastor Mark Jobe, and we're taking
a brief pause from today's message to remind you that
we would love to hear from you. Your encouragement, your comments,
regardless of what they are, are important to us. And Mark, recently,
in that light, you made a statement on the program
that in Chicago, we have one of the most bigoted
cities in the U.S. and that got some response from
(10:23):
some listeners.
S3 (10:24):
Yeah. So let me first of all say that I
love Chicago, and I've lived here for many, many years.
My wife was born and raised in Chicago's Southwest Side.
But when I started pastoring in Chicago, I also realized
that there is a lot of segregation, and I pastor
(10:46):
a largely minority congregation there, a lot of different ethnic groups.
And I came to realize that there has been a
lot of polarization, racism in the city of Chicago. And
that's not just my opinion. Sociologists study cities say that
Chicago has been one of those cities that has struggled
(11:07):
a lot. I want to say, praise God that he
is doing a lot in this city, and praise God
that he's breaking down barriers, but not with a lot
of fight. And when I look across our congregation on
Sunday morning or look at our worship team. African American, Asian. Hispanic.
White worshiping together. It reminds me of a piece of heaven,
(11:32):
but it also reminds me, as I minister in cities
like Chicago, there's a lot of places around the US
that there's still a lot of work to do.
S1 (11:42):
Amen. Yeah. And thank God for churches like New Life
Community Church that I think are doing the right thing
in this city.
S3 (11:49):
Yeah. I remind our congregation, oftentimes, look around, there are
people because of their skin color or the background that
they came from, that in your former life you would
have nothing to do with. But now you call them
my brother. My sister. And I think the church should
be leading the way.
S1 (12:08):
Well, we thank that listener for contacting us with that comment, Mark.
You can connect with us on our social media platforms
like Facebook or Instagram, or contact us through our website boldsystems.org.
All right. Let's jump back into the second half of
today's message now.
S2 (12:28):
If you take on that mentality, do you also say,
I want to serve, not pay? You know, it was
hard to find parking today. I hope those parking guys
get it together. You may want to say, hey, I
want to offer to serve in the parking lot once
a month. Bless. Giving mentality says I'm not just coming
(12:49):
to see how my needs can be met. I'm not
a consumer. I'm a giver. I'm a part. Jesus. When
he came to earth, Jesus said, I did not come
to be served, but I came to serve. He was
the Son of God. He could have asked that everybody
would meet his needs, that everybody would bow, that everybody would, would,
would cater to him in everything. But instead Jesus said,
(13:12):
I have come to serve. And he, he, he gave
of himself. He gave of his love. He gave to
the poor, he gave to the needy, and ultimately he
gave his life. Why? He's building a culture. It's called
the Kingdom of God culture. It's a culture that releases.
It's a culture that gives. It gives. It's a culture
(13:33):
that thrives in generosity. It's the opposite of stealing, the
opposite of taking. It's a giving culture that exists in
the kingdom of God. My prayer is that not only
in our individual lives, that we would take on a
(13:54):
giving Kingdom of God culture, but I pray that corporately
we would give a kingdom of God giving culture. That's
why my prayer is wherever we plan to campus. My
prayer is that that that we would be able to
bless that community because we give to that community, not
just take from that community. Let me give you an example.
(14:15):
Our our our team in Little Village realized that that
there's tons of violence happening in the summertimes and tons
of especially Latino youth killing one another senselessly. And we
happen to be in Little Village. We happen to be
on the border kind of on the on the border
line of two of the major gangs in the little
(14:37):
village community. And you know that whenever you're in the border,
whenever you're on the border line, that that's where the
friction happens. And so we decided a couple of years
ago that we were going to start a softball league.
So we started a softball league in Little Village. It's
different than more softball, most softball leagues, because 90% of
(14:58):
the people playing in that softball league are gang affiliated.
This year we had 20 teams, 300 participants. The great
majority affiliated with the gang. You say, well, why do
you want to do that? Oh, we want to do
that because we're givers and not takers. That's why we
want to do that. We want to do that because
(15:18):
we want peace in our neighborhood. So we do one
softball league on this side and another softball league on
that side. Some of the highest ranking members of some
of the gangs are part of that softball league. And
then at the end, we have a championship in which
this team plays against that team, against an opposite gang.
We don't do it in the neighborhood and we call
(15:40):
a lot of cops. We did it on our own.
We funded it on our own. This year, the city
of Chicago saw what we were doing and saying, hey,
you guys are doing this. You're doing a great job.
They gave us a $25,000 grant to run the softball game.
(16:04):
What am I saying? I'm saying that we are givers.
That from the very beginning we say, God, you have
given us something. We operate in the Kingdom of God
mentality of giving and not taking. We give life. We
don't take life. We impart hope. We don't take hope.
(16:25):
We infuse love. We don't just take love. We give
to people. We don't use people. The mentality of the
Kingdom of God is a king is a mentality of generosity.
It's a mentality that overflows. It's a mentality that says,
I have seeds to sow and I will sow those
seeds and I will reap a harvest of righteousness, but
(16:48):
I will sow, because God's heart is a heart of giving.
And as we give, we know that the byproduct will
be expansion of the kingdom of God and the values
of the Kingdom of God. Yesterday we did a community
fest in our Humboldt Park campus, which is a very
rough little neighborhood that we're in there. I got a
(17:10):
couple text messages early in the afternoon about 11:00 or so,
and they said, hey, pray for us, pastor, because, um,
we're trying to put on a community fest with music
and games and stuff for a community that's super dysfunctional.
A lot of gangs, a lot of violence, a lot
of stuff going on there. And they said, pray for us,
because there had just been a drive by shooting on opposite.
(17:36):
People heard that we were doing a fest there and
wanted to disrupt it for the people in the community.
So they drove by and there was a drive by
shooting in on the block that we're about to do
a a community fest in. The good thing is the
alderman had dropped by to see how things were going.
So he got to experience a little drive by shooting
of his own. I called Pastor Danny up and said,
(17:59):
how are we doing, pastor? What's going on there? He said, man,
I call him up in the afternoon. Later he said,
we're going full fledged. We got the band going, the
people coming out, man, that's not going to stop us.
We're not going to let the enemy stop us from
what God has called us to do. What is that?
It's a giving. It's it's it's a giving kingdom of
(18:20):
God atmosphere. Instead of taking kingdom of God atmosphere. I
believe listen to me. Well, the reason that we're givers
is that we have something to give. If you have
the Spirit of God in your heart and the Holy
Spirit dwells inside of you, I don't care what your
bank account says you are, you are not defined by
the money that is currently in your savings account. You
(18:43):
are defined by the presence of God in your life.
And if you have God, you have something to give
every single one of us here. Listen, you're not defined
by your background. You're not defined by your social status.
You're not defined by whether you are employed or unemployed.
You are not defined by whether you have a criminal
record or do not. You're not defined by whether you
(19:05):
have a BA degree, in Ma degree or no degree
at all. You are not defined by those things. You
are defined by the presence of God. And if you
are a possessor of the Holy Spirit and the presence
of God, you have something to give. You're a giver
and you're not a taker. You bless. You don't use.
(19:27):
That's the that's the value of the kingdom of God.
Thou shalt not steal. You will never flow from a
take mentality to a give mentality, unless you first of
all understand what you have in God. If you view
(19:53):
yourself as poor, if you view yourself as undeserving, If
you view yourself as no identity. If you view yourself
as having nothing inside, then you will have a need mentality.
In every relationship you're in, every job that you're in,
(20:13):
you will take more than you give. Every group that
you're in, you will take more than you give. You'll
look for opportunities to take advantage of people because that
is built out of a need mentality. That's not who
you are. Look me in the eyes. I want you
just to see the whites of your eyes. That is
(20:34):
not who you are. You're not a taker. You're a giver.
Give the power to give. Spirit of God, the right
to give. The obligation to give. The beauty to give.
You're a giver, not a taker. Dads, you're a giver,
(20:55):
not a taker. Moms, you're a giver, not a taker. Employees.
You're a giver, not a taker. Employers. You're a giver,
not a taker. That's that's your DNA. That's the Kingdom
of God mentality. We live in a dog eat dog world.
We live in a world that's taking, taking, taking. You're
(21:16):
going to have to fight the culture and be a giver.
You say, pastor, I don't want to be taken advantage of.
Let me tell you, there'll be times that you will
be taken advantage of. But you know what? I would
rather err on the side of once in a while,
being taken advantage of as a giver than err on
the side of being consumed in the kingdom of darkness
is simply a taker.
S1 (21:40):
This is bold steps, and you're listening to the Bible
teaching of pastor, author and Moody Bible Institute president Mark Jobe.
We've just begun a new series on rock solid living,
and if you've missed any of the messages in this series,
you can catch up online at Bold steps. Org. Well, Mark,
there might be some people out there who say, pastor,
I'm a violator of the eighth commandment. I take more
(22:01):
than I give. What's your message to them right now?
S3 (22:05):
Yeah, I would say that our natural tendency in the
flesh is to be takers. That's the nature of our
dark side, so to speak.
S1 (22:15):
Let's be honest about that, huh?
S3 (22:17):
But the most famous verse in the Bible, John 316
For God so loved the world that he gave. And
I think when you embrace the kingdom of God, and
the Spirit of God comes upon us and starts to
transform us, he shifts us from, what can I get
out of this? To how can I contribute and give
to this? And so some of you are going wrestling
(22:39):
through the old habits and nature and trying to put
on the new self made in the image of God.
And I want to say, hey, it is it's a process.
I acknowledge it's a difficult process, but I'm so glad
that you've engaged in it, willing to say, God, here
I am. Change me into a giver more than a taker.
S1 (23:00):
And how thankful we are for the word that holds
itself up like a mirror, so we can see these
things in our life.
S3 (23:05):
Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes we don't like what we see in
that mirror. But praise God that if we look intently
and are willing to submit to God, it's a place
of great transformation.
S1 (23:16):
Which leads me, Mark, to mention this brand new devotional
you've put together called Discovering Who You Are in Christ.
Sometimes we need to ask ourselves, who am I really?
And this booklet can help us.
S3 (23:27):
You know, in so many people, especially younger people, struggle
with identity issues like who am I really? And your
identity affects how you walk talk, how you live, how
you behave, how you think. If you have some labels
on you that define you in a way that's not
(23:48):
consistent with how God defines you, then it affects everything
about your life. And I think some of you need
to start ripping those labels off, and the only way
to do that is through the renewing of your mind.
And so this devotional helps you for 15 days start
to think of who am I in Christ? What does
(24:10):
God say about me? What does the Word of God say?
What is my true identity? 15 days of starting to
renew your mind.
S1 (24:17):
And 15 days will lead to a habit, won't it?
S3 (24:19):
That's our hope, is that you start down this road
and that you'll start to develop that sense of, I'm
going to start meditating, thinking and focused on who I
am in Christ.
S1 (24:30):
Well, it's called more than a label discovering who you
are in Christ. It's a powerful look at your identity,
not through how the world sees you, but how God
sees you. And Mark, I'm so glad that you've put
this together. Thank you for doing this. I'll tell our
listeners how to get a copy, but you see us
using it every day for 15 days straight.
S3 (24:48):
15 days in the morning. There's a little devotional thought,
and then there's some questions right next to it that
you can answer and fill out. But the idea here
is that you would meditate every day on your new
identity in Jesus.
S1 (25:04):
Sounds great. So if you've ever struggled with self-doubt, insecurity,
or just wondered why am I here? This study is
for you and we'd love to send you a copy
as our way of saying thank you for your gift
to Bold steps. Request your very own copy today of
more than a label discovering who you are in Christ
at Bold steps.org. Look for the devotional tab and click
(25:24):
on that or call 800 Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. I'm Wayne
Shepherd inviting you to join us again tomorrow. And Mark
explains the important meaning of the ninth commandment. The message
is called thou shalt not lie. And you'll hear it
right here. Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold
(25:45):
steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
Moody Bible Institute.
Today on bold steps with Mark job, we're discovering rock
solid living.
S2 (00:06):
You're not defined by your background. You're not defined by
your social status. You are not defined by those things.
You are defined by the presence of God. You have
something to give. You're a giver and you're not a taker.
That's the value of the Kingdom of God.
S1 (00:37):
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody
Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New Life Community
Church in Chicago. And Wayne Shepherd, in your life, are
you more of a giver or a taker? It's an
honest question to ask. Given that we live in a
consumer driven culture, we're often reminded to take care of
number one at all costs. But is that what God
(00:58):
wants from us, or is he calling us to more?
That's the question Mark answers today as we continue our study.
Rock solid living. If you've missed any of the messages
in this series, you can catch up online at Bold Steps.
But right now, here's Mark Jobe with today's message titled
Thou Shalt Not Steal.
S2 (01:18):
In Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 17, it says, cursed is
the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone. Now, in
an agrarian society, your land is your most important source
of income. You plow you till you plant and your
(01:39):
income comes from that. So if you lose land and
what some of the ancients would do is they would
move the boundary, they would move at night, they would
move the rocks that mark the boundary of their land.
And if they could move it over 3 or 4ft,
they would gain a whole stretch of land and increase
their income. But it was robbing their neighbor. And God says,
cursed Is the man that moves the stone. In other words,
(02:04):
when you rob your neighbor, there's a curse that comes
upon your life. The withdrawal of the favor of God.
First Corinthians chapter six, verse ten says, do you know
the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived. And then he lists a whole bunch
of things that will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(02:25):
And he among them he says, nor thieves, nor the greedy,
nor drunkards, nor the slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God. What I'm pointing out to you is
that God takes seriously the breaking of the Ten Commandments,
the Ten Commandments, but he takes seriously the breaking of
the eighth commandment that violates the nature of God's heart,
(02:48):
which is the heart of giving and turns us into takers.
One last verse I want to give you under this
is Malachi chapter three, verses eight and nine. It says,
Will a man rob God, Yet you rob me because
you ask, how do we rob you in tithes and offerings?
You're under a curse, the whole nation of you, because
you're robbing me. God is saying anything that you take
(03:10):
that doesn't belong to you. Anything that you owe someone else,
including what you owe to give to God. And yet
you do not give, becomes a curse to you. I
believe that giving and releasing jumpstarts a Kingdom of God
cycle in your life that counters the enemy's cycle of destruction.
(03:32):
Notice what the Apostle Paul told to the Ephesian believers
in Ephesians chapter four, verse 27 through 28. I want
you to listen to this. This is huge. I want
you to grasp this because some of you may be arguing, well, pastor,
I don't see what the big deal is. Okay, so
I checked out a half hour early at my job
(03:54):
without working. I don't see what the big deal is. Okay,
so I lied a little bit on my income tax.
Do you know I need the money a lot more
than the US government needs the money. Okay, so I
took a few tools from my job. Our tendency could
be to excuse it. What I want you to understand
(04:17):
is that it's not just about the quantity. It's not
about the dollar amount. What it's about is the seeds
that you are planting in your life, and the negative
effect that they can have. And you may be sowing curses,
so to speak, into your life without even realizing it.
Upon the violation of the eighth commandment, I want you
(04:40):
to see this. Ephesians 427 through 28. It says, the
apostle Paul says, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Now how many of you know what a foothold is?
If you don't know all you all you have to
remember is when you were in junior high And your brother,
(05:02):
your older brother was chasing you around the house because
mom was out buying groceries and he's chasing you around
the house. I'm going to get you. I'm going to
get you. And you run into your bedroom and you
slam the door closed and you think you're safe. But
you realize that although the door is almost closed, it's
not closing all the way. And so you slam it again,
(05:23):
only to realize as you look down that he's got
a foot in the door. Oh, and you can slam
it and slam it, but once there's a foot in
the door, then what comes next? Oh, you know, once
he's got a foot in the door, then he's going
to put his hand in there, his shoulder in there.
And before you know it, he will overpower you to
open the door, because when there's a foot in the door,
it gives room for more to go in the door.
(05:45):
And pretty soon he's in there beating you. And spiritually,
what God is saying is that when you give a
foothold to the enemy, it means that the door is
wide enough open so that more and more can start
slithering in through that foothold that you've given to begin
to bring about an atmosphere of destruction upon your life.
(06:06):
And so the Apostle Paul says, and do not give
the devil a foothold. And then he says, he who
has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work
doing something useful with his own hands, that he may
have something to share with those in need. Hold on
(06:26):
a second, he says. If you've been stealing. Stop the stealing.
Get a job. Get a job for what? To pay
your bills. He doesn't even mention your bills. He says
get a job so that you can earn income. So
that you can begin to share generosity into other people's lives. Why?
(06:48):
Because the Kingdom of God is about giving. The King
of the enemy is about taking. Anytime you see a taker,
it's part of the Kingdom of God value system. Anytime
you see a giver, it's part of the Kingdom of
God value system. The takers. The Kingdom of the darkness
value system giver is a Kingdom of God value system.
(07:09):
And you need to ask yourself, what kind of mentality
do I have? If you got into marriage thinking, well,
why did you get married? Well, I have needs. I
want them met. I need someone to love me. I
need someone to give me companionship. I need to have
sex on a regular basis. And I'm thinking maybe I
have someone to do my dishes. Do my laundry. You know,
(07:31):
my mother says I'm 30 years old. I should do
that on my own. She's not doing it anymore. So
I got married because I have knees, let me tell you.
Wrong answer. But here's what happens. As soon as your
needs stopped being met, you will feel like I want
out of this deal because my needs are not being met.
And you entered into that relationship with a taker mentality.
(07:52):
Let me tell you how God wants you to enter
into that relationship. You enter into that relationship saying to yourself,
I want to go in. I want to give of
my love. I want to give of my heart. I
want to pour into this. I want to serve. I
want to flow. Give as much to this relationship as
I can. And the byproduct of you giving was that
(08:13):
you will receive in return, but you go in with
a giving mentality. Kingdom of God mentality. We go into
a community, and our mentality, even as a people of God,
needs to be a giving mentality, not a taking mentality.
(08:36):
Even as a believer, as you come to a community
of faith like this, you could you could take on
a takers mentality and you could ask yourself, well, I'm
going to see what I can get out of this service.
I hope I get a lot. I hope I like
the songs that they choose. I hope the message is
for me. And if I if I can get, then
I'm okay with it. If I don't feel like I'm getting,
(08:57):
then I'm not okay with it. And you can come
with that mentality, but I call that an immature mentality. Oh,
I hope you receive and I hope you get. But
maybe not every service you're going to get as much
as the other service. But I believe that a mature mentality,
a kingdom of God mentality comes into a community of faith,
not only saying, I hope this will be a blessing,
but I hope I can be a blessing. And you
(09:21):
enter in. Yeah, this is how you enter in God.
I know that every Sunday, with 1400 people meeting at
our midway campus, I know that there's someone that's going
to be discouraged, someone that's going to have maybe marital trouble,
or contemplated suicide, or lost their job, or praying for
a prodigal son. And so, God, I pray that as
I go to church this morning, oh God, help me
(09:43):
to be a blessing to someone I hope I can minister, encourage, deposit.
I'm going to be looking to do something to give away,
to help someone out. Because I'm not just coming to
take man. I'm coming to give.
S1 (10:01):
While you're listening to pastor Mark Jobe, and we're taking
a brief pause from today's message to remind you that
we would love to hear from you. Your encouragement, your comments,
regardless of what they are, are important to us. And Mark, recently,
in that light, you made a statement on the program
that in Chicago, we have one of the most bigoted
cities in the U.S. and that got some response from
(10:23):
some listeners.
S3 (10:24):
Yeah. So let me first of all say that I
love Chicago, and I've lived here for many, many years.
My wife was born and raised in Chicago's Southwest Side.
But when I started pastoring in Chicago, I also realized
that there is a lot of segregation, and I pastor
(10:46):
a largely minority congregation there, a lot of different ethnic groups.
And I came to realize that there has been a
lot of polarization, racism in the city of Chicago. And
that's not just my opinion. Sociologists study cities say that
Chicago has been one of those cities that has struggled
(11:07):
a lot. I want to say, praise God that he
is doing a lot in this city, and praise God
that he's breaking down barriers, but not with a lot
of fight. And when I look across our congregation on
Sunday morning or look at our worship team. African American, Asian. Hispanic.
White worshiping together. It reminds me of a piece of heaven,
(11:32):
but it also reminds me, as I minister in cities
like Chicago, there's a lot of places around the US
that there's still a lot of work to do.
S1 (11:42):
Amen. Yeah. And thank God for churches like New Life
Community Church that I think are doing the right thing
in this city.
S3 (11:49):
Yeah. I remind our congregation, oftentimes, look around, there are
people because of their skin color or the background that
they came from, that in your former life you would
have nothing to do with. But now you call them
my brother. My sister. And I think the church should
be leading the way.
S1 (12:08):
Well, we thank that listener for contacting us with that comment, Mark.
You can connect with us on our social media platforms
like Facebook or Instagram, or contact us through our website boldsystems.org.
All right. Let's jump back into the second half of
today's message now.
S2 (12:28):
If you take on that mentality, do you also say,
I want to serve, not pay? You know, it was
hard to find parking today. I hope those parking guys
get it together. You may want to say, hey, I
want to offer to serve in the parking lot once
a month. Bless. Giving mentality says I'm not just coming
(12:49):
to see how my needs can be met. I'm not
a consumer. I'm a giver. I'm a part. Jesus. When
he came to earth, Jesus said, I did not come
to be served, but I came to serve. He was
the Son of God. He could have asked that everybody
would meet his needs, that everybody would bow, that everybody would, would,
would cater to him in everything. But instead Jesus said,
(13:12):
I have come to serve. And he, he, he gave
of himself. He gave of his love. He gave to
the poor, he gave to the needy, and ultimately he
gave his life. Why? He's building a culture. It's called
the Kingdom of God culture. It's a culture that releases.
It's a culture that gives. It gives. It's a culture
(13:33):
that thrives in generosity. It's the opposite of stealing, the
opposite of taking. It's a giving culture that exists in
the kingdom of God. My prayer is that not only
in our individual lives, that we would take on a
(13:54):
giving Kingdom of God culture, but I pray that corporately
we would give a kingdom of God giving culture. That's
why my prayer is wherever we plan to campus. My
prayer is that that that we would be able to
bless that community because we give to that community, not
just take from that community. Let me give you an example.
(14:15):
Our our our team in Little Village realized that that
there's tons of violence happening in the summertimes and tons
of especially Latino youth killing one another senselessly. And we
happen to be in Little Village. We happen to be
on the border kind of on the on the border
line of two of the major gangs in the little
(14:37):
village community. And you know that whenever you're in the border,
whenever you're on the border line, that that's where the
friction happens. And so we decided a couple of years
ago that we were going to start a softball league.
So we started a softball league in Little Village. It's
different than more softball, most softball leagues, because 90% of
(14:58):
the people playing in that softball league are gang affiliated.
This year we had 20 teams, 300 participants. The great
majority affiliated with the gang. You say, well, why do
you want to do that? Oh, we want to do
that because we're givers and not takers. That's why we
want to do that. We want to do that because
(15:18):
we want peace in our neighborhood. So we do one
softball league on this side and another softball league on
that side. Some of the highest ranking members of some
of the gangs are part of that softball league. And
then at the end, we have a championship in which
this team plays against that team, against an opposite gang.
We don't do it in the neighborhood and we call
(15:40):
a lot of cops. We did it on our own.
We funded it on our own. This year, the city
of Chicago saw what we were doing and saying, hey,
you guys are doing this. You're doing a great job.
They gave us a $25,000 grant to run the softball game.
(16:04):
What am I saying? I'm saying that we are givers.
That from the very beginning we say, God, you have
given us something. We operate in the Kingdom of God
mentality of giving and not taking. We give life. We
don't take life. We impart hope. We don't take hope.
(16:25):
We infuse love. We don't just take love. We give
to people. We don't use people. The mentality of the
Kingdom of God is a king is a mentality of generosity.
It's a mentality that overflows. It's a mentality that says,
I have seeds to sow and I will sow those
seeds and I will reap a harvest of righteousness, but
(16:48):
I will sow, because God's heart is a heart of giving.
And as we give, we know that the byproduct will
be expansion of the kingdom of God and the values
of the Kingdom of God. Yesterday we did a community
fest in our Humboldt Park campus, which is a very
rough little neighborhood that we're in there. I got a
(17:10):
couple text messages early in the afternoon about 11:00 or so,
and they said, hey, pray for us, pastor, because, um,
we're trying to put on a community fest with music
and games and stuff for a community that's super dysfunctional.
A lot of gangs, a lot of violence, a lot
of stuff going on there. And they said, pray for us,
because there had just been a drive by shooting on opposite.
(17:36):
People heard that we were doing a fest there and
wanted to disrupt it for the people in the community.
So they drove by and there was a drive by
shooting in on the block that we're about to do
a a community fest in. The good thing is the
alderman had dropped by to see how things were going.
So he got to experience a little drive by shooting
of his own. I called Pastor Danny up and said,
(17:59):
how are we doing, pastor? What's going on there? He said, man,
I call him up in the afternoon. Later he said,
we're going full fledged. We got the band going, the
people coming out, man, that's not going to stop us.
We're not going to let the enemy stop us from
what God has called us to do. What is that?
It's a giving. It's it's it's a giving kingdom of
(18:20):
God atmosphere. Instead of taking kingdom of God atmosphere. I
believe listen to me. Well, the reason that we're givers
is that we have something to give. If you have
the Spirit of God in your heart and the Holy
Spirit dwells inside of you, I don't care what your
bank account says you are, you are not defined by
the money that is currently in your savings account. You
(18:43):
are defined by the presence of God in your life.
And if you have God, you have something to give
every single one of us here. Listen, you're not defined
by your background. You're not defined by your social status.
You're not defined by whether you are employed or unemployed.
You are not defined by whether you have a criminal
record or do not. You're not defined by whether you
(19:05):
have a BA degree, in Ma degree or no degree
at all. You are not defined by those things. You
are defined by the presence of God. And if you
are a possessor of the Holy Spirit and the presence
of God, you have something to give. You're a giver
and you're not a taker. You bless. You don't use.
(19:27):
That's the that's the value of the kingdom of God.
Thou shalt not steal. You will never flow from a
take mentality to a give mentality, unless you first of
all understand what you have in God. If you view
(19:53):
yourself as poor, if you view yourself as undeserving, If
you view yourself as no identity. If you view yourself
as having nothing inside, then you will have a need mentality.
In every relationship you're in, every job that you're in,
(20:13):
you will take more than you give. Every group that
you're in, you will take more than you give. You'll
look for opportunities to take advantage of people because that
is built out of a need mentality. That's not who
you are. Look me in the eyes. I want you
just to see the whites of your eyes. That is
(20:34):
not who you are. You're not a taker. You're a giver.
Give the power to give. Spirit of God, the right
to give. The obligation to give. The beauty to give.
You're a giver, not a taker. Dads, you're a giver,
(20:55):
not a taker. Moms, you're a giver, not a taker. Employees.
You're a giver, not a taker. Employers. You're a giver,
not a taker. That's that's your DNA. That's the Kingdom
of God mentality. We live in a dog eat dog world.
We live in a world that's taking, taking, taking. You're
(21:16):
going to have to fight the culture and be a giver.
You say, pastor, I don't want to be taken advantage of.
Let me tell you, there'll be times that you will
be taken advantage of. But you know what? I would
rather err on the side of once in a while,
being taken advantage of as a giver than err on
the side of being consumed in the kingdom of darkness
is simply a taker.
S1 (21:40):
This is bold steps, and you're listening to the Bible
teaching of pastor, author and Moody Bible Institute president Mark Jobe.
We've just begun a new series on rock solid living,
and if you've missed any of the messages in this series,
you can catch up online at Bold steps. Org. Well, Mark,
there might be some people out there who say, pastor,
I'm a violator of the eighth commandment. I take more
(22:01):
than I give. What's your message to them right now?
S3 (22:05):
Yeah, I would say that our natural tendency in the
flesh is to be takers. That's the nature of our
dark side, so to speak.
S1 (22:15):
Let's be honest about that, huh?
S3 (22:17):
But the most famous verse in the Bible, John 316
For God so loved the world that he gave. And
I think when you embrace the kingdom of God, and
the Spirit of God comes upon us and starts to
transform us, he shifts us from, what can I get
out of this? To how can I contribute and give
to this? And so some of you are going wrestling
(22:39):
through the old habits and nature and trying to put
on the new self made in the image of God.
And I want to say, hey, it is it's a process.
I acknowledge it's a difficult process, but I'm so glad
that you've engaged in it, willing to say, God, here
I am. Change me into a giver more than a taker.
S1 (23:00):
And how thankful we are for the word that holds
itself up like a mirror, so we can see these
things in our life.
S3 (23:05):
Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes we don't like what we see in
that mirror. But praise God that if we look intently
and are willing to submit to God, it's a place
of great transformation.
S1 (23:16):
Which leads me, Mark, to mention this brand new devotional
you've put together called Discovering Who You Are in Christ.
Sometimes we need to ask ourselves, who am I really?
And this booklet can help us.
S3 (23:27):
You know, in so many people, especially younger people, struggle
with identity issues like who am I really? And your
identity affects how you walk talk, how you live, how
you behave, how you think. If you have some labels
on you that define you in a way that's not
(23:48):
consistent with how God defines you, then it affects everything
about your life. And I think some of you need
to start ripping those labels off, and the only way
to do that is through the renewing of your mind.
And so this devotional helps you for 15 days start
to think of who am I in Christ? What does
(24:10):
God say about me? What does the Word of God say?
What is my true identity? 15 days of starting to
renew your mind.
S1 (24:17):
And 15 days will lead to a habit, won't it?
S3 (24:19):
That's our hope, is that you start down this road
and that you'll start to develop that sense of, I'm
going to start meditating, thinking and focused on who I
am in Christ.
S1 (24:30):
Well, it's called more than a label discovering who you
are in Christ. It's a powerful look at your identity,
not through how the world sees you, but how God
sees you. And Mark, I'm so glad that you've put
this together. Thank you for doing this. I'll tell our
listeners how to get a copy, but you see us
using it every day for 15 days straight.
S3 (24:48):
15 days in the morning. There's a little devotional thought,
and then there's some questions right next to it that
you can answer and fill out. But the idea here
is that you would meditate every day on your new
identity in Jesus.
S1 (25:04):
Sounds great. So if you've ever struggled with self-doubt, insecurity,
or just wondered why am I here? This study is
for you and we'd love to send you a copy
as our way of saying thank you for your gift
to Bold steps. Request your very own copy today of
more than a label discovering who you are in Christ
at Bold steps.org. Look for the devotional tab and click
(25:24):
on that or call 800 Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. I'm Wayne
Shepherd inviting you to join us again tomorrow. And Mark
explains the important meaning of the ninth commandment. The message
is called thou shalt not lie. And you'll hear it
right here. Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold
(25:45):
steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
Moody Bible Institute.
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