Background: David had a calling on his life to lead the nation of Israel but we never fulfill our ultimate calling without connecting with others through partnerships and alliances. The partnership and alliance with Saul’s son Jonathan was a divine relationship. They had a commitment and covenant together that meant each of them had one another’s back, worked together, and had a unity that would not be broken even though the enemy tried. Who are we in relationship with? How are we fulfilling our mission together with others in relationship? Part of surrender means we surrender the notion that we can go it alone or don’t need close community, friendships, and alliances.
Watch Video: King David series by Andy Stanley
Questions
- What got your attention in this teaching?
- The Golden Rule is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” until you
are mistreated. The world can change it to “Do unto others as others have done
unto you.” Is there a situation where you desperately “got even” or really “wanted to
get even?” - How’s your self-control muscle? What are things that wear down self-control? What
are ways to strengthen ‘self-control’ in a practical way? - Who do you most identify with in the story of David today?
Nabal David Abigail
Evil for good Evil for evil Good for evil
Maniacal Predictable Remarkable
Pray for each other in the area of returning good for evil, just like Jesus did.
Practice of Surrendering Stuff and simplicity
There’s a bumper sticker that says, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” We are told that the good life is found in accumulation. That more is better. We search for the things that will make us happy, yet happiness never comes. Or at least, it doesn’t last. Searching and coming up empty can bring us to a miserable place. The way of Jesus calls us to create space—in our schedules, in our homes, in our finances—for what really matters. It calls us to life with Jesus, to abide in his goodness, and enjoy life to the full in the Kingdom of God.
In this week’s practice, watch the following video first
Adele Ahlberg Calhoun defines this important spiritual practice: Simplicity cultivates the great art of letting go. Simplicity aims at loosening inordinate attachment to owning and having. Simplicity brings freedom and with it generosity. She sums up the goal of simplicity as: “to uncomplicate and untangle my life so I can focus on what really matters.” In her book Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us, Calhoun goes on to write that we are not to store up treasure on earth but in heaven!
Surrendering our stuff creates margins and spaces in our lives for what is important. Jot down a few key phrases that you heard and watch the video again, pausing to listen to what God may be saying to you as the topics Steve mentions come up:
- Relationship to God
- Relationship to possessions
- Relationship to others—in church and community
- Practice of giving
- Growing in awareness of values and aligning one’s life to reflect them
As you seek to grow in the spiritual practice of simplicity, keep in mind the list that Adele Calhoun presents. She says that the practice of simplicity includes:
- Assessing the things and activities that keep life convoluted, complicated, and confusing; working to simplify these things
- Setting priorities that flow from loving God above all else
- Downsizing possessions
- Cutting back on shopping and discretionary spending
- Eating simple foods
- Enjoying simple pleasures that require no expense
- Removing distractions and preoccupation with things
With the resultant God-given fruit:
- Living an uncluttered life
- Becoming clearer, more distilled as a person
- Creating more space in your life for loving and serving God
- Using simple, honest speech without dissembling and double meanings
- Experiencing freedom from envy and entitlement
- Being able to let go
- Staking your identity in God’s love, not accumulations and possessions
Resources:
These books can help you as you journey toward more freedom to enjoy God and the life
God intends us to have:
- Freedom of Simplicity: Finding Harmony in a Complex World, by Richard Foster (HarperCollins, 1981).
- The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows, James Bryan Smith (InterVarsity Press, 2009).
- Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, (InterVarsity Press, 2005).
Content was adapted and inspired by Steve Sikkink’s video.
