Sabotaged!

March 17, 2022

Sabotaged!

I have a friend who is always sabotaging themselves.  Sometimes it is pride that undoes them.  Other times it is greed that undoes them.  Still other times, it is envy that undoes them.

Self-sabotage is a sad thing to watch.  Bridges are burnt in relationships with family and friends.  Holy Spirit directed opportunities are missed.  God’s provision is often ignored or unappreciated.

A young man in his 20’s offended his father by demanding his share of his father’s inheritance.  The only problem was the young man’s father was still alive.  But still he persisted.  He was demanding and uncompromising and mostly clueless about the harm he was inflicting on his family.

Incredibly, the young man’s father showed amazing grace and gave his youngest son his inheritance.  It is interesting that the inheritance did not come in land, livestock, or property.  Instead, the inheritance was all in cash.  This must have added even more stress and strain on the family business.

What happens next is a story that is as old as humanity.  In Luke 15:13 we hear; “Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living.” 

The young man lived high on the hog until there was nothing left.  Finally, he found himself eating with the hogs.  Self-sabotage is a sad thing to watch.  So much of life and love as well as joy and peace is wasted.

The challenge of self-sabotage is that most of the time it is not as obvious to us as what the young man does in Jesus’ story.  Self-sabotage sneaks up on us.  We take several steps down the path before we even recognize that we might be undoing ourselves.

The problem with self-sabotage is that we miss the next opportunity the Spirit is giving us, we miss the next new friend Jesus is bringing us, we miss the opportunity for a life of holiness.  Self-sabotage convinces us that we are not worth much and we are not worth another chance.  We find ourselves continually doing ourselves in.

It is not hard to imagine you have a friend who is going down the path of self-sabotage…again.  Your patience is running low.  Your answers are running out.  Your prayers seem to make little difference.  I encourage you to not give up on your friend. 

Maybe a conversation and a prayer with your friend this week will finally make the difference.  It took the young man in Jesus’ story awhile to make the decision to get out of the self-sabotage.  When he did, forgiveness was possible and a new life began to unfold.  The Holy Spirit can do the same thing for your friend.

When that happens, their heart and your heart will be filled with delight in the Lord.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug