Don’t let your beliefs limit your potential. In “The Greatest Limitation On Your Life,” Pastor Steven Furtick shows us how to unlock our potential by replacing our beliefs with what God really says about us. This is an excerpt from “We Are We Label.” To watch the full message from @elevationchurch, click here: 
• We Are We Label | Pastor Steven Furti… #faith #peace #hope #stevenfurtick #elevationchurch Chapters: 0:00 – God Hates Labels 3:06 – The Greatest Limitation On Your Life 6:42 – God Is More Concerned With You Are 9:04 – We Become What We Believe 11:22 – I Want To Be More… 14:22 – Your Comfort Zone Is What Kills You Scripture References: Romans 4, verse 18
a lot of the times in our life
we will label something
and limit someone
while we are still
figuring out
what it is
and a lot of what God speaks over your
life
never happens
not because of your limits
but because of your
labels
there were those in the early church
that wanted to limit salvation to those
who were circumcised
Paul says I hate your labels
because in Christ there is no longer
slave nor free male nor female Gentile
non-gentile God doesn’t run around
labeling stuff like you label stuff
and the difference between you and God
is you label things you didn’t even make
you try to label stuff that doesn’t even
belong to you
we try to judge other people I’m real
bothered about it and I don’t want to
talk about it much because I get angry
and I get unfiltered when I think about
it I hate how our culture has become so
eager to believe the worst about anybody
the first time we hear it
I hate that
so something somebody says gets taken
out of context oh now they’re a racist
you didn’t even see the whole sentence
that they said you just read a headline
and now they’re racist
you’re kind of scared to say something
to that we do it all the time and that’s
not black people white people that can
go any way you want to put it we’ll call
somebody something because we heard a
rumor from somebody that we didn’t even
verify if that person was the very thing
that they were calling the other
and especially during political season
when you see how they make these ads
they are preying on our prejudice trying
to get us to believe a snapshot of
somebody so we will go out and
categorize ourselves as enemies of
something that we don’t even understand
[Applause]
and Paul said don’t get this twisted
don’t get this Twisted in Christ it’s
not about what it looks like on the
outside
it is not about what you can identify
Somebody by that you can see and that
you can understand we love labels
because we have limitations on our
understanding
so the only way we can get through our
life is to safely categorize people like
we try to organize our pantry so we can
know which shelf to put somebody on
[Applause]
oh he’s not qualified she’s not
qualified she’s from this family oh they
are from that background we love labels
and God
hates them
not telling you to go through and peel
off everything on your soup and your
green beans in your pantry
some superstitious thing like that I’m
saying that
God hates
when we label something
in order to limit something
which is why I chose Romans 4 or why I
believe the Holy Spirit chose Romans 4
to talk to us about this today
because the greatest limitation on your
life right now
is not your potential it’s your belief
when we look at the Bible stories
of characters like Abraham
we get into this complicated story and
we see one example of his life
and he looks like a man of great faith
but how many know we could have labeled
him a lot of things
we could have labeled him a liar because
he lied
we could have labeled him an adulterer
because he slept with somebody he wasn’t
his wife even though the cultural custom
of the time was very different than ours
we could have labeled him a lot of
things
we could have labeled him by the fact
that he laughed at God we could have
labeled him by a lot of things
but when God labels him he calls him the
father of many nations in fact it says
something that really got my attention
you ready for this it says Abraham
believed and so became
let’s look at that with our own two
eyeballs I want you to believe it
because I said I want you to believe it
because God said it it said in verse
18 Abraham against all Hope in Hope
believed and so became say that with me
he believed
and so became
he believed
and so became
I love that
I love it because you would think he
became it
so he believed it
once he saw the evidence that God could
do what he promised then he believed it
that’s how human hope works you know it
needs to see something to believe it
this is a very different kind of Faith
this faith of Abraham the Faith by which
God justifies us the faith which has an
ability to know
that I can stand in the middle of
something that I don’t understand
waiting on a detail that I don’t yet
have and still believe
God that
get out
that I can produce a promise that is
inside of me that I can’t even perceive
with my senses I feel Faith in my spirit
right now
because sometimes I have to believe
things that I can’t see that I can’t
feel but that God has called me to be
now often when we talk about believing
if you go by cultures understanding of
belief and faith we are believing to
have something I want to have a better
job I want to have a better body I want
to have a wife I want to have a husband
I want to have a child and that’s fine
because God will give you things he will
give you the desires of your heart Psalm
37 4 and not only will he put the desire
in your heart but he will fulfill the
desire so he’ll put the desire there and
he will fulfill the desire he will give
you things that you didn’t even think
you were worthy of having
some of us are standing in a place in
life today that we honestly never knew
to ask God to bring us to I mean I
didn’t know to ask God that I could
pastor this church I made myself
available to him and he did it but that
doesn’t mean that I knew that it was in
me when I asked God to use me but here
you are and here I am and here we are
here we are
[Applause]
the greatest thing that God will give
you faith for though
is not something that he wants you to
have
someone
that he wants you
to be
not what does God want me to have
although that is a very important thing
to your father I’ll prove it to you
Jesus said that the birds Don’t store up
yet they’re never far from the worm
because your father knows they need them
so he’ll give you a worm
but he is more
concerned infinitely more concerned
about who you are becoming in the
process of receiving
I don’t know who this is for
but if you get it
and God doesn’t get you
you will not be able to sustain
what you obtain
because it’s going to take the same
Grace and the same Faith to keep it that
it takes to come into it
only this Foundation this is so
important this is so important
in the passage I read it said Abraham
what
and so
became
oh
when it was so far past his time
when it seemed like there was no way it
would work
when there was nothing pointing to the
fact that he had the potential to bring
forth this nation
believed it
and so he became it
certain scriptures are not prescriptive
meaning that they don’t tell us what to
do they tell us what the character did
that’s called descriptive not all Bible
verses are telling you what to do
for instance Jonah ran from the Lord
so that don’t mean you go and run from
the Lord because you read that Jonah ran
from the Lord is telling you what he did
I give you a better one Judas went and
hanged himself don’t do that
you’re right about the Man start opening
his Bible he said God speak to me give
me a word show me what to do and he
pointed and it said Judas went and
hanged himself he said oh God let me try
that again flipped again put his finger
right down on the Bible and it said
whatever thou doest do quickly don’t do
that
preacher joke
but look at this I wonder if this
Dynamic I know I’m not Abraham I know
you’re not Abraham I know you’re not the
father of many nations I’m not the
father of many nations I’m the father of
three kids and I got my hands full and
my quiver full and my quiver is
overflowing and my cup is flowing over
and everything’s running over and I’m
grateful and I don’t want any more but
I’m saying thus the dynamic apply that
we all become
what we believe
not what God says
if everybody became what God Said then
everybody would be the righteousness of
God
if everybody became what God said we
wouldn’t live a day of our life defeated
because we wouldn’t be addicted because
we are more than conquerors through him
who loved us because that’s what God
Said
but it is not what God Said over your
life
that determines the limit of what you
will be
that limit is determined by your belief
and I just want to stand here and tell
you I want to be all that God called me
to be
all of it
I want to do everything he called me to
do
I want to walk in everything he called
me to walk in I want to give everything
he called me to give I want to say
everything he called me to say I want to
write everything he called me to write
every song every sermon every
conversation I want to put it all out
here while I’m here as long as I’m here
I want to see what God can do through me
I want to get to heaven and God show me
a whole Warehouse of who I would have
been
if I had listened to him rather than
listening to the labels of people whose
own minds were limited I don’t want to
get to heaven and God showed me the
church I could have Pastor if I would
have had the faith the stand flat-footed
and say what he told me to say I don’t
want to get there and regret
that God would speak something that I
would refuse to believe I don’t want to
go 10 years not eating Doritos
[Applause]
because you told me Fritos were health
food
now I want you to get something in your
mind let’s make this a seminar today
because that’s all wonderful oh Abraham
had faith and that’s wonderful and
Abraham set out and that’s wonderful and
Abraham received the promise and that’s
awesome and that’s terrific and that’s
spectacular but if we just do that this
is a fantasy football service
where none of us do anything
but watch somebody do something
and Loosely associate with what they did
and call ourselves a coach
the Lord said a lot of people’s faith is
a Fantasy Realm
we don’t know how to do this believe God
okay yeah I believe God that’s great I
believe in God he’s directing my past
but what does it mean to believe
until you become
in order to do this we’re going to all
do this everybody in the room everybody
on efam I want you to get one thing
write it down put it online if you’re
online put it in your notebook if you’re
on a notebook put it in your phone if
you can open your phone and not be
distracted by the people who have been
texting you who should be in church
right now but are busy distracting you
trying to snatch this word while God’s
preaching it I want you to get one thing
on your mind we’re going to make this so
some you can’t leave here today and be
like okay Abraham is the man
we’re going to talk about you
we’re going to talk about you your label
your limits your faith your belief
because he said we are all the offspring
of Abraham who believe
so God doesn’t look through the room and
be like okay this sermon is good for her
she’s at an 11th grade Christianity
level he’s at the fifth grade she’s at
the third grade uh he’s gonna be he’s
gonna need some summer school God
doesn’t look at the class like that we
all need the same Grace none of us need
many Grace bitty Grace itty bitty little
Grace we all need the same Grace so
here’s what I want you to get on your
mind
what is one thing
that you want to be
that you don’t feel like you are right
now
I want to be not what I want to have
and don’t put rich
and don’t put skinny
and don’t put ripped
put something that we can’t pull up on
Tick Tock or YouTube shorts right now
put something deeper down I want to be
more
what is it
put it in the chat if you’re watching
online I believe God is calling me to be
more
somebody got one shouted out
okay okay I’ll get her one confident
that’s a good one right write that down
hall confident
what
loving
you said that’s kind of angry loving you
really seem like you need it I’m just
kidding I’m just kidding I just thought
that was funny laughing
love it my God
I want to be more wet
no no no you can’t pray for that one
is that comfortable he said comfortable
because because I’ma tell you why
because a lot of times your comfort zone
is what kills you
so if God makes you more comfortable
he’s going to make you more complacent
because if you get comfortable you get
complacent
so God is never going to design a life
for you that doesn’t require him
he’s always going to give you something
in your life where you feel like oh I
don’t deserve this I’m not worthy of
this I can’t do this the moment that
stops happening you stop growing the
moment you stop growing you start dying
spiritually
and God isn’t like that so he’ll say I
know that at this point in your life
you’ve gotten pretty comfortable Abraham
I know you’re rich Abraham I know you
settled Abraham but I’m going to give
you a place in your life where you don’t
have it yet that you still need me so
that you can see me for who I am not who
you thought I was when you labeled me
when you first met me
hey thanks for stopping by my YouTube
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you back here again really soon
[Music]