October 16, 2023 • 19 mins
Discover the contrast between cultural and Christ-like joy as we explore the impact of desires, appearances, and the need for recognition on our happiness. Unearth how these factors can trap us in a cycle of temporary gratification, and learn about the profound connection between pride, insecurity, humility, love, and authentic joy. Join us for a self-reflective journey towards experiencing the genuine joy Christ offers, breaking free from the pursuit of short-lived desires and enhancing our relationships.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Noah (00:08):
Hello and welcome to In Rest Podcast podcast with Noah
James Wiebe.
I am your host, noah, and todaywe are going to be talking
about joy.
Specifically, we're going to betalking about the difference
between culture's joy andChrist's joy.
So culture's joy versusChrist's joy is an amazing topic
(00:30):
.
But before I get into anything,I want to let you know that we
have a one-day free cruciblemasterclass coming up Saturday,
october 21st, and I want you tobe a part of it.
If you want to be joining me,youtube live on Saturday,
october 21st, get your name inthe list by registering for that
event.
(00:50):
You can go to the descriptionhere on Spotify or wherever
you're listening to this podcastor if you're watching it on
YouTube, well done, and go aheadand check the link in the
description.
You can also go to my Instagramin restinsta and you can either
send a DM saying crucible oryou could just check out the
link in the bio and sign up thatway.
(01:11):
But without further ado, hereis the episode.
Okay, so Christ's joy versusthe joy of culture.
When you think about the joy ofculture, you probably think of
something similar to a carnivalyeah, you might think of a
(01:31):
ferris wheel or the look of thelights reflecting off of a port
or harbor where an exhibition isbeing held.
Maybe you imagine somethingmore.
Maybe you think about a movieor a TV show.
Maybe you think about JerryMaguire in that scene where he
says you complete me, whateverit is.
(01:52):
You might think of culture'sjoy as an idea of wish
fulfillment.
Wish fulfillment, it's alsothis sort of a gratification or
satisfaction of a short term,usually lustful desire of some
kind.
And I want to say lustful Idon't necessarily mean sexual.
What I mean is also lust in thesense of I must have it now.
(02:18):
Oswald Chambers actuallydefines lust as not just sexual
lust but as an insistence that Ihave the gratification of my
desires met right now.
My desires, my preferences, myexpectations, I want them now,
and that's lust.
You know, anything of a lust ofthe eyes or the lust of the
flesh or the pride of life wouldbe something that first John
(02:39):
actually talks about as somewhatto the core of earthly or
worldly joy he talks about.
I'm not sure if he talks about,I think it's actually Paul
talks about it in 1 Corinthiansor 2 Corinthians.
But worldly joy or worldlysorrow, rather, is another topic
that is similar or maybe on thesame vein, or the opposite side
of the same coin, where worldlysorrow leads to death but godly
(03:02):
sorrow leads to repentance andlife.
So there's always this tensionand divide between life and
death when it comes to thecontrary nature of the flesh to
the spirit or to the things ofthis world to the things of God.
And so when you're looking atworldly joy, it's basically the
same tension, it's the sameproblem, it's the same dilemma.
(03:25):
So if you're looking at worldlyjoy, you're looking at the
satisfaction of the lust of theeyes, the lust of the flesh and
the pride of life.
If you look at hubris as ageneral theme in our culture,
this constant, unending ache foraccomplishing our ambitions,
meeting goals, being productive,it's actually exhausting.
(03:46):
Hustle culture is somethingthat this upcoming generation,
generation Z, finds nearlyrepulsive nearly not completely,
but nearly repulsive.
It's to this point wherethere's actually this increasing
divide between millennials andGen Z, because they just don't
see eye to eye on living thehustle culture way.
(04:09):
And so if you look at the prideof life and the satisfaction of
the pride of life, that's whatyou're looking at, and I won't
lie to you, I've fallen intothis trap too.
So if you're a Christian andyou've struggled with ambitions
and being a workaholic orwhatever else you've looked to
work to provide you a sense ofpeace, you know what that hubris
(04:30):
feels like.
It feels really good to getsomething accomplished and
actually it releases a lot ofdopamine in our brains when we
accomplish a goal.
And so it's not a bad thing toaccomplish goals and, of course,
god's people have accomplishedmany good goals, and even God
talks about how a noble manplans noble things and is
rewarded for it.
(04:50):
But when you look at the hubrisof humanity expressed in
today's hustle culture, it isnot something that leads to
wholesomeness, joy.
It's not something that leadsto, you know, an encouragement
of one's family, even if itleads to the acclamation of a
family or the acquisition of afamily.
Even if someone thinks about,you know, of gaining a family as
(05:14):
an ambition, sometimes that'sdone from a really selfish,
self-centered place and then,once they get there, they have
no idea how to handle a family,they have no idea how to take
care of one, because it's allabout them.
You know.
I think about the story ofGarrett White, who is somewhat
of a sensationalist coach guywho is an entrepreneur whatever
online entrepreneur and he youknow he talked about his initial
(05:36):
journey of struggling with whathe called the pit, this moment
of, you know, realizing that heis in rock bottom right now.
He had had an affair, he hadbuilt multiple businesses and
now they've all fallen apartaround him.
His wife and his children haveleft him and he's left with
nothing.
And all of that came afteryears of being successful from
the world's eyes, you know, andthat.
(05:57):
But regardless, he had this mixof boredom and burnout that
ended up him.
Ended up with him sitting onhis, you know, sitting in his
sofa chair, drinking, realizingthat he'd lost.
He'd lost.
Now, that's not to say that hiscoaching program is evil or
anything else.
I'm sure that it's really cool.
Wake up, warrior, I think it'swhat it's called.
But the point of it is that, youknow, hubris leads us down that
(06:19):
path to a pit.
Pride leads us to a pit almostevery time.
Remember that, or write it down.
Maybe, if you're in Glenda, doso folding laundry or driving
home from work today, don'tactually stop to.
I mean, you could stop to writesomething down if you're
driving, you know what I'msaying be safe, but anyway,
that's something good to writedown.
Pride always leads us to a pitnearly every time.
(06:42):
So when it comes to pride orhubris, that's obviously an
issue.
It's problematic.
First, john talks about it.
Obviously, the whole Bible hasstuff to say about pride.
You know, pride's a problemthat's called, you know, one of
the seven deadly sins, pride.
But pride is not just about,you know, exalting myself over
somebody else or a comparisongame.
It's also just about beingself-centered.
(07:05):
Cs Lewis defined humility as notthinking less of yourself, but
thinking of yourself less.
Get your head around that one.
Humility is not thinking lessof yourself, it's thinking of
yourself less or forgettingoneself.
Anne Voskamp, in her bookWaymaker, actually talked about
(07:26):
how joy, the key to findingmeaningful, true happiness, is
found in forgetting of oneself.
True joy, or godly joy, isfound in the opposite of pride.
It's found in humility.
Love is found in humility andinterestingly about both, the
first Corinthians 13 definitionof love love is patient, love is
kind, love is so on and soforth.
(07:48):
It mentions specifically loveis not proud, it's not boastful,
it's not rude, love is notself-serving meaning or in
another way meaning.
Love is not insistent on itsown way.
Love does not use ambition asan excuse for tearing others
down or not prioritizing othersor seeking one's interest over
(08:09):
another's.
And then, if Philippians,chapter two talks about that as
well, I mean when Paul istalking about hey, make my joy
complete by being of one mind,and yadda, yadda, yadda, he says
specifically do not look onlyfor your own interests, but look
out for the interests of others.
You all must have the samemindset of Christ Jesus who,
(08:31):
being in very nature God, didnot consider equality with God
something to be grasped, butrather emptied himself, becoming
nothing, taking on the veryform of a servant and in the end
took on obedience to death,even death on a cross, which is
the most humiliating way to diefathomable according to human
beings up until that time.
(08:52):
So humility, to Paul and theother writers in the scriptures,
is like crucial.
The church fathers talks abouthumility, talk about humility,
and every Christian spiritualwriter worth their salt, henry
Nalin or John Eldridge there's aguy I think it's Augustine
maybe, or someone else that saidthat the four, no, the three
(09:12):
main virtues of Christianity ishumility, humility, humility.
So I mean humility is crucial,but why?
Why?
Because it's so interconnectedwith love.
I mean, if you are living alife of humility, you're living
a life of love.
If you're living a life of rest.
If you're living in rest,you're living in humility.
(09:33):
It's meaning that you'resetting down your work in order
to prioritize Christ and others,christ, the gospel and other
people, not insisting that yoube the one to be exalted before
others, to always be thesmartest person in the room or
to look like the most smartperson in the room.
Really, the pride of life leadsus into insecurity, or
(09:55):
insecurity leads us into thepride of life.
Insecurity is deeply related topride just as much as humility
is deeply related to love.
If you are insecure, you areprideful.
My friend, I am sorry to breakit to you and I'm just.
I've been just the same way.
I remember when I first startedat my job at a Christian
university, my supervisor, whohad met me a few months prior,
(10:18):
said to me that when we firstmet, I'd sat down across from
her little work table desk thingin her office and she said yeah
, I saw it.
On the first day I met you Likethis guy who's done a lot of
good things or whatever, butyou're super insecure and I was.
I totally was.
Now I'd come out of a season oflike really deep toxicity where
(10:38):
I was not prioritizing my family.
I was burning myself out duringCOVID, to, you know, make up
for stuff at work, and I wastaking on other people's
responsibility so that I couldlook like I was doing my job.
There was a lot of insecuritybut also big damage to my
confidence.
So everywhere I went I justcarried this like cloak of
insecurity and non-confidenceeverywhere I went.
But that was prideful, you know.
(10:59):
It was actually self-centeredto the point where I never
stopped thinking about myself.
I only thought about me, youknow, and that's not to say I
never stopped.
I mean, of course, I stoppedthinking about myself Sometimes.
I had a lot of joys in my lifein that season.
But what I mean is, or what I'mgetting at, is that, like anyone
, everyone goes through that andinsecurity can be rooted back
(11:23):
to feeling unloved in their past, right and so like.
But you see that right, seethat relationship, see that
correlation.
People who struggle withinsecurity tend to not have a
secure attachment to theirparents or to people that were
meant to love them.
They have a hard time buildingfriendships and relationships.
That may seem like a narcissistor a vulnerable narcissist,
which is a, you know, a funalteration of narcissism.
(11:45):
You should look into it, googleit vulnerable narcissism.
It's basically insecurity,pride on steroids.
So anyway, the point is, itdoesn't matter what you're going
through.
If you've got insecurity inyour life, you got pride, and
usually that means you're not.
You're not living a life oflove.
That's just the facts, man, noprinter.
Anyway, I'm not supposed to saythat stuff because I'm not Gen
(12:08):
Z.
I look Gen Z though, so I getaway with it all the time.
Anyway, the point is, if you'reprideful, you're not loving the
end.
That's the way it goes.
But here's the thing.
That's not the only lust thatwe're dealing with, right?
So I'm gonna come back to loveand humility in a minute and its
relationship to joy.
So, lust of the eyes, lust ofthe flesh, the pride of life,
(12:28):
lust of the flesh.
Come on, guys, this is prettyeasy.
I mean, like it speaks foritself.
Lust of the flesh is any kindof thing that your body is
connected to in terms of itsdesiring.
That could be food, it could bea particular drink, it could be
alcohol, it could be a sexualrelationship, it could be
pornography.
It could be an inappropriaterelationship with someone, even
(12:49):
if it's just emotional.
You know it's an adulteroussituation.
You know there have been momentsin my life when I was
especially when in my teen yearswhere I struggled almost
unendingly with lust of theflesh.
You know, whether that wasbinge eating or it was
struggling with, you know,sexual relationships, or
struggling with internetpornography, whatever it was, I
(13:11):
mean all over the place.
I just had a hard time havingany sense of conteminence or
peace Because I was alwaysgiving in to these lusts.
And even now, god continues toencourage me, empower me and
help me and challenge me andcorrect me in order to master
the flesh and to say no, you arenot the boss here, jesus is the
boss and I'm in charge of you.
(13:32):
You are not the master here,but most of us.
If there's areas where we'restruggling in the lust of the
flesh, usually there's issuesunderneath that inclination that
we haven't addressed yet, or ifwe have addressed them, we're
not really putting them intopractice.
We're not really letting thosethings make their whole way into
(13:52):
our life.
Now, that's not to say we'renot trying to fight the lust of
the flesh, but there are timeswhen we fight a losing battle
because we're not addressingcertain issues.
Take, for example, the issuewith the issue with pornography.
So a lot of times.
One of the things that I didwith research into internet
pornography, especially as ateen, was why do I keep
(14:14):
struggling with this?
Even if I don't want to do it,even if I don't want to go to
this thing for comfort, why do Ikeep doing it?
So I looked into it andapparently internet pornography
is actually linked to a lack inintimacy, and this intimacy is
actually connected not just toromantic relationships, but is
also connected to friendshipsand love in other express and
(14:36):
other ways.
Up until that time in my life Ireally wasn't experiencing the
love of God in a knowing kind ofway.
I mentioned Anne Voskamp earlier.
She talked about in her bookWaymaker about this iyadah,
iyadah knowing of God, which istalked about throughout the Old
Testament scriptures.
That's a Hebrew word.
Iyadah means no, or no byexperience, and that's how Adam
(14:59):
knew his wife.
That's like intimate knowledge,but it's also how God knows us.
It's also how we know God.
It's also how we know our closepersonal friends.
So when we are getting to knowsomeone, we're getting to iyadah
them.
We're getting to know them inan intimate way.
We learn about someone, factsabout someone, or facts about
(15:22):
something like a hippopotamus orwhatever else.
Whatever the facts you arelearning about, it's just
prepositions, it's just momentsof like hey, this is what this
is about, here's the facts.
But iyadah, knowing is gettingto know intimately and
personally.
So a lack in that area, a lackof having any kind of deep
(15:42):
connection with other people,which, interestingly, research
has shown is connected toaddictions of any kind.
If you're struggling withaddiction of any kind, whether
that's drugs or alcohol, there'sa lack of connection in your
life and you are way like, morelikely to die early or die young
or die younger or die miserable.
If you are struggling with thisarea of connectedness, you're
(16:05):
more likely to struggle withheart disease and stroke.
You're more likely to struggleor to be diagnosed with cancer.
You're more likely to die of anoverdose or commit suicide If
you have bad connections in yourlife and pornography is no
different you are more likely tobe addicted to pornography if
you have a lack of intimacy inyour life.
So intimacy is not just aboutclose sexual relationship, it's
about friendship, it's aboutcloseness with the person, it's
(16:28):
about connection.
So my growth in my relationshipwith God, my growth in love, my
growth as a friend, as a dad,as a husband, has helped me
immensely.
Of course, the battle wages oninternally all the time.
I have to fight those thoughtsevery day, but that doesn't mean
that I'm an addict anymore.
(16:48):
I'm absolutely.
I feel like I got so muchvictory in that area of my life
because God helped me uncoverthis issue that was underneath
it.
He's actually more interestedin focusing on the underlying
issue as far as it pertains tothe solution.
(17:09):
Thank you for joining us forpart one of Culture's Joy versus
Christ's Joy.
So glad you're joining us forthis podcast episode.
Before you go, hey, thank youfor being a listener of the NRES
Podcast.
Thank you for watching this onYouTube or for subscribing,
leaving a five-star review.
All those things, thank you,thank you, thank you.
You add so much joy to me andto my life by letting me be a
(17:32):
part of your life and yourdevotional life with God.
Now here's the thing Before yougo, I want to let you know that
on Saturday, october 21st, weare being we're going to be in a
crucible masterclass, a freecrucible masterclass that I want
you to be a part of.
If you want to get on the listfor that, make sure you go to
nresinstag, go to the link inour bio and you can sign up for
(17:53):
that, or you can leave a commenton the YouTube or in Facebook
or send a message whatever.
Send a message to nresinstag,send a DM and say crucible and
I'll help you get registered forthat.
We're really looking forward tothat event.
We're going to be talking aboutthe five overlapping step
process of taking a crucial stepforward in our life and in our
(18:15):
life with God into a life ofgreater integrity.
Super excited for talking aboutthat.
Make sure you check out NRES onYouTube, on NRESLivingcom and
anywhere else that you find NREScontent like Facebook or
Instagram.
Become a follower, like thepages, subscribe to this stuff
and, if you're watching this onYouTube, subscribe.
(18:36):
Be a subscriber.
I would love for you to be apart of our NRES community.
Don't forget to join us forpart two of Christ's Joy versus
Cultures Joy as we continue totalk about the lust of the flesh
, the lust of the eyes and thepride of life and how we
overcome in those areas of ourlife, but specifically how we
experience Christ's Joy throughunion with Him.
(19:00):
Looking forward to being withyou for that Tune in next time.
Jesus loves you.
Live your best in Christ.
Bye.
Hello and welcome to In Rest Podcast podcast with Noah
James Wiebe.
I am your host, noah, and todaywe are going to be talking
about joy.
Specifically, we're going to betalking about the difference
between culture's joy andChrist's joy.
So culture's joy versusChrist's joy is an amazing topic
(00:30):
.
But before I get into anything,I want to let you know that we
have a one-day free cruciblemasterclass coming up Saturday,
october 21st, and I want you tobe a part of it.
If you want to be joining me,youtube live on Saturday,
october 21st, get your name inthe list by registering for that
event.
(00:50):
You can go to the descriptionhere on Spotify or wherever
you're listening to this podcastor if you're watching it on
YouTube, well done, and go aheadand check the link in the
description.
You can also go to my Instagramin restinsta and you can either
send a DM saying crucible oryou could just check out the
link in the bio and sign up thatway.
(01:11):
But without further ado, hereis the episode.
Okay, so Christ's joy versusthe joy of culture.
When you think about the joy ofculture, you probably think of
something similar to a carnivalyeah, you might think of a
(01:31):
ferris wheel or the look of thelights reflecting off of a port
or harbor where an exhibition isbeing held.
Maybe you imagine somethingmore.
Maybe you think about a movieor a TV show.
Maybe you think about JerryMaguire in that scene where he
says you complete me, whateverit is.
(01:52):
You might think of culture'sjoy as an idea of wish
fulfillment.
Wish fulfillment, it's alsothis sort of a gratification or
satisfaction of a short term,usually lustful desire of some
kind.
And I want to say lustful Idon't necessarily mean sexual.
What I mean is also lust in thesense of I must have it now.
(02:18):
Oswald Chambers actuallydefines lust as not just sexual
lust but as an insistence that Ihave the gratification of my
desires met right now.
My desires, my preferences, myexpectations, I want them now,
and that's lust.
You know, anything of a lust ofthe eyes or the lust of the
flesh or the pride of life wouldbe something that first John
(02:39):
actually talks about as somewhatto the core of earthly or
worldly joy he talks about.
I'm not sure if he talks about,I think it's actually Paul
talks about it in 1 Corinthiansor 2 Corinthians.
But worldly joy or worldlysorrow, rather, is another topic
that is similar or maybe on thesame vein, or the opposite side
of the same coin, where worldlysorrow leads to death but godly
(03:02):
sorrow leads to repentance andlife.
So there's always this tensionand divide between life and
death when it comes to thecontrary nature of the flesh to
the spirit or to the things ofthis world to the things of God.
And so when you're looking atworldly joy, it's basically the
same tension, it's the sameproblem, it's the same dilemma.
(03:25):
So if you're looking at worldlyjoy, you're looking at the
satisfaction of the lust of theeyes, the lust of the flesh and
the pride of life.
If you look at hubris as ageneral theme in our culture,
this constant, unending ache foraccomplishing our ambitions,
meeting goals, being productive,it's actually exhausting.
(03:46):
Hustle culture is somethingthat this upcoming generation,
generation Z, finds nearlyrepulsive nearly not completely,
but nearly repulsive.
It's to this point wherethere's actually this increasing
divide between millennials andGen Z, because they just don't
see eye to eye on living thehustle culture way.
(04:09):
And so if you look at the prideof life and the satisfaction of
the pride of life, that's whatyou're looking at, and I won't
lie to you, I've fallen intothis trap too.
So if you're a Christian andyou've struggled with ambitions
and being a workaholic orwhatever else you've looked to
work to provide you a sense ofpeace, you know what that hubris
(04:30):
feels like.
It feels really good to getsomething accomplished and
actually it releases a lot ofdopamine in our brains when we
accomplish a goal.
And so it's not a bad thing toaccomplish goals and, of course,
god's people have accomplishedmany good goals, and even God
talks about how a noble manplans noble things and is
rewarded for it.
(04:50):
But when you look at the hubrisof humanity expressed in
today's hustle culture, it isnot something that leads to
wholesomeness, joy.
It's not something that leadsto, you know, an encouragement
of one's family, even if itleads to the acclamation of a
family or the acquisition of afamily.
Even if someone thinks about,you know, of gaining a family as
(05:14):
an ambition, sometimes that'sdone from a really selfish,
self-centered place and then,once they get there, they have
no idea how to handle a family,they have no idea how to take
care of one, because it's allabout them.
You know.
I think about the story ofGarrett White, who is somewhat
of a sensationalist coach guywho is an entrepreneur whatever
online entrepreneur and he youknow he talked about his initial
(05:36):
journey of struggling with whathe called the pit, this moment
of, you know, realizing that heis in rock bottom right now.
He had had an affair, he hadbuilt multiple businesses and
now they've all fallen apartaround him.
His wife and his children haveleft him and he's left with
nothing.
And all of that came afteryears of being successful from
the world's eyes, you know, andthat.
(05:57):
But regardless, he had this mixof boredom and burnout that
ended up him.
Ended up with him sitting onhis, you know, sitting in his
sofa chair, drinking, realizingthat he'd lost.
He'd lost.
Now, that's not to say that hiscoaching program is evil or
anything else.
I'm sure that it's really cool.
Wake up, warrior, I think it'swhat it's called.
But the point of it is that, youknow, hubris leads us down that
(06:19):
path to a pit.
Pride leads us to a pit almostevery time.
Remember that, or write it down.
Maybe, if you're in Glenda, doso folding laundry or driving
home from work today, don'tactually stop to.
I mean, you could stop to writesomething down if you're
driving, you know what I'msaying be safe, but anyway,
that's something good to writedown.
Pride always leads us to a pitnearly every time.
(06:42):
So when it comes to pride orhubris, that's obviously an
issue.
It's problematic.
First, john talks about it.
Obviously, the whole Bible hasstuff to say about pride.
You know, pride's a problemthat's called, you know, one of
the seven deadly sins, pride.
But pride is not just about,you know, exalting myself over
somebody else or a comparisongame.
It's also just about beingself-centered.
(07:05):
Cs Lewis defined humility as notthinking less of yourself, but
thinking of yourself less.
Get your head around that one.
Humility is not thinking lessof yourself, it's thinking of
yourself less or forgettingoneself.
Anne Voskamp, in her bookWaymaker, actually talked about
(07:26):
how joy, the key to findingmeaningful, true happiness, is
found in forgetting of oneself.
True joy, or godly joy, isfound in the opposite of pride.
It's found in humility.
Love is found in humility andinterestingly about both, the
first Corinthians 13 definitionof love love is patient, love is
kind, love is so on and soforth.
(07:48):
It mentions specifically loveis not proud, it's not boastful,
it's not rude, love is notself-serving meaning or in
another way meaning.
Love is not insistent on itsown way.
Love does not use ambition asan excuse for tearing others
down or not prioritizing othersor seeking one's interest over
(08:09):
another's.
And then, if Philippians,chapter two talks about that as
well, I mean when Paul istalking about hey, make my joy
complete by being of one mind,and yadda, yadda, yadda, he says
specifically do not look onlyfor your own interests, but look
out for the interests of others.
You all must have the samemindset of Christ Jesus who,
(08:31):
being in very nature God, didnot consider equality with God
something to be grasped, butrather emptied himself, becoming
nothing, taking on the veryform of a servant and in the end
took on obedience to death,even death on a cross, which is
the most humiliating way to diefathomable according to human
beings up until that time.
(08:52):
So humility, to Paul and theother writers in the scriptures,
is like crucial.
The church fathers talks abouthumility, talk about humility,
and every Christian spiritualwriter worth their salt, henry
Nalin or John Eldridge there's aguy I think it's Augustine
maybe, or someone else that saidthat the four, no, the three
(09:12):
main virtues of Christianity ishumility, humility, humility.
So I mean humility is crucial,but why?
Why?
Because it's so interconnectedwith love.
I mean, if you are living alife of humility, you're living
a life of love.
If you're living a life of rest.
If you're living in rest,you're living in humility.
(09:33):
It's meaning that you'resetting down your work in order
to prioritize Christ and others,christ, the gospel and other
people, not insisting that yoube the one to be exalted before
others, to always be thesmartest person in the room or
to look like the most smartperson in the room.
Really, the pride of life leadsus into insecurity, or
(09:55):
insecurity leads us into thepride of life.
Insecurity is deeply related topride just as much as humility
is deeply related to love.
If you are insecure, you areprideful.
My friend, I am sorry to breakit to you and I'm just.
I've been just the same way.
I remember when I first startedat my job at a Christian
university, my supervisor, whohad met me a few months prior,
(10:18):
said to me that when we firstmet, I'd sat down across from
her little work table desk thingin her office and she said yeah
, I saw it.
On the first day I met you Likethis guy who's done a lot of
good things or whatever, butyou're super insecure and I was.
I totally was.
Now I'd come out of a season oflike really deep toxicity where
(10:38):
I was not prioritizing my family.
I was burning myself out duringCOVID, to, you know, make up
for stuff at work, and I wastaking on other people's
responsibility so that I couldlook like I was doing my job.
There was a lot of insecuritybut also big damage to my
confidence.
So everywhere I went I justcarried this like cloak of
insecurity and non-confidenceeverywhere I went.
But that was prideful, you know.
(10:59):
It was actually self-centeredto the point where I never
stopped thinking about myself.
I only thought about me, youknow, and that's not to say I
never stopped.
I mean, of course, I stoppedthinking about myself Sometimes.
I had a lot of joys in my lifein that season.
But what I mean is, or what I'mgetting at, is that, like anyone
, everyone goes through that andinsecurity can be rooted back
(11:23):
to feeling unloved in their past, right and so like.
But you see that right, seethat relationship, see that
correlation.
People who struggle withinsecurity tend to not have a
secure attachment to theirparents or to people that were
meant to love them.
They have a hard time buildingfriendships and relationships.
That may seem like a narcissistor a vulnerable narcissist,
which is a, you know, a funalteration of narcissism.
(11:45):
You should look into it, googleit vulnerable narcissism.
It's basically insecurity,pride on steroids.
So anyway, the point is, itdoesn't matter what you're going
through.
If you've got insecurity inyour life, you got pride, and
usually that means you're not.
You're not living a life oflove.
That's just the facts, man, noprinter.
Anyway, I'm not supposed to saythat stuff because I'm not Gen
(12:08):
Z.
I look Gen Z though, so I getaway with it all the time.
Anyway, the point is, if you'reprideful, you're not loving the
end.
That's the way it goes.
But here's the thing.
That's not the only lust thatwe're dealing with, right?
So I'm gonna come back to loveand humility in a minute and its
relationship to joy.
So, lust of the eyes, lust ofthe flesh, the pride of life,
(12:28):
lust of the flesh.
Come on, guys, this is prettyeasy.
I mean, like it speaks foritself.
Lust of the flesh is any kindof thing that your body is
connected to in terms of itsdesiring.
That could be food, it could bea particular drink, it could be
alcohol, it could be a sexualrelationship, it could be
pornography.
It could be an inappropriaterelationship with someone, even
(12:49):
if it's just emotional.
You know it's an adulteroussituation.
You know there have been momentsin my life when I was
especially when in my teen yearswhere I struggled almost
unendingly with lust of theflesh.
You know, whether that wasbinge eating or it was
struggling with, you know,sexual relationships, or
struggling with internetpornography, whatever it was, I
(13:11):
mean all over the place.
I just had a hard time havingany sense of conteminence or
peace Because I was alwaysgiving in to these lusts.
And even now, god continues toencourage me, empower me and
help me and challenge me andcorrect me in order to master
the flesh and to say no, you arenot the boss here, jesus is the
boss and I'm in charge of you.
(13:32):
You are not the master here,but most of us.
If there's areas where we'restruggling in the lust of the
flesh, usually there's issuesunderneath that inclination that
we haven't addressed yet, or ifwe have addressed them, we're
not really putting them intopractice.
We're not really letting thosethings make their whole way into
(13:52):
our life.
Now, that's not to say we'renot trying to fight the lust of
the flesh, but there are timeswhen we fight a losing battle
because we're not addressingcertain issues.
Take, for example, the issuewith the issue with pornography.
So a lot of times.
One of the things that I didwith research into internet
pornography, especially as ateen, was why do I keep
(14:14):
struggling with this?
Even if I don't want to do it,even if I don't want to go to
this thing for comfort, why do Ikeep doing it?
So I looked into it andapparently internet pornography
is actually linked to a lack inintimacy, and this intimacy is
actually connected not just toromantic relationships, but is
also connected to friendshipsand love in other express and
(14:36):
other ways.
Up until that time in my life Ireally wasn't experiencing the
love of God in a knowing kind ofway.
I mentioned Anne Voskamp earlier.
She talked about in her bookWaymaker about this iyadah,
iyadah knowing of God, which istalked about throughout the Old
Testament scriptures.
That's a Hebrew word.
Iyadah means no, or no byexperience, and that's how Adam
(14:59):
knew his wife.
That's like intimate knowledge,but it's also how God knows us.
It's also how we know God.
It's also how we know our closepersonal friends.
So when we are getting to knowsomeone, we're getting to iyadah
them.
We're getting to know them inan intimate way.
We learn about someone, factsabout someone, or facts about
(15:22):
something like a hippopotamus orwhatever else.
Whatever the facts you arelearning about, it's just
prepositions, it's just momentsof like hey, this is what this
is about, here's the facts.
But iyadah, knowing is gettingto know intimately and
personally.
So a lack in that area, a lackof having any kind of deep
(15:42):
connection with other people,which, interestingly, research
has shown is connected toaddictions of any kind.
If you're struggling withaddiction of any kind, whether
that's drugs or alcohol, there'sa lack of connection in your
life and you are way like, morelikely to die early or die young
or die younger or die miserable.
If you are struggling with thisarea of connectedness, you're
(16:05):
more likely to struggle withheart disease and stroke.
You're more likely to struggleor to be diagnosed with cancer.
You're more likely to die of anoverdose or commit suicide If
you have bad connections in yourlife and pornography is no
different you are more likely tobe addicted to pornography if
you have a lack of intimacy inyour life.
So intimacy is not just aboutclose sexual relationship, it's
about friendship, it's aboutcloseness with the person, it's
(16:28):
about connection.
So my growth in my relationshipwith God, my growth in love, my
growth as a friend, as a dad,as a husband, has helped me
immensely.
Of course, the battle wages oninternally all the time.
I have to fight those thoughtsevery day, but that doesn't mean
that I'm an addict anymore.
(16:48):
I'm absolutely.
I feel like I got so muchvictory in that area of my life
because God helped me uncoverthis issue that was underneath
it.
He's actually more interestedin focusing on the underlying
issue as far as it pertains tothe solution.
(17:09):
Thank you for joining us forpart one of Culture's Joy versus
Christ's Joy.
So glad you're joining us forthis podcast episode.
Before you go, hey, thank youfor being a listener of the NRES
Podcast.
Thank you for watching this onYouTube or for subscribing,
leaving a five-star review.
All those things, thank you,thank you, thank you.
You add so much joy to me andto my life by letting me be a
(17:32):
part of your life and yourdevotional life with God.
Now here's the thing Before yougo, I want to let you know that
on Saturday, october 21st, weare being we're going to be in a
crucible masterclass, a freecrucible masterclass that I want
you to be a part of.
If you want to get on the listfor that, make sure you go to
nresinstag, go to the link inour bio and you can sign up for
(17:53):
that, or you can leave a commenton the YouTube or in Facebook
or send a message whatever.
Send a message to nresinstag,send a DM and say crucible and
I'll help you get registered forthat.
We're really looking forward tothat event.
We're going to be talking aboutthe five overlapping step
process of taking a crucial stepforward in our life and in our
(18:15):
life with God into a life ofgreater integrity.
Super excited for talking aboutthat.
Make sure you check out NRES onYouTube, on NRESLivingcom and
anywhere else that you find NREScontent like Facebook or
Instagram.
Become a follower, like thepages, subscribe to this stuff
and, if you're watching this onYouTube, subscribe.
(18:36):
Be a subscriber.
I would love for you to be apart of our NRES community.
Don't forget to join us forpart two of Christ's Joy versus
Cultures Joy as we continue totalk about the lust of the flesh
, the lust of the eyes and thepride of life and how we
overcome in those areas of ourlife, but specifically how we
experience Christ's Joy throughunion with Him.
(19:00):
Looking forward to being withyou for that Tune in next time.
Jesus loves you.
Live your best in Christ.
Bye.
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