Dharius Daniels - 10 Symptoms of a Sick Soul

10 symptoms that show up when you’re doing too much. Can I give them to you real quick? I said, can I give them to you? Okay, only this: I want them. Who wants them? Okay, here it is. In his book, *The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry*, John Mark Comer says there are 10 symptoms that show up when you’re doing too much. Can I give them to you real quick? I said, can I give them to you? Okay, only this: I want them. Who wants them? Okay, here it is.

Number one: excessive irritability. This is the most quiet sermon I’ve done; I got more amens in the studio. Here it is: excessive irritability. Are we all irritable from time to time? Of course! But it’s one thing to always be irritable. Come on now, when the people you love—who love you—get the worst of you for something they didn’t even do! But they’re doing the time for someone else’s crime. When you’re doing too much, you’re irritable. Lord, I’m getting ahead of myself, but I’m trying to shift us to a kingdom consciousness. We want to be big humans and not just do big things. What we hear in culture is to do big things, but we’re not big humans. So we build big things that we cannot sustain and maintain because we built something bigger than the core of our character. Did you hear what I just said? Your gift can build it, but your character can tear it down.

So my question now: watch this. I’m no longer impressed with fast trajectories. I used to be impressed with people who did major things so fast; now I’m impressed with longevity. Y’all didn’t hear what I just said. I’m not impressed now with whether or not you can get it; I’m impressed with whether you can keep it. Did you hear what I just said? Can you blow up and still keep your integrity? Can you have options and still say, «I’m going to do the right thing?» Can God trust you with influence and you don’t get full of yourself? It’s not about whether you can get it; it’s about whether you can keep it. And I don’t know who I’m preaching to today, but I believe I’m preaching to some people who are in a season of your life, at the point in your growth and development where you’re saying, «I’m ready to keep it.» Yeah, I’m tired of getting and losing; if you give it to me, now I’m going to keep it. Yeah, yeah. If I’ve got excessive irritability, I’m doing too much.

Number two: hypersensitivity. A minor infraction causes a major blow-up. Constructive criticism feels like character assassination. It doesn’t mean you’re a weak person; it might mean you’re doing too much.

Number three: restlessness. You can’t slow down and relax. When someone tells you to relax, you can’t. I’m telling you, restlessness—you go on vacation not realizing that you are wherever your mind is. You can be in Dubai, but if you’re stressed about what’s going on in New Jersey…

Number four: workaholism. Here, work becomes an escape because you’ve attached your identity to it. So you don’t know who you are if you couldn’t do what you do. Who are you if you can’t do what you do?

Number five: emotional numbness. You lose the capacity for empathy. I need 10 weeks just on these things I said; it’s where you lose it. Sometimes we judge people who are emotionally numb without exploring what got them there. Because, for some people, they’ve been too busy to actually audit and make adjustments with their circles. They keep exposing themselves chronically to people who are consistently injuring them, so you have to be numb now to protect yourself. You’re surrounded by people who don’t know how to handle you properly. Did you hear what I just said?

Because I won’t choose differently when it comes to my friendship circle, I choose to develop a hard heart because I’m comfortable surrounding myself with people who love me but use me. Y’all okay? I got 10 minutes; here it is.

Number six: out-of-order priorities. This is when I become so responsible for someone else’s irresponsibility that I am unable to be responsible for my responsibilities. Can we go here for a minute? I said, can we go here for a minute? I want to show you divine rhythm when it comes to love. Like when it comes to priorities on whom you should love, here it is: number one is God; most people agree on that. Here’s where the descent and the disagreement comes: it comes with number two. Because number two is not others; that’s not what the Bible says. Yes, it is, Dr. Davis. It says love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and your strength and your neighbor. That’s not all it says, though. Your neighbor as yourself, inferring that if you don’t love yourself well, you do not have the capacity to love your neighbor well. I’m not saying be obsessed with self; I’m not saying be caught up in self; I’m not saying idolize self. But you’ve got to love yourself, because if you don’t love yourself, you do not have the capacity to properly love others. Now watch this: if you don’t love yourself, you can please others, right? Because most people-pleasers don’t love themselves properly. Because when you love yourself properly, you know how to set and maintain boundaries.