Traded My Comfort in for Character| Character Killers | Chad Veach

0:00 Hey, what's going on, everybody? Thank you so much for joining this week's message from Zoe Church LA. We are a community in Los Angeles that is all about the person and the message of Jesus. We're going to jump in to a brand new series in just a moment about character. Before we jump in, I want to thank every person that subscribes and shares our podcast. Thank you for rating it and helping spread the word. And I also want to thank everybody that gives. If you'd like to give today, go to our website, zoechurch.org, and you can hit give there. Thank you for your generosity. But let's jump into this week's message talking about character killers and the cost of compromise. If you have a Bible, go to Romans chapter 5. Go to Romans chapter 5. We are starting today a brand new series called Character Killers.

0:55 and no, this is not a graphic from Netflix, okay? This is, I wanna talk to you about the cost of compromise, the cost of compromise, because I believe what God is so dedicated to in your life is developing your character. Let me say it this way. God loves you today. This is good news. God loves you just the way you are today, but praise God he loves you way too much to leave you in the current condition that you're in. So God is developing something in you. In fact, I'm gonna use a tagline through this series a lot. You'll get to hear this one a lot but let me just, this is the best way I can frame it to you. God cares more about your character than your comfort because your character shapes your destiny. Your character shapes your destiny and a lot of us have to understand most of us are just concerned about our comfort. We want to be comfortable. We want to live a comfortable life. But I want to tell you, God has a different agenda in your life. God cares more about your character than your comfort because your character is attached to your destiny. And let's talk destiny. God's got a plan for your life. God's got something for you to do on this earth.

2:14 God's got a plan. Come on. Anybody thankful today that God has something for your life? And so God is shaping you, molding you, changing you, because this has to do with destiny. Destiny of legacy. Destiny of impact. Come on. Your children's children are going to be blessed because of your decisions. Generations to come are going to have an inheritance because of what you were able to grab a hold of. I want to say it to you this way. It ran in your family until it ran into you. And you're breaking generational curses. You're changing. Come on. You're changing the trajectory of your family. And you got to understand, you're worried about comfort. God's worried about character. Because God's not just worried about character.

3:07 He's worried about you fulfilling your God-given potential. He's worried about you fulfilling the destiny. Another word there we could use is calling. The plan that God has for you. So we got to get on God's agenda, not our agenda. I ski once a year. Once a year, we go on a ski trip. It's all we can afford, to be honest. So we go on a once a year ski trip. And when I'm out there with my boys, my boys, they go to ski school. And then when we pull them out of ski school, we do one run. At the end of the day, we do one run as a family together. And I'm always looking for the signs. When I take my guys, I'm always looking for the signs that say, easiest way down. Easiest way. Because that gives me a shot to get down. Okay? So easiest, I'm looking for the easiest way down. And then I've learned from experience, there's this other guy that comes skiing with us.

4:01 He's just out of control. He doesn't know the Lord that well. He's just a terrible tour guide. And he's always trying to take us down these diamonds that are black and these terrible conditions. And he's just, it's so irreverent. His name is Rich Wilkerson Jr. And he's the guy that's trying to get us to go down the hard stuff, okay? But I just wanna let you know that you're trying to find the easiest life you can find while God's trying to challenge you and develop you and prove to you that you can do hard things. So again, God loves you just the way you are. In fact, I would say today that the question is not if God loves you. God's love is unconditional. God's love is not based upon your behavior. God's love is not based upon your merit or how hard you work or how much money you give. God's love is not predicated upon your behavior.

4:56 God's love is determined by the power of the blood of Jesus. so the question is not does God love you God loves you the greater question is can God trust you God wants to develop character in you so you can become trustworthy we just got out of our great series love actually about dating come on anybody enjoy that series about relationships and dating and I'm telling you we had a singles night on Sunday night oh man we had all the single people in our church together, all the single people. It was amazing. You've never seen more people dressed up at Zoe in all my life. The lipstick and the, I'm telling you, you walk into the room, it smelled like Acqua di Gio. I'm just telling you right now. And people came shopping. People came secret shopping. People just, you know, like holding their coffee and just looking around.

5:49 You know, and I'm happy. Praise God it was a success. We've heard of some dates that happened out of it. Come on. We're just trying to help somebody. Help us help you. Come on, somebody. But I'm just telling you all the dating people in the church, we want you to find somebody with proven character. You know, somebody that will look at you and you believe them in sickness and in health, in rich and in poor, in the good times in life, in the bad times in life. You don't need to be connected with somebody that will love you when it's good because sometimes life is bad, and you've got to find somebody that'll be committed to you. That is character, not comfort. Look here, Romans chapter five. Watch what the scripture says. Look at this verse. We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance, like all the marathon runners today, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

6:59 And this hope will not lead us into disappointment for we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. So one of the first things that you gotta understand is that we're confident that God is shaping my character and he's developing my character out of love, not anger. He is developing my character out of destiny, not disappointment. He's developing my character because he's committed to me, and he sees something better for me than I see for myself. So we're confident that it's his love. It's not his wrath. It's not his anger. It's his love that he's committed to developing and taking me into a greater place than I am today. Amen? Watch this. Let me give you a working definition of character. Character refers to the moral qualities that define a person's inner life, and those moral qualities determine their actions.

7:56 It's a reflection of their heart, integrity, and their relationship with God. Character is also about who someone is when no one is watching. So I don't know if you caught all of that, but character is who you are. when it doesn't matter if you're here on a Sunday like, you have no rival. You know, that's fine. Praise God. I don't care if it's a minor version or the regular version. Doesn't matter. It's getting spooky. Okay, fine. I don't really care. I don't really care. We're here together, and I'm enjoying all of it. But it doesn't matter. Come on, you were thinking the same thing. okay whoa all right doesn't matter your character when we're all together it matters who you are when you're alone on the 405 yikes so character is who you are in your heart character has to do with your integrity and character is a reflection of your relationship with god character is not a reflection of your relationship with your best friend or your spouse character is a reflection of your relationship with god and so god is developing good things in your heart he's developing good integrity so that you're just as good when no one is watching as when everyone is watching.

9:20 You're just as good in public as you are in private. That's character. So God works on that. A lot of us want fruit, but the Lord always works on the root of things because the fruit of things are a result of the root of things. In fact, let me show you another definition of character. Character is rooted in the heart than built on the foundation of righteousness. It's rooted. Character starts in our heart. So it's heart issues. God works in our heart issues because he knows if he can deal with the root of things, then out of that will grow and develop the fruit of things. Anybody want good fruit in their life? Let me just see your hand. Yeah, so he works on the root of your heart and heart level, heart issues to develop good character. And if you're wondering what are character issues, I'm just going to show you some on the screen. Character issues have to do with lying,

10:18 deceitfulness, laziness, greed, materialism, arrogance, entitlement, sexual immorality, impurity. What about a gossip, a slanderer, someone that has anger or unforgiveness, hypocrisy, a double life, jealousy, disobedience to God. All of these are character issues. And just so you know, God loves you so much, he did not call you to those things. He calls you to the things that are above. So if you deal with anger, God will develop peace. If you're a gossip, God will teach you discretion. If you're someone that sows bitterness, God will teach you how to be a peacemaker. This is all available through the power of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit. Come on, clap if you're thankful that God is concerned with your character. He's not just concerned with your character so you can have good character. No, he's concerned with your character because he's got a plan for your life.

11:13 And he knows you can never fulfill his plan for your life with faulty character. So he deals with small issues at the heart level so we can become who we're supposed to become. Somebody say amen. Look here at Proverbs. I love this Proverbs. Chapter 10, verse 9. Whoever walks in integrity walks securely. Whoever takes a crooked path will be found out. Ooh, I love that one. Psalm 15. Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless. The one who does what is righteous. Who speaks truth from their heart. God wants you to develop in your character because the cost of compromise is not worth it. so he deals with our heart stuff so we can become who we're supposed to become and walk in our God-given. Come on, everybody, clap together and thank God.

12:07 Come on, everybody at home, clap from your sofa and say amen. God deals with heart level, at the root stuff because there's things in our life that don't yet reflect Jesus. And God is so committed to you and I becoming more and more like Jesus. So he does not conform you so that you can be a good Christian. He is on the agenda and on the path. Again, you're looking for comfort. Do you like pina colada?

12:43 Reading Bibles in the rain, whatever. You want comfort. What does God want? Character. A lot of times we're on the wrong page with God. God's trying to shape something in you, form something in you, develop something in you. Something's missing. And he's not gonna stop until you look like Jesus. I love this scripture, Romans. Go there, Romans chapter eight now. For whom he foreknew, that's you, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. So God is gonna conform you till you look like Jesus. And I don't know about you, let me just see your hand. If there's areas in your life that don't yet look like Jesus, let me just see your hand. There's areas in my life where God is working on me so I look more and more like Jesus. So again, I know you want to take the easiest way down, but God's going to lead you into his path, challenges to develop in you proven character, character that counts so you can do what God has called you to do. Amen? Is this exciting to anybody? I get excited about the possibility and the future of it. So I'm gonna give you four things today. Here's the four things that God uses in our life to develop our character. Write down number one. He uses his word, his scriptures, the Bible, the B-I-B-L-E. Yes, that's the book for me. I stand alone on the word of God. These are all church people. Clap for all the church people here today. All the people dealing with trauma today. Amen. All the people healing up from their childhood. Praise God.

14:28 The Bible. The Bible. He uses the Bible to shape my character. Read here. Put up on the screen. 2 Timothy 3.16. Look at this one. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God and it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, in instruction in righteousness, so the man of God or the woman of God going to her night Wednesday may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. You know what the Bible is teaching us? The Word of God actually will correct us and rebuke us. I don't know anybody that goes to Zoe Church. It's like, one of my favorite things about being in church is like, I just get rebuked so much. And I don't know what it is about being in community. It's like I get corrected and I get rebuked. I joined this one connect and they rebuked me. So I left that one. I went to another one and they corrected me. And it's just the best. I don't know a person in the world that likes to be rebuked. That's all right. If you don't like a person correcting you, just open the Bible. It will correct you every day. It will correct your bad thinking. It'll correct your negative heart. It'll correct your faulty spending. It'll correct your lying, your cheating, your stealing, your manipulating.

15:37 Come on, clap today if you believe in the Bible. By the way, I want to encourage you. Bring your Bible to church. When I was growing up in church, we used to have sword drills. Who can take out their Bible the fastest? I didn't ask for your cell phone. Bring your Bible. I know you might not bring your Bible to work, but bring your Bible to church. Come on, somebody. And if you don't have a good Bible, go to Barnes & Noble or Amazon and get you a good Bible. But the Bible is so crazy because you think you're studying it and it's studying you. And it's showing you who you really are. How about Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12? The word of the Lord is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces the bone and the marrow, separates the soul from the spirit, exposing us for who we really are. You get it.

16:29 This book is not a dead book. Not an old book. This book will cut you up. This book is like your personal Zorro. It will cut you in peace. Cut up your bad thinking. Cut up your old past. Cut up your dirty, filthy ways. If you sketchy, read the Bible. If you slithery, read the Bible. You need the B-I-B-L-E Bible. Come on, clap. Bible. Bible. Bible. Bible. We need more of the Bible. Don't get your 30-minute little fix in every Sunday and think you're going to be all right. No, there's more for your life than 30 minutes on Sunday. Come on, everybody clap for that one. We need the Bible. By the way, I'm excited to announce today we just released our devotional, Zoe Devo, our reading plan as a church is now on YouVersion.

17:28 Go to the Bible app, download the Bible app, and start reading the Zoe Devo. And if you start today, you'll be starting on January 1st, so don't start today. We are on day 75. We're the 75th day of the year, 75 days into the year already. And so start on day 75. We're all reading this together. Why do I encourage you to open up the Bible? Because the Bible, you know what's crazy? I mean, I started reading the Bible in September of 1999. The 90s. Michael Jordan's era.

18:03 And every morning I'd wake up, I'd drive to a Starbucks nearby Bible College, and every morning, 6.30 in the morning, I'd go and I'd order a grande vanilla latte and a scone. Before we knew what calories were. you couldn't pay me a thousand dollars to order a grande vanilla latte and it's gone today i'm kidding you could pay me a thousand yeah yeah i was messing with you i was messing with you there but I'd open up this thing, and you know, sometimes it was a story, sometimes it was a sentence, sometimes it was one word, just one word. Some of y'all looking for a word, read the word. I love saying stuff like that, man. It feels so savage. read the Bible. And so when I read the Bible, the character that's missing in me, as I dig through these pages, it's developing something in me to have the kindness and the character and the compassion and the generosity and the serving nature of Jesus through the scriptures. So the first thing he uses is he uses his word. Write down number two. The second thing he uses is his trials and his testing. Oh, I love this one. He uses his trials and his testing.

19:34 First Peter, look at this on the screen. First Peter one. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than crypto or gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ you know what Peter's saying Peter's saying I know that God has been testing you through various trials but God's doing that because he's developing something and he's seeing how real you are he's seen what you know what's gonna last he's seen if you came here just for the easy way down I came to church to get a blessing I came to church to get church to get some community I came to church for all the good stuff yeah yeah but God's got a plan for your life so he takes you through tests and he thinks he takes you through trials to develop what's missing in your life and I'm thankful today I've never been in a test going man thank you God I don't have any friends right now and I'm lonely and we don't got that much money. Thank you so much. This is, I've never been in a test that I love, but I know every test I've gone through has produced something in me that was lacking and that I needed. And notice how I said his tests and his trials, they are different than the trials that you put yourself in. You know, some people at church be like, man, you got to pay for me, man. You got to pay for me, man. I lost my job. My car got repelled, man. You got to pay for me, man. God's testing me. I'm like, yo, hold on. Let's not blame that on God. You didn't get to your work on time, and you didn't pay your car payment. That's not God's fault.

21:25 So I've got to discern what is on me and what is from heaven. What is God teaching me? What is God? God tests. Everybody that has strength today does not have an easy past.

21:49 Anybody you look at, you're like, wow. they went through some fires and some trials and some tribulations and they got to the other side and they went through them and they found a faith in them that was still praising God. Sometimes you're going to have to praise God through tears. Sometimes you're going to have to praise God through the midnight hour. Sometimes you're going to have to lay hands and pray for yourself sometimes. And most of us get this twisted because we're like, I want easy way down. But I'm telling you, when God is developing something in you, he takes you through trial and tribulation and testing because he's working something in you. Come on, everybody, clap and thank God. He's working something in you. Oh, I'm telling you, let's go Joseph. Let's just use one example. Joseph. Joseph gets thrown into a pit from his brothers. He goes to Potiphar's house. He goes into a prison cell and into Pharaoh's kingdom. And from the pit to the Potiphar, all the way to the prison and into Pharaoh's kingdom, every pea he ran into, he was still pea praising. And he wouldn't let it. Hello. If we're going to find a letter, just stay in the vein.

23:09 and some of us were like god i can only handle one thing you throw another thing i'm out of here and then we we end up in the second thing we're like really i thought it was over and god was developing and developing and training and you know out of joseph life comes a great deliverance because he was shaping him so he can handle the moment. What's God raising you up for? What's God developing in you that you're going to walk into? Come on, what is the fruit and the impact and the let off? Feel the Holy Spirit right now. Clap and thank God. He's doing. Just trust in him. Don't you worry about the pit. Don't you worry about the Potiphar's. Don't you worry about the prison. You worry about keeping your eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith. Give him a praise today. It doesn't matter what you throw at me, I'm going to worship. It doesn't matter what you throw at me, I'm planted in the house of God. It doesn't what you throw at me, I'm going to read the Bible. Amen? And so number one, it's his word. Number two, it's his test and his trials. Write down number three, it's his spirit. Oh, I love this one. It's the power of the Holy Spirit, the beautiful third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the Father, the Son and the holy what?

24:35 Yeah, so God uses his word to develop character in you. And then God will use tests or trials to develop his character in you. And then watch what God uses. God uses his spirit. Now let's talk about the Holy Spirit. By the way, next Sunday, I wanna give you a heads up. Next Sunday at our West Adams service in the 7 p.m., we're gonna have a prayer and prophecy night with Pastor Julia's dad. And we're gonna let, Pastor Julia's dad's a prophet. We're going to let him loose. He's going to prophesy over everybody. okay so i'm just i'm get brace yourself and y'all get all your sin away because you don't want to show up with sin when the prophet shows up it's not a fun night but he uses his word, he uses his tests, and he uses his spirit.

25:28 So let's talk about the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is my reminder. The Holy Spirit is my teacher. The Holy Spirit leads me into all truth. The Holy Spirit points me to Jesus. The Holy Spirit never makes much of himself. He always makes much of Jesus. So the Holy Spirit in my life is active, by the way, and the Holy Spirit is moving. Now watch what the Holy Spirit does. one of his roles is he is a convictor. And so the Holy Spirit will convict you and the Holy Spirit will say, hey, you're not allowed to watch that anymore. You're not allowed to talk that way anymore. You're not allowed to hang out with those people maybe anymore. And the Holy Spirit, why? Because he's dealing with character issues and he's burning them away so you look more like Jesus. This is what the Holy Spirit does. And the Holy Spirit convicts you. and let's just get a working definition of sin.

26:21 What is sin? Sin is, by definition, missing the mark. So let's just use basketball as an illustration. When I shoot baskets, I wanna make it in the basket. That means I hit the what? I hit the mark. If I miss the shot, I miss the mark. So if you sin, all you did was just miss the mark. Now the Holy Spirit, when you miss the mark, speaks to your heart and goes, hey, I've called you to hit the mark and I'm gonna teach you and train you on how to hit the mark. So the Holy Spirit doesn't let you just shoot wherever you want and just the basket's over here but you just over there. You look like a clipper, okay? You know what I'm saying? No, he's going to convict you of sin and righteousness. So the Holy Spirit's going to go, hey, you just told a lie. Why did you lie? Hey, hold on.

27:13 Why are you gossiping? Hey, why are you holding that grudge? Hey, hold on. The Spirit of God. Watch this. John 16. Put it on the screen. I love this. It says this. and when he has come, the Spirit of God, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment because they do not believe in him. So the Holy Spirit, this is the problem. Some of us, we don't like the Holy Spirit because we want the easy way down. We wanna live in comfort. And so anytime we feel bad about our sin or bad about our morals or bad about our ethics, bad about our speech, we're like, I don't like that feeling, and we try and push him away. No, the Holy Spirit is trying to develop your character so you look more like Jesus and less like your old life. So he's going to convict you. He's going to convict you on every area of your life. He doesn't do it because he's mad at your sin. He does it because he wants you to hit the mark.

28:07 He wants you to become like Jesus. I'm thankful today that the power of the Holy Spirit is at work in my life. Come on, anybody thankful today that the Holy Spirit hasn't given up on you yet? Remember, there's some people in your life that have quit on you, but God hasn't. There's some people in your life that have canceled you, but God hasn't. God has a plan for your life. And come hell or high water, he is not going to plan B. There is no plan B for your life. There's only plan A.

28:37 So watch what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit just keeps guiding, and the Holy Spirit keeps on comforting, and the Holy Spirit keeps on. So there's some comfort in there, you know, and he teaches, and he convicts. He convicts of sin and righteousness. The thing about sin, you gotta be careful, is because if you miss the mark one time, you're gonna feel bad, like, man, dang, I missed the mark, and I messed up. You miss it again, you're, ah, man, I kind of feel bad. But you miss it a third time, you're not gonna feel anything.

29:09 It's called becoming desensitized to the Holy Spirit. You cannot let your conscience become calloused. The more I walk with Jesus, the more sensitive I am to the Holy Spirit. So what does he use? He uses his word. He uses tests, his tests and his trials. He uses his spirit. Write down the last one, number four. He uses his discipline. He disciplines. He disciplines the ones that he hates. Now, he disciplines the ones that he what? He loves. So a way that we know that the father loves you is he disciplines you. What kind of a father doesn't discipline his children? I had never heard of it until I flew American Airlines.

30:00 And I saw firsthand. Oh, that's what that looks like. What kind of a father doesn't discipline his children? just looking for the easy way down and the easy life and I just want to do what I want to do and I want to spend how I want to spend and live how I want to live and the Father is disciplining you because it's attached to destiny it's bigger than right now he's working something in you isn't he he's messing with you right now isn't he He's talking to you about little heart stuff, isn't he? You know, like little things, you know? Little heart issues that will spring up and spoil the whole bunch. Watch what he did with his very own son, Jesus. Hebrews, look at this last scripture today.

30:55 Hebrews 12, while Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings with a loud cry and tears on top of it to the one that could rescue him from death. and God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. And even though Jesus was God's son, he learned obedience from the things that he what? Suffered. Yeah. So, so hold on. You're telling me that the perfect lamb of God, Jesus learned how to obey through suffering and you're expecting God to give you the easy way out? If he did it with Jesus, he's going to do it with you. He shaped Jesus the same way that he's shaping you. You learn how to have character over one obedience step after another obedience step, and he's just developing, and he's shaped. By the way, God's not in a rush. God's not in a rush. God's not in a rush. God's not in a rush today. He'll take all the time that you'll give him. He'll just bring you into his presence, and he'll do heart surgery on you, and you'll take that old man, that one that's bitter and broken and all messed up and I'm telling you the power of the gospel will change you from the inside to the outside and you get to the root level of stuff and from there he'll build it on a foundation of righteousness So Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he's about to die.

32:19 And he's saying things like, I don't want to do this. I'm asking you if I cannot do this, but nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. How do you think he got there? through time and time again, the Lord shaping his character so that at just the right time, at such the right time, he could step into his destiny. You don't think God's doing the same with you? God's using the things that you're going through right now, the moments you're going through right now, the relationships you're navigating right now, the season you're in right now, he's using it to put character in you that's proven. You understand? Man, the question today is not if God loves you. God loves you. God loves you so much. No matter what you've gone through, no matter what you've done, God loves you.

33:13 The question is not if God loves you. The question is, can he trust you? Can he trust you with the dream and the vision and the plan and the purpose that he's placed on your life? And I'm just praying for us here at Zoe. I'm just praying for us. Come on, everybody online. I'm just praying for us that we can become who we're supposed to become so we can ultimately do what we're called to do. Come on, if that's your prayer, Give God a clap of praise and a clap of thanks.