Dharius Daniels - Say It With Your Chest

Does that make sense, y’all? I’m excited about God’s word—I love it! We’re in part three of a series called «Respectfully,» where we’re giving you tips for tough talks. Each week on our social media platforms and our website, we provide a resource. You need more than revelation; you need a resource. So, we’re giving you a resource every week that includes some action items and tips you can implement in your life to have tough conversations and engage in conversations—watch this—assertively but not destructively. Okay, am I making sense already?

Alright, let’s go to the word today in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter number 16. There are a couple of verses I want to read, starting in verse 21. Excuse me, verse 21 says this: From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day raised to life. Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. You’re rebuking Jesus? You want something else? «Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!» Jesus turned and said to Peter, «Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me. You do not have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns.»

I want to talk from this subject for a few minutes in our time together: very simply, «Say it with your chest.» I want to ease into our introduction, family, with this axiom. It is an axiom that some of you may not be unfamiliar with if you’ve had some time with this spiritual family called Change Church. Here it is for my note-takers and for those who may be unfamiliar with it: There are things about me that I can’t see that are hurting me. For my note-takers, I want to repeat it one more time: There are things about me that I can’t see that are hurting me; therefore, look at me! I need people in my life that love me enough to show me. One more time: There are things about me that I can’t see that are hurting me; therefore, I need people in my life that love me enough to show me.

This is why, family, I believe in the economy of God’s kingdom. Your relationships are actually your most valuable assets; they are kingdom currency. They open doors that nothing else can open and add value in ways that nothing else can. They are one of God’s greatest instruments for our growth and development. Listen to this: Money makes you rich, but your relationships make you wealthy. Did you hear what I just said? Sometimes a phone call can do what a check can’t, and there is no area of our life that is not impacted by them.

So, watch this: Whenever you see a person living a level three life, it is safe to assume they have level three relationships. Did you hear what I just said? We cannot have level three lives if we do not have level three relationships. This is in no way intended to insult those in your relational circle, but it is intended to encourage you to live your life with an open hand and open arms, willing to receive—look at me—relational upgrades. A willingness to receive relational upgrades is not treating people like commodities; it’s recognizing that people are assets and having enough discernment to see when God is sending you a new one.

Why, in the world, would you upgrade your phone, upgrade your closet, upgrade your automobile, and not upgrade your relationships? Because your relationships can take you where your car can’t! I want somebody who believes they’re on their way to a future labeled level three to put in the chat, «I’m on my way.» I want you to tell your future, «I’m on my way.» I want you to tell provision, «I’m on my way.» I want you to tell strength, «I’m on my way.» I want you to tell peace of mind, «I’m on my way.» I want you to tell your season that is the greatest and most joyful season of your life, «I’m on my way.»

I’ve sown in tears; now it’s time for me to reap with joy. I’m on my way! But we need level three relationships to take us there. This means I must have a willingness to, watch this, receive relationships that give me more than company but make contributions. Oh Lord, I feel like—no, no, no! Listen, it’s one thing for them to give us company; it’s another thing for them to make contributions. I believe God is getting ready to send somebody some contributors. Did you hear what I said? I believe he’s getting ready to send somebody some contributors. Because I just sense that many of you are in seasons where you are grateful for your relational circle; you are not ungrateful for who God has placed in your life, yet at the same time, you are self-aware enough, you’ve got enough emotional intelligence to recognize, «I do need something a little different.»

Come here! I’m grateful for what I have, but I recognize I need something a little different. I need some elevated conversations. I need some people that stir my faith and make me believe God in ways I hadn’t believed before. I need people that challenge me and do not just pull on me. Come on! Yeah! I need somebody that can rescue me so that I don’t always have to be…