{"id":3811,"date":"2017-01-15T11:22:50","date_gmt":"2017-01-15T11:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&p=3811"},"modified":"2018-01-09T15:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T15:54:48","slug":"i-have-labored-in-vain-i-have-spent-my-strength-for-nothing","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/i-have-labored-in-vain-i-have-spent-my-strength-for-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en English<\/a>. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.<\/p>

Over one hundred years ago, Teddy Roosevelt gave what would become one of the most widely quoted speeches of his career. \u00a0In addition to touching on his own family history, war, human and property rights,\u00a0Roosevelt railed against cynics who looked down at men who were trying to make the world a better place. \u00a0People like Isaiah, trying to turn the people of Israel back to God, and yet failing miserably at it.<\/p>\n

Teddy Roosevelt in this speech said:<\/p>\n

\u201cA cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities\u2014all these are marks, not … of superiority but of weakness.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Life is made up of challenges – for each one of us they are different! \u00a0And there is always going to be someone on the sidelines criticising your performance, as you struggle to be \u00abwonder woman\u00bb or \u00absuper man\u00bb. \u00a0And that intimation of failure often causes us panic, even despair.<\/p>\n

Failure is considered an unpardonable sin in a world where we sanctify the successful and worship winners. \u00a0Everybody wants to succeed – no one wants to be considered a failure! \u00a0How many people do you know whose life goal is to fail? \u00a0But this emphasis on success can put an enormous stress on us. \u00a0No one wants to be called a failure. \u00a0If I fail, what will happen to me? What will others think? \u00a0Will they reject me? \u00a0Are they going to think I’m worthless? \u00a0\u00a0And yet, our responsibility is to rise from mediocrity to competence, from failure to achievement.<\/p>\n

Simply put: \u00a0your task on earth is to become your best version of you. \u00a0You are unique. \u00a0God made you specially just like you – there is no one else exactly like you – and you have a special purpose on this earth, otherwise God would not have made you and put you here! And if you haven’t done it already, you need to take a day or two and sit and medidate (in silence – and for pity’s sake, stop talking and turn off the mobile devices!), and listen to hear what that purpose is. \u00a0The Bible of full of examples of ordinary people who did extraordinary things. We’ll talk more about that next week!<\/p>\n

The world has a few examples of failures that went on to do some remarkable things:<\/p>\n