Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
Proverbs 4:23 “ Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
Has anybody ever lied to their…
Spouse
Boss
Kids - Promise to do something just to leave you alone
Parents - good thing my kids aren’t here
Friends
Social Media - We show the good, but not struggles/failures
It’s interesting when you think about the lies we tell. Why do we tell them in the first place? We want to be…
Popular
Included
Liked
Don’t want to hurt someone’s feeling
Pride/Ego
So, who do we lie to the most? Research shows the person we lie to the most is OURSELVES.
We may say things like…
I’ll do it tomorrow - when know you have no intention to
I can stop at any time - when I really can’t
I’m fine - when I’m really not fine
I don’t care what anyone thinks - when we really do
It’s not that big of a deal - when it really is that big of a deal
Jeremiah 17:9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”
Our behaviors are born in our hearts
If you want to change your life, change your habits. But if you want to change your habits you have to start by changing your HEART
the Habit of Self Examination
Psalm 139: 23-24 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me to the way of everlasting.”
2 Samuel 11:1
“1 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, ( For context, in that part of the world, wars were not usually fought during the winter months due to the cold and rain because it made travel difficult) David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem (David should have been out in the battle, but he stayed behind.)
Galatians 5:16 “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”
2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. (The Hebrew verb form of WALK suggest that David paced back and forth on the roof. He couldn’t sleep and was uneasy because he wasn’t where God wanted him to be) As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty (When I first met Pastor V - unusual beauty) taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. (This is significant because it proves she was not pregnant when she slept with David) Then she returned home. 5 Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”
6 Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” (David should have used this opportunity to repent to God and come clean with Uriah, but instead tried to cover up his bad choice) So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. 8 Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax.[b]” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. 9 But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.
10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?”
11 Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents,[c] and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.” (This is demonstration of Uriah’s character and integrity)
12 “Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. (David is doing everything he can to get Uriah to go home and be with his wife as part of this cover up)
14 So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. (David trust Uriah not to read his own murder letter, because David knows Uriah is a man of integrity and honor) 15 The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” 16 So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. 17 And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.”
David would rationalize his choices and the consequences include:
Wrecking 2 families
Committed adultery
Committed Murder
With each bad choice David made, he didn’t recognize the road he was heading down because we are masters of self deception.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things.”
The choices we make today will determine the choices we have tomorrow
Psalm 36:2 “In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin”
5 Ways Our Self Deception Manifests Itself
Addiction to Distraction
*Manic Cheeriness*
Judgementalism
*Defensiveness*
Cynicism
And that is the very thing David did - he deceived himself and his life fell apart. In other words he stayed in denial about his condition.
This is why having an accountability partner is so important
2 Samuel 12: 1-6 “12 So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. 2 The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. 3 The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. 4 One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”
5 David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! 6 He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man!”