Jars of Clay – Temporary vs Eternal

Jars of Clay – Temporary vs Eternal

all right in my arms. Sweet. Well that’s some people gather in. Hey guys. Uh man, it’s fun to be here. My name is while people are coming in, I’ll tell you a little bit about who I am. Believe it or not. I’m not a high school student. I know, I look like one, you know, don’t worry. I was a counselor at a camp one time and I was playing basketball and one kid came up to me and he was like, you know, man, you’re pretty good for like a 14 year old kid. And I was like, this was like two years ago and I was like, ok, what? So yeah, I am uh I am, you know, at the same time though I say that and then, you know, I don’t really feel like an adult a lot of times just to be 100% with you guys. So I don’t know where I’m at. You know, I’m in that middle, you know, between stage, but I am married. Uh, my wife is back there. She’s amazing. If you get a chance to meet her and then we helped you, we run a college ministry here at the campus, you know, and here at so a church. And so, um, man, I just, I’m so excited. I uh huh. My passion is college students, but right after that, you guys are my favorite, you know, you guys are amazing and that’s kind of a joke, but in all seriousness, um, just watching you guys worship be together, the energy that um, high school, middle school people bring. Uh man, I just love it. I think there’s nothing like you guys. And um, if you don’t believe yourself, like if you think I’m just a kid, um, I just want to tell you guys, like your opinions and your perspectives right now, like are important and I want you guys to really take yourselves seriously. Like you guys have um this mentality, you have a brain, you have experiences and things that you’ve done individually. Um that has a lot of value seriously right now. Um and and I am so excited to just be in the room with you. I think I can learn things from you just as much as you can learn from me and I’m just excited and all that. I would ask. Um just right right now, is to be honest, um you guys are here for whatever reason, I don’t know if you want to be here. I wish, you know sometimes I wish this could be a conversation. I wish I could talk one on one with every single one of you and no, like what’s your story, what is your passion, what are you doing where you at right now, like, but I can’t and so I don’t know if you want to be here or not, but to be honest with you, you are, you’re here. And so all I would ask is that you would take yourself seriously and you would give yourself the same respect that I really think that you deserve and you would just zone in right now for the next couple of minutes and tomorrow on. Like, you like really? I know there might be some cute girl across the aisle in front of your some cute boys, you’re like, oh, I gotta, I gotta make sure I like my hair is looking good, so I don’t know, you know what I mean? Like, I don’t know what’s on your mind. I don’t know if you’re like, man, I really summer’s ending and I’m just morning and I can’t, Oh man, this is terrible. School’s about to start up. I don’t know, you know like where you’re at right now, but I would just ask you to lean in a little bit. Like just lean in and zonen with me on just what’s going on with you today? Like seriously? What’s going on with you? Like what, like, what do you believe? Like what are the things that you have decided to do or not to do? Um, like just think about this is what’s crazy to me. Just think about for a second. Like imagine when you were seven years old or something, right? Like if I asked you, hey, when you were seven and some random day, like what were you thinking about? What were you doing? You probably couldn’t tell me because honestly you guys weren’t like, you know, you’re probably playing video games or hanging out with friends or doing something fun. but there’s not a lot of like thoughts that were going on in the tank when you were seven, but like now you guys have some real thoughts that are going on in your life. Like I know that’s true. I’ve been where you guys are at, you guys have thought about some things and you have the capacity you have the maturity now to like really think about this and make a decision for yourself. Like what you believe in regards to all of this stuff that you’ve heard adults talk about for a long time. Like you have the capacity to like process it in your brain now. You do you thought about a lot of things, right? Even the last week, some things you may be forced to deal with that you don’t want to have to deal with. Like you guys are growing up, there’s a maturity that’s happening. Um And so I just asked you that you would take this time, you know, kind of seriously, I like to have fun and I’ll try to crack a joke or do whatever, but let’s take it just a little bit seriously, let’s think about, like to me guys, I’ll be straight up with you, this is the most important thing and in the world, this is it for me, I’ll be honest, and that’s because I took it seriously, I considered it and I made a decision um and I believe in this, you know, you might think I’m crazy or you might like, wow, I don’t know, this guy is just saying that um and I would just ask that you would you would consider it. Um And so with that, let’s just let’s something I’m, you know, I titled this uh absolutely incomparable and that’s simply because base level spoiler alert for the whole thing that we’re about to read. Don’t zone out on me when I read it, but I’m gonna give you the spoiler alert. I think what paul is about to say, hear what he’s saying is is just what I tried to do. He’s trying to say, hey, you whoever is reading this letter, whoever’s doing this thing, like, wake up a little bit and let’s pay attention and let’s consider, you know what our lives are about, What are we about, right? Tom ended his kind of, one of his last point was like, there’s this war waging for your soul, and paul is like, hey, what are you about right now? What are you about to get up and do what you he’s asking you as an individual, So let’s lock in that zone and me, Okay, what am I what am I about? And I’m gonna be honest with you, I think he’s about to say that the relationship that you can have with jesus christ today is absolutely incomparable with anything else that you could possibly have in this world. It’s not it’s not even close, says he’s that’s what he’s gonna say. You can’t put anything next to it and it’s not even close. It’s so incomparable, right? It’s just gonna slap it away. It’s like this is it guys, This is it is what he’s about to say to us. Okay, Spoiler? Uh he loves jesus, the guy who writes this, okay, And he’s just trying to to make me right, as I’m about to do this, I need to do some consideration. I’m not gonna ask you to do something, I am not going to do. He’s asking me, Zain do you love jesus like or are you choosing things over him? Are you doing something else? Are you passionate about something else? So that’s why I titled of that and and I’m just gonna pray just for a time just for a quick second and then we’re gonna jump in, we’re gonna read and we’re just gonna talk super briefly about what I think paul is saying here in scripture and I just hope that you would consider um you would consider it and respect yourself enough to lock in and just for the next couple minutes. Um, so let’s pray heavenly father. Just man, just so thankful for who you are. I just, I need you more and more every day convicted by the depth of my sin and I’m so thankful for the depth of your mercy and how incomparable you are in a relationship with you. So thankful for Uh just everything. I’m thankful for each individual that you’ve brought here today. Um God, I don’t know many of them. I don’t know what their circumstances or where they’re coming from. But God, I would ask that you would just continue to impact their lives and their hearts. You would reveal your glory to them. You lift their veil, you would allow them to experience your love as I have. They would feel um just a weight lifted off their shoulders and they would feel valued and loved in a way that they can’t with anything else in this world. God, I love you. Crazy And air, pray amen. Uh, so we’re in Second Corinthians, we’re gonna be in there tomorrow to put a put a pin in it or something. Whatever you got, fold the page. You know, they will fold the page whatever. Uh, we’re starting at chapter four verse five, I’m gonna read a couple of verses, we’re gonna pause and we’re going to talk about it. All right, So just man, fall along. Some of it can be a little confusing. I know, but we’ll break it down. Uh verse five it says for we are not proclaiming ourselves, but jesus christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for jesus sake, for God, who said, let light shine out of Darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of jesus christ. Catch this. This next verse, that’s what we’re going to zone in on here. This next verse. Now we have this treasure in jars in clay jars, so this extraordinary power maybe from God. And not from us pause just for a second. Here’s where we’re gonna camp. These two words, you just gotta lock in with me and these two terms, okay, temporary versus eternity. I think it’s so funny that Tom already talked about eternity a lot. There’s a theme here that’s happening. We didn’t even plan these, but I think God wants to move this this weekend, I think he wants to speak to somebody. Maybe it’s me, he’s already speaking to me, but maybe it’s one of you. And and these are the two things that we’re gonna lock in on, right, temporary versus eternity. And so as we talk about these terms, let me just break them down so that we do you know what I’m talking about? When I say these words, right? So that you get what I’m meaning. Um when I’m talking about uh the temporary. Um I’m talking about this metaphor that paul uses uh he uses this idea of having a treasure in clay jars. Right? Got that you’re with me, right? He’s got these clay jars and then he says, there’s some sort of treasure in there. There’s some sort of power in these clay jars. Now, I did some historical research. Okay. Um and there’s something really funny about clay jars. I want you guys to know. Okay, in Corinth, clay jars are one. They are extremely common. Okay. There they were found everywhere, archaeologists dug up. And this town, they found all these clay jars. They’re everywhere. There’s nothing like extremely special or non special about clay jars. They were used so much different shapes, you know, different, whatever purposes. But the number one and number two purposes, that clay jars were used for trashcan and toilet. Okay. And and here’s here’s the reality paul is trying to tell you guys. He’s trying to tell me, right? He’s trying to say we’re like clay jars okay. And if you’re anybody like me, there’s some days where you wake up and you’re feeling a little bit like a trash can, you know? And that’s what he’s saying, he’s saying where clay jar alright. And the biggest thing that that the clay jar is for people is it’s extremely temporary. It’s extremely temporary item. Okay. They had so many of these that it could be gone in a second and he and he extrapolates that to have a metaphor for you and I and our life and he says everything in this world, everything that you could be doing here on earth if it’s not in line with the glory of God, to be honest with you, it is temporary. Like it could be gone just like that. And he’s saying as a clay jar, your worth and your value. It isn’t found in some sort of exterior thing. It’s found in what you’re holding and what you’re serving, what’s inside of you and what you’re holding and then also what what’s pouring out of you as this jar and what you’re serving. And he’s saying there’s so many things in the world that you can hold and you can serve. But a lot of all of it outside of jesus christ is temporary. You guys track with me. It’s temporary. Let me give you some examples, right? Um, for me, you know, I’ll be straight up when I was in high school. I was really, really, really concerned with how other people perceive me. Okay, this is was like this is, it still is like my biggest nightmare to be in front of people. Like high school people judging me, you know what I mean? Like man, I was so concerned, like, like how do I look like one of the words I say? How do I act? Do I come off as intelligent? Do I come off as like, cool. Like, I was so concerned with that and I was holding it inside of me and then I was also, that’s what I was serving. I was serving that all the time in my life. And it’s so temporary. Like it is so, so temporary, right? I played sports um I was on a football team that made it to the state finals. Um And I was like, my senior year, I was so passionate about sports. Everything that was inside of me. Everything that I was holding was athletics. I know I don’t look at, but my senior of high school, I weighed 100 and £65. I was like, I could squat 3 25. Like I was so insanely like passionate about getting stronger, getting faster. Like being as, as, as good as I could be in this frame, right in this clay jar. Uh, and it’s so temporary. Like the state finals game, we lost and I haven’t stepped a foot on the football field of pads ever again, right? It’s so temporary. I’m not saying that there isn’t good things that can come out of stuff like that. But if that’s all you’re holding in your jar and that’s all you’re serving, that’s all you’re doing. That’s all you’re focused on guys. It’s so temporary. You know, there’s some of us that are, that we find everything that we’re doing. You know, for one reason or another, it’s like academics and again, I’m not saying there there’s nothing good that comes from academics, but if that’s everything of who you are, I get straight A’s I’m so much smarter than this other person. I’ve read all these books. I know this math equation, right? I know this, you know, theory. Like, if that’s if that’s everything that you’re holding and everything that you’re serving guys, it’s so temporary, it’s so temporary. I promise you. And I know it’s hard. I’ve been where you guys are, high school, I still think is a really, really hard time in life. Like, don’t I don’t think that, like, you know, it doesn’t matter what’s happening in your life right now. I get it. It’s tough. There is some drama that goes on that you guys may or may not be wanting to deal with. And it is hard. You get zoned in on what’s happening right in your circumstances right around you. I get it. But please, like consider what paul is saying, and know that some of the things that you guys are going through right now are so temporary and are so fragile and you’re putting so much of yourself into it because you care because you’re passionate because you have a heart that wants to serve and and have all that you do be put into something that you care about because that’s the reality. We are all going to serve something. Like you are going to serve something. You’re going to be so passionate about something. It’s just is that thing going to be temporary and is it going to break away and leave you empty? Or is that thing going to be something that’s eternal will last forever? You bring you comfort? We all will serve something. Some of you might be like, well no, I’m just gonna do my own thing. Like I’ll be good. Like I’ve made it this far the friend you’re like serving yourself and the whole thing that you’re holding and trying to serve is you. And it’s not possible. Like if you’re a clay jar, you can’t hold yourself and serve yourself like you’re gonna be empty, right? You’re gonna be so empty. So, that’s what I mean. When I’m talking about temporary, you’re with me, you guys dragging. That’s what I’m talking about things of this world that will leave you so empty. And when I talk about eternity, get this, you gotta catch this All right, because I’m gonna use this word a lot when I talk about eternity. What I’m meaning is the grace that jesus christ had for you when he died when he rose again and he is now eternally alive forever in the grace that he has to extend that to me and to you and for us to be able to participate in that. That’s what I mean, when I’m talking about eternity, I’m talking about jesus christ. I’m talking about a real relationship with him, talking about knowing him, not that you could earn your way or do anything for this, but you would just know jesus and understand. It doesn’t matter what you look like, it doesn’t matter, you know where you come from, what you’ve done, that he loves you. He died for you. He rose. For you gained victory and we can join and participate in that. That’s what I mean, when I talk about eternity. So I just want to clarify those words because I’m gonna talk about them and we’re gonna see it here. See if you can talk, you know, see through yourself, as we read the rest of this passage here, you can identify why it kind of came up with the overall idea that temporary versus eternity. Eight. Uh we’re back in verse eight. If you’re with me, get your bible second Corinthians verse eight says we are afflicted. He’s still talking about a group of them. Remember his main ideas. He’s talking about you. He wants you to participate in what he’s reading. He wants you to process and think about it. So he says, we are afflicted in every way, but we’re not crushed. Were perplexed, but not in despair, were persecuted, but not abandoned, were struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry the death of jesus in our body so that the life of jesus may also be displayed in our body possible. Quick. That’s what I’m talking about when I’m talking about eternity, right? You catch what you catch what he’s saying there. He says, they carry the death and the life of jesus inside of them, just like as clay jars, they carry this extraordinary power. That’s what he’s talking about when he’s saying the power he’s talking about this, this thing that jesus did for you, for me, he’s talking about this and he’s saying this gives them the ability to do all those prior things to be afflicted but not crushed, to be perplexed and confused but not in despair to be persecuted but not abandoned to be struck down but not destroyed. He’s saying their life is still hard but but but it’s okay because he has jesus, right? You guys picking that up, Here’s 11, we’re gonna keep going for we who live are always being given over to death for jesus sake. So that jesus life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. So then death is at work in us, but life and you and since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed. Therefore I speak, we also believe and therefore speak for. We know that the one who raised the lord jesus will also raise us with jesus and present us with you. Indeed everything is for your benefit, so that his grace extends through more and more people would make cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God, Therefore catch it. Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed. Our inner person is being renewed day by day for our momentary light. Affliction. Affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable, eternal way of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. And then he’s gonna go on more here, he says, for we know that if our earthly tent right things that are seen, we live in is destroyed. We have a building from God, some things unseen and eternal dwelling in the heavens not made with hands. Indeed, we’ve grown in this tent designed to put on our heavenly dwelling since when we have taken it off, we will not be found naked. Indeed we’ve grown while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but closed. That mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now, the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the spirit? There’s a down pin. That’s the verses. So you see what I’m saying here, that paul again, there’s a lot in there. I mean, we could unpack that for for every session here, we could we could have something in there. But what I want you to hone in on and focus on is this idea that paul is getting at, that there are temporary things in this world and there is one eternal thing in this world, right? There are things that you can see people jobs, places, money rewards and and and there’s something that you cannot see and that’s jesus, right? You get what I’m saying here, and he’s asking you, it’s like a direct ask. He’s asking his people, he’s trying to tell them, take this seriously. Like you if you are a clay jar and you have the option or you have the ability to put something inside of you and then serve and pour that out towards other people. What are you going to choose? What are you going to focus on? What are you going to live for? Like what is going to be inside of you? What are you going to accept? Is it going to be something that’s temporary? Or is it going to be something that he says is eternal? That is it’s so much better. That’s not even comparable to anything else that you could ever experience. That makes everything else feel light. Because this this glory has so much weight to it. This relationship that you can enter into is so much better. That’s what he’s saying. Here’s here’s what I kind of summarise some of these points for this is what I thought when I was like, okay, what is he really trying to say about the temporary? He says the temporary is fragile. It’s replaceable and it leaves you so empty. Anything that you do guys? Anything that you do, I’ll be honest, one of the best things that I’ve experienced in my life on this earth is my marriage to my wife. But it is so temporary, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t want to think about it. But it is it’s temporary. It’s fragile, right? You know, faith isn’t replaceable. You’re not replaceable. But, but there’s something um where in some sort of moment, something could happen and and I could not have her, she could not have me. And if I put all of my whole weight, everything that completely am, and I put all of that on to faith, she will not be able to handle it. My wife will not be able to handle it and it will leave me wanting more. It will leave me empty, I promise you. And that’s the best thing that I possibly could have ever experienced in this life. Everything else below that is the same thing. Sports education, a job money, any sort of success that I’ve had, any sort of opportunities that I’ve had from, for me, it’s fragile, it can be replaced and it has left me empty. And I think if you considered it took yourself seriously, I I think you would come to a similar conclusion of the things that you have done and decided, and you fought for, you’ve been passionate about and you poured out your whole life into. If those things have been beside jesus, really examine how they have left you, how you have felt at the end of the day, when you lay your head down and here’s what eternity is. In contrast, eternity, he says, is this power, that’s that’s extraordinary. Eternity is forever an eternity. It brings real life like actual actual life, and again, he turned demeaning this death and resurrection of jesus. It was for you, it was poured out for your sin and has covered your shame. This is something completely different and I just challenged you to really think about it in your context for you as an individual, what are things in your life? They’re temporary and how can you focus more on the one thing that is internal and that is jesus and here’s where it brings to some applications for you. If you’re really thinking, okay, I’m down, I’m down, I’ve made some choices and I’ve done some things I think about some stuff that I get it, you’ve used the word temporary, like 100 times I get it, man. Like I know okay, but tell me like what am I supposed to do about it? You can talk words all you want, but like what do I do? How do I get any better? How do I take even one single step? And there’s a lot, okay, so this list is not comprehensive in any shape, form or fashion, there’s a lot that you can do, there’s a lot to being a disciple and a follower of jesus in putting all of who you are into this, this death and resurrection that jesus had for you, there’s so much okay, and it’s amazing and it’s great and it’s gonna be fun to, it can be a lot of fun, okay, it’s life giving, but here’s what I want you to focus on um it’s two things really and that is just first of all, knowing who jesus is, which comes with one thing and one thing only, and that’s reading your bible, I grew up in a church um and I never read my bible, I listened to a bunch of people talk about it for a real long time and hold it up and I saw it a ton And there was, you know, 10, 15 laying around in my house. There was a lot that I find, you know, I heard some versus, and then I realized when I got into college because nobody told me when I was in high school, I realized when I got into college, I had never even read the thing, never even read it. How, how am I supposed to do anything? How am I supposed to like when anybody said, oh, jesus is so amazing? How am I supposed to say yes, he is or no, he’s not. If I don’t even, I’ve never even read the thing, I don’t know. And so I, I decided, you know what, I’m going to read it and I would really challenge you. I don’t care what kind of background you’ve had, if you, if this is your first day ever in a church building or if you’ve been in a church building every week, since the day you were born, I don’t know what your situation is, I would just challenge you, read the thing like read it, like I said, you guys are mature, you have so much capability to process so many things, I mean they’re probably teaching some of you guys like chemistry and like algebra, two things that I don’t even know still to this day, right? You are processing some big things, you can read this, I like historically a jewish kid at the age of five, they said he was ready to know the scriptures and to memorize them five years old, okay, and at 15, he was ready to be a disciple, right? Most historians believe that jesus disciples were 20 and under and and a lot of them think that the, the youngest of his disciple was probably around the age of 15, this is not a faith just for adults, this thing is for you, like, this thing is for you, so read it, and if, and if some of it’s hard to process, like ask some questions and be like, what is this, you know, I guarantee you there’s somebody in your life that would love you to ask them a question about a verse in the bible, and you might, you know, then you might be in a pickle because they might want to sit down for like hours and talk to you about it, but like, hey, read the thing seriously, I know it’s big, I know it’s hard, But like comprehensively, I don’t know if you guys may have ever heard this stat, but it would take you 72 hours to read the whole bible, right? That’s three days. I know you can’t do that nonstop. Like you stretch it out, I think it’s only like, I don’t know, 15, 20 minutes a day and you get it in a year. It’s not that hard, agreed the thing. You know, if you, if you want to really take this into consideration, you gotta read the thing and then the second is just show up for your community. You guys are all done that perfectly this weekend. You guys are amazing. Give yourself a pat on the back, right? You guys showed up for your community today. And I would say, if you really want to focus on, on something that is eternal, which is jesus christ, the unseen, you gotta keep showing up for your christian community, you’ve got to keep making effort to be there. One of my biggest biggest regrets in high school was that, uh, my freshman and sophomore year, I completely stopped going to youth group. I completely stopped and I didn’t go to youth group, my sophomore, my junior, my senior and those are some of the darkest, some of the worst times in my life to be completely honest with you. And because I was rebellious and I was like, no, this isn’t for me. And I stopped, I stopped showing up and instantly every part of my life was on the temporary everything and there was not a single person that could ever even like get to me at all and and ask me like, are you doing okay? Like there was nobody around me that I had any sort of chance to be vulnerable with because I was, you know, I was doing everything right. I was going to be all right, I didn’t want to show anybody that had some emotions. And I was crying some weekends and nights, right? And then I had some real pain. I don’t want to show that because I was okay, I’m good, I’ll figure it out and I get a little bit older, so show up like show up and invest in your christian community. Those are the two things that I would say hone in on guys because it can be so important, it matters right? It matters. This is the biggest decision in your life. This is the difference between things that are so temporary, so fragile and things. There are eternal life in jesus christ If you are not a follower of jesus, if you don’t know what the heck I have been talking about, where the previous guy has been talking about, you were just invited by a friend. I would just, I would ask yourself like why, why do you think you’re here? Like why are you sitting right there right now? How did you end up there? And like perhaps could it have been because there is a god who really, really loves you and who’s knocking on the door of your heart and saying I want you to know what real life is, what real love is. Would you put your faith in me? If that’s you, I would just challenge you to please talk to somebody, you know that friend invited you, you know a leader that you’re comfortable with, you can come up to me if you want. Um and just say wow, like there’s something about this that intrigues me, I want to know more, I want to learn more. Um the third option is probably that you your whole life have said that you are a believer in a christian um but right now like you have put all of your hope and all of your faith in something that’s very temporary and you know that if that’s you, you know that you’re sitting in a chair right now and your post is probably quickening, so I’ve been there right, and you’re like, man, I like I have not thought about jesus and I have not thought about living my life for him and if that’s you man, I would just the same thing, get with somebody that you trust and and have the courage, give yourself the respect and know that this is important enough to like be vulnerable, I know that can be really hard, but be vulnerable and say, hey, to be honest with you, I know like I come to stuff but you know, I’ve, I have not really been living my life for christ, I have not been living my life for jesus and I need some help in these areas again, if, if, if that’s what’s gonna keep you from doing that is like a friend or somebody around you is going to see and be like, whoa, you know, Zane, whoa, he’s got something going on, like again, you’re focusing too much on the temporary, this is a decision, it’s so much bigger than that, you’ve got to figure out how to be vulnerable with somebody, how to think about these things, the right person, be vulnerable with the right person and say like I want to know what it means to follow jesus, I want to know what it means with that, A guy that looks 16 years old was saying about uh this death and resurrection of jesus and something that’s eternal or something that’s different, something that would bring fulfillment in my life, some joy, something that would bring me comfort, that would be stable, I want to know more about that. Would you help me read that bible that he’s talking about? I know I come to church every day, but I haven’t, you know, haven’t really read it, so would you help me read it? Just do something? Please don’t, like don’t just come here for a weekend and be like, oh that was good and don’t like do anything about it, if you’re feeling like you need to do something, just please please do something. That’s all I’m asking because it’s so important, it will change your life, I’m gonna pray for us. You guys would go thank you um how many father just, oh man, you are just so big and you’re so good and I just love you and got to know that there’s so many things in this world that, that, that I still focus too much time on that are temporary and God help me uh, convict me. Uh, lead me into a deeper love for you um, following of you and God, if there’s somebody in this room today that you’ve wanted to speak to, that you wanted to open up their heart and and show them who you are and that they have focused way too much on on something that um, is going to leave them broken and empty and they need to turn their life to you. God, I just pray that you would give them the boldness and the courage to do something about it and to speak with somebody and to take steps like reading their bible and showing up more for their community. Guys love you and praise you. Never pray Amen.