HOW DO YOU SELF-SABOTAGE?

HOW DO YOU SELF-SABOTAGE?     Are you a saboteur? Self-sabotage means that you consciously or subconsciously obstruct your own productivity in order to underhandedly defeat a worthwhile endeavor. It's how you ensure that you will not be expected to complete God's plan for your life. Most women are not even aware that they are, at least occasionally, sabotaging their success.     WHAT IS YOUR MOST DEVIOUS METHOD OF SABOTAGING GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE?     Could this be your story? You don't exercise, thus causing health issues; you remain addicted to sugar and keep yourself tired and irritable; you are rash and impulsive, which results in poor, irreversible decisions. Or is this more like you? You compare yourself to others and end up feeling inadequate; you aim for perfection, which inevitably leads to failure; you allow your temper to rage out of control, producing guilt and shame.     What about harboring a sense of entitlement, which fills you with pride? Do you stay up too late and act like a grouch the next day? Do you overindulge at meals and then get severely depressed about your weight gain? Do you choose to be disorganized and therefore wreak havoc in your life? Kay Warren, a passionate advocate for those around the world infected/affected by HIV/AIDS, has become very aware of her efforts to self-sabotage.     KAY WARREN KNOWS WHAT SHE'S DOING     Kay is a mother of three, grandmother of one, an international speaker, coauthor of Foundations: 11 Core Truths to Build Your Life On, and breast cancer survivor. She is the wife of Rick, who is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose-Driven Life.     Kay has the rich heritage of growing up in a pastor's home, where she learned from an early age to love the Lord deeply and to live for his purposes. She encourages women not to waste their emotional and spiritual energy wishing God had made them differently, but to recognize that he chooses and uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways!     Kay has devised a great method of self-sabotage. She confesses that she sometimes would rather be right than relational, because being right inflates her self-worth. Because of  her highly defined sense of justice, she admits that she can be too intent on fending off challenges in a conflict, rather than yielding on unimportant issues. This, of course, leads to hurt feelings, and it tears down relationships rather than building them. As closeness is sacrificed, her ability to be effective is sabotaged.     She says, "We women are experts at incapacitating ourselves relationally, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially. We plan our own demise; nobody has to do it for us! And, foolish as it sounds, we often blame God for the problems we cause in our lives."     How Do You Self-Sabotage? A Criminal Probably Sabotaged His Last Chance to Get into Heaven     Out of anger and arrogance, one of the criminals being crucified with Jesus hurled insults at him and, as far as we know, was not invited to enter eternal paradise. Read about this ultimate example of self-sabotage in Luke 23:39–43. In what way have you noticed someone sabotaging his or her chances at success?     SCRIPTURE TO PONDER     Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. (Lamentations 3:40)     SUGGESTED PRAYER     Dear Lord, let me, _________, examine my ways today and test them. I return to you and ask for your protection, that I will not try to derail myself from accomplishing my best for you. I ask specifically that you will keep me from my most ingenious method of self-sabotage. Give me the wisdom to stop it!     So . . . What Insight, Prayer, or Action Step Has God Laid on Your Heart Today?

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