You Can’t Control What They Do | Dr Dharius Daniels | Sermon Notes — Hello Pastor

Sermon Notes

You Can’t Control What They Do

Dr Dharius Daniels

Change Church • Jun 28, 2024 • 6 min

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Take this message with you through a journey of Scripture, reflection, and prayer.

Summary

While healthy relationships require effort from both people, God only holds us accountable for our own obedience and actions. We cannot control how others respond to us or whether our efforts yield the desired results. True obedience to God must be unconditional, remaining faithful even when others lack appreciation or when outcomes fall short of our expectations.

Themes

Personal AccountabilityUnconditional ObedienceRelationshipsFaithfulness in ExpectationsSpiritual Integrity

Key Points

1.
It takes two people for a relationship to be healthy, but you can only control your own actions and obedience before God.
2.
God holds you accountable for whether you obeyed His command, not for how another person responded to your obedience.
3.
Trauma and personal tendencies in another person can sometimes make a peaceful relationship impossible despite your best efforts.
4.
Tying your obedience to someone else's reaction creates a conditional commitment rather than genuine devotion to God.
5.
The words people speak reveal the condition of their hearts and often explain why they are in their current life situation.
6.
Like the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace, our commitment to God must be an 'even if He doesn't' resolve the situation.
7.
The enemy uses a lack of appreciation or unfulfilled outcomes to demotivate us from obeying God in the future.
8.
Stopping your obedience because you didn't get the result you wanted reveals that your commitment was about the outcome rather than pleasing God.

Sermon Moments

“What God's going to hold you accountable for and what God's going to respond to you regarding is how you obeyed, not how they responded to your obedience.”

“I'm going to drop the mail off now. You can throw it away, you can do what you want, but I've fulfilled what I'm supposed to do.”

“Our God is able and our God will deliver, but even if He doesn't, we still will not bow down.”

“We have made a decision who we are going to be—we are going to be people of God, and we're not going to allow who you are to change who we are.”

“The enemy will use the lack of appreciation from others or the absence of a desired outcome to demotivate us from obeying God in the future.”

“When you stop obeying because it didn't work, that doesn't expose God—it exposes that your commitment was conditional.”

This Week

Focus your daily energy on controlling your own behavior and responses rather than trying to manage others.

Fulfill your God-given responsibilities in your relationships without expecting a specific reaction in return.

Reflect on areas where your obedience to God has become conditional on getting a desired outcome.

Adopt an 'even if' mindset, committing to remain faithful to God even if your circumstances do not change.

Guarding your motivation by ensuring you are serving and obeying to honor God, not just to get appreciation.

Refrain from allowing someone else's poor behavior or lack of receptivity to change your character or integrity.

Examine the words you speak during frustrating moments to see what they reveal about the state of your heart.

Remember This

God holds you accountable for your own obedience, not for how other people respond to it.

These are personal sermon notes shared to help you remember the message — not a replacement for Scripture, your church, or your pastors.