Comfort Called, Purpose Sent It To Voicemail

Our team thought it was a great idea to start rewinding previous (but timely) episodes of our show during the times that Mista Yu is away from the microphone. All of these beautiful Blasts from the Past were previously broadcast, but we are sharing them with you at a time when you might need them most. Hope you enjoy the review!

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What would people honestly say about you if today were your last? We take that uncomfortable question and turn it into a compass for purpose, unpacking what it means to live as a “living sacrifice” where intent matters more than optics and love costs something real. Drawing from Romans 12, we explore how transformation beats imitation, why joy outlasts happiness, and how motive turns generosity from a seasonal stunt into a daily habit that actually helps people.

Along the way, we contrast a peacetime mindset with a wartime mindset—the former drifts into comfort and self-preservation, the latter stays alert to the quiet emergencies around us. We talk frankly about privilege, perspective, and the seductive myth that comfort equals control. Then we ground the conversation in stories that sting and inspire, including seventeen-year-old Medal of Honor recipient Jack Lucas on Iwo Jima and a medic’s final moments that redefine courage and compassion. These moments aren’t just history; they’re mirrors for the choices we make when nobody’s clapping.

This episode is equal parts conviction and coaching. You’ll hear practical ways

Our team will choose random (but timely) episodes from our previous three seasons (which are our most popular ever!) to share with our listeners during the slower parts of a long podcast season. We think you will enjoy them! Thanks for listening!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Archive Series Introduction
• 2:07 Framing The Big Question
• 6:14 We Do Care What Others Think
• 8:06 Romans 12 And Living Sacrifice
• 11:30 Intent Matters: Cain And Abel
• 14:27 Comfort Kills And Avoiding Risk
• 17:18 Service, Motives, And Real Generosity
• 22:19 Joy Versus Happiness
• 25:44 Gratitude, Privilege, And Perspective
• 30:37 Peacetime Mindset Or Wartime Mindset
• 36:11 Sponsor Message: Strong Coffee
• 37:25 Jack Lucas And Costly Courage
• 41:44 The Call To Stay Alert
• 45:58 Transformation Over Imitation
• 49:40 What Real Sacrifice Costs
• 51:58 Fan Mail Invitation
• 52:59 Daily Posture Of Service

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:44

Hey friends and families, it's Mr. You. Now, our team wanna try something fresh and something different, especially during our slower months of the season. So, starting this season, we're gonna release random but timely episodes from our first few seasons, which I gotta tell you are the most popular seasons of our entire podcast brand history. I think when you hit them, you'll know why they're so popular. It's gonna be great for new listeners and great also for longtime listeners who've been following us for a while. So stay tuned. Thank you for watching us and for listening. Hope you enjoy this new experience. We're going into the archives. Here's a blast in the past right now. I think you'll enjoy. Have fun. On the next episode of They Call Me Mr. You, we will be discussing what a sacrificial life is supposed to look like and give some historical examples. And why all of our best efforts are missing one single very critical component. Because of that missing component, we may be living a wasted life. Before the episode is over today, we will have some tools for you for an epic remodel of a life worth living. That's all coming up on the People's Podcast. They call me Mr. You starts right now. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the All-Purpose Pod for an all-purpose life. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for another adventure into self-affliction. And I'm your tour guide, Mr. You. Welcome back to the All-Purpose Pod for an all-purpose life. Wherever you are today and however you're listening to our podcast, thank you for making the Call Me Mr. You part of your morning, your day, and your week. We appreciate your listenership. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you for all the love on our social media platforms. Our last episode on the pod, Ayano is my friend, is doing really well. You guys are really enjoying the thoughtful, tough story that I had to share last week. So thank you so much for all the love in the comments and support. I really appreciate that as well. So, guys, today is a brand new day. New beginnings, new opportunities, new hope, new dreams, even new goals, right? So let me ask you a question today, with that thought in mind. If today was the last day on the earth, what would others say about you? See, we've heard that question asked of us before. We have maybe even asked it to others. Admittedly, when I was asked that question, I felt the pressure of if that was so and my last day on earth was known to me, I would have to likely have to cram all of the goals and hopes I had and dreams and attempts to be successful into a 24-hour period. Because I didn't live, perhaps I didn't live a life worth living. If today was your last day on the earth, what would others say about you? Would you try to scramble to fix things that should have been fixed? Promote healing in relationships that should have been promoted long before that day? Would you say I'm sorry? Would you say I love you? Would you travel? Would you climb a mountain? Would you go skydiving or bungee jumping? How would you spend the very last day on the earth? But most importantly, what would others say about you? How would they describe you? How would they depict your life? The life that you led before them and in front of them. As as witnesses of your life, what would they say about you? See, there's a mindset out here that we hear about pretty often. People say, Oh, I don't care what people think about me. You know, let's be honest. I'm gonna throw a pipe bomb into that mindset. That's not true. We do care what people think about us. You know why? Because we're human. And it's a part of our nature. We want to be approved, we want to be validated, we want people to love us. Anything else is unnatural. We want that. So we do care what others think about us, we do care what they say. Their words do hurt. The words that we speak do hurt others. If today was your last day on the earth, what would others say about you? Would they describe the person that you want to be in life? Or would they describe, or would their words describe the person that you actually are? If today was your last day on the earth, what would others say about you? You know, there is a passage of scripture that I share pretty often, and not to be preachy or to conduct a Bible study, because that's not what we do here on they call me Mr. U. But there's certain aspects of scripture that are really important in my life. And I want to share one of those with you today because I want to paint a picture for what we're gonna talk about on the podcast today. But Romans chapter 12, the first couple of verses specifically, is kind of where I want to begin. It is basically describing a portion of a letter from a spiritual leader to a people in a specific region, and he's crying out to them saying, My friends, beloved friends, family, what is your appropriate response to the mercies that you've been shown by God? You've been given so much. What is your response to what you've been given? How are you utilizing what you've been given? He's encouraging them, saying, surrender yourself to the only one that can truly change your life, the only one that can truly change your mind, to the only one that can truly heal you. Set yourself apart to give honor and respect to what has been done for you. Be a living sacrifice, live a life that's worth living. That's what this particular portion of this letter that the spiritual leadership was sending out to the people. Essentially, he was saying, You've been given such a mercy, such a um you've been so fortunate to have what you have. What is the appropriate response for what you've been given? Why doesn't your life reflect that you have this mercy? Why are you living like somebody who didn't have it? Or did who wasn't as fortunate as you actually are? Why doesn't your life show it? Why doesn't your word show it? Why doesn't your lifestyle reflect it? If this isn't self-reflection, I don't know what else this passage is talking about because that's exactly what's happening right now. That's what they call me, Mr. U as a podcast is all about. Looking at our life, looking at where we are, asking some questions of ourselves, asking ourselves questions of others, doing some evaluations, self-assessments. The all-purpose pod for an all-purpose life. We are in a place right now where I would venture to say self-reflection would be a good idea right now for all of us, wouldn't you say? I think it'd be a good time for that. If ever there was one, I'd say it'd be right now. You know, I have another question for you. While you're pondering if today was your last day on the earth and what others may say about you, here's some questions to ponder today. We're talking about a sacrificial life in the same way that that passage described that I just shared with you guys. What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? See, biblically, if we were using that as a reference, we would understand that there were times where animals were used as a sacrifice to God or as a uh a celebration or as an opportunity to give worship and honor in a specific way. I know that that's something that you wouldn't see much of at all or at all today, excuse me. But that's what historically was taking place. But the whole point of that process was that the sacrifice had to be given from a uh a good place, I would say. It wasn't so much what they gave, but sometimes it was the intention in which they gave it. Most of us have, even if you have not been acquainted with the Bible in any way, you heard of the story of Cain and Abel, two brothers, who both were in an opportunity to give a sacrifice. One gave a sacrifice because he really gave it a well-thought-out sacrifice, which is Abel. He thought about what he was giving and why he was giving. He gave the very best that he had from what he had available to him. His brother Cain, however, didn't give his best, he kind of just gave whatever scraps he can find, whatever he can throw together in a pinch. See, those are two different gifts from two different mindsets, from two different people. One was received because not of the actual gift or the item itself, but because of the intent behind why it was given. And the thoughtfulness was given to the giving of the gift, and the other was rejected because there was no thoughtfulness, there was no concern, there was no respect or honor given in that gift. It was just given almost as an appeasement, so it was rejected. We're talking about a sacrificial life. What does that mean? A living sacrifice is different than the sacrifices that we're talking about in in historical times because those sacrifices are not alive. And if they are, they can't ask for someone else to be sacrificed instead. They can't ask for a reprieve, they don't have an option. As a living sacrifice, we have an option. We have what is called free will. We can decide if we're going to do a thing or not. Whether the decision is right or wrong, we can still decide whether to do it or not. That's one of the most powerful sacrifices that we as humans can ever make because we get to decide. We take the consequences or the benefits of whatever that decision is. And we'll discuss that a little further as we go into the podcast today. But ask yourself this question: Are you walking away from risk to keep yourself insulated, to keep yourself safe, to have a happy life? Are you walking away from risk in order to accomplish that? That could be considered a wasted life. I invite you to check out one of our archive blog articles on dot com. It's called Comfort Kills. The article is called Comfort Kills. Check it out. I think it's going to blow your mind and have some very simple ways that we don't realize how we relinquish so much just to maintain or achieve comfort. Now, the motivation behind the article is just to expose the myth that we think if we're comfortable, we're retaining more control. But really, it's quite the opposite. Check it out. Comfort Kills is on thecallmeisteryou.com. It's archived, so you have to dig a little bit, but you can find it for sure. Comfort Kills on TheCallMemryou.com. Check it out. I believe it's going to speak to a lot of what we're talking about today and the idea of being insulated from risk in our life. So are you seeking satisfaction and selfishness over service? I know when we get around to the holidays, you probably see a height in the giving and a height in generosity like never before throughout the rest of the year. But even in that, there can be some questions about the motives. Are we doing that to make us feel good so that we can feel kind of like we're doing the human thing, the right thing? And Christmas is just a good time to do it? Or are we doing it because we're overwhelmed with compassion for our fellow man? I know most people serve in the soup kitchens in November and December during the holiday months. Anybody serve in July? How about in March? Anybody serve in the food kitchens in March? Are we seeking satisfaction and selfishness over service? Are we more dedicated to getting as much as we can? More than we are desiring to live and give and serve others? See, I know right now some people are thinking about the annual charitable giving. I'm not talking about some kind of infrequent event or activity. I'm talking about a lifestyle, a lifestyle of giving, a lifestyle of service. We hear about that kind of thing from time to time, but it's clear we don't totally understand what that means. Do you see your life as something to give away? Or rather something to hoard for your self-interest? Hang on. It's gonna make more sense as we go on. Before the podcast is done today, you'll understand that question a lot better. Promise you. So when was the last time somebody asked you about the joy that you had? Had they ever? Do you believe you even have joy? Sometimes we get joy and happiness mixed up. Happiness is what happens based on a specific current event. Joy happens no matter what the event is, no matter what the circumstances of our lifestyle is. We still have a joy. We still have an inner peace. Mostly because it's tied to our purpose. We know who we are and to whom we belong. And we know why we're here. So that will affect their ability to be sacrificial in their giving. It would affect their generosity. It would affect how they treat others. If there's a takeaway right off the bat, that would probably be it. Because we don't know what we should be doing and who we are and where we are and why we're here. Just something to think about. I love Romans 12, and there's a reason, one of the reasons why I love it because it's a really powerful view of what service should look like, what a life of gratitude is, because it speaks from the perspective of someone who's tasted the good and the bad and has reckoned himself to the fact that in all things, in all circumstances, humility is always the best recourse. That's what that passage talks about. And it resonates with me. I hope it resonates with you today. How many times have you done something for someone with the expectation of a reward? If you're honest, it could be more times than not. We think about giving to someone and having it reciprocated. Or it's expected that someone return the favor. But that shouldn't be the motivation for why we do anything for anybody. I think in that regard we get it we're getting it all wrong. Are you willing to engage the idea that our perspective on service and worship and giving or our entire view on it is totally wrong? Are you able to at least engage the idea that that's possible? I think about how fortunate we are to be in this country. See, now now I know I'm getting ready to go some places, but I think about how fortunate we are to be in this country. I know people from other countries who live in different situations. I know people who are were born and raised here and have gone off to do international missions in other countries, other regions of the world that are not as fortunate as we are, that don't have as much as we have. And I've heard the stories, I've read the letters, I've seen the pictures. And, you know, as we sit here and enjoy so many of the things that we enjoy, you know, it amazes me. It amazes me how we can sit here in this grace and sit here in this fortune and say the things that we say to one another and do the things that we do. And we try to file it under freedom of speech, but it's like, do you realize that there's countries that don't even have a freedom of speech? Saying certain words out of their mouth could mean the end of their life. Imagine if you had to live in that with the kind of person that you are right now. What would that look like? See, growing up in the 70s and the 80s, I always got my view of the third world from the news, from magazines. Third world countries that suffer with malnutrition and cholera and typhoid fever and pneumonia and deal with parasites and all manner of diseases and lacking clean water. And we see them as less than fortunate. And we pity them. And we look at these commercials. If you stay up late enough, two or three o'clock in the morning, these infomercials, like Feed the Children and things of that nature, that show all these gruesome images of what people are living in. And we see them as less unfortunate. See, there's no argument in my mind that we're the greatest country in the world. My question is, why are we the greatest country in the world? We won't go into that in detail today, but it's something to think about. Why do you think we're the greatest country in the world? See, our perspective of that privilege is a little bit warped. And that's my personal opinion. Maybe we're more similar to the countries that we talk so derisively about than we thought. See, we have our own set of third-world type diseases that plague us. And we don't have any gratitude or gratefulness for what we are so privileged to have. We got obesity and suicide and murder and child abuse and alcoholism and drug addiction and lung cancer. I'm not saying that other countries don't have it, but we have it in spades in America. Heart disease and pollution and strokes and cirrhosis of the liver and divorce. We got so many things that are just pervasive in our society, pervasive in our world. And our perspective on other places as well. We spend so much time looking at, if it's not a third world country, it's just maybe somebody that's outside of our sphere and looking at how they live their life and what they are doing and not doing, we don't even realize. We don't realize how how warped our perspective is. We have such a privilege, and we don't even realize it. Speaking of diseases, do you realize that cancer ravages a third of the human lives in their lifespan? Talking about a disease. In a lot of ways, I think if I can say it just flat out, we're not as different as a third world country as we would like to believe. We want to separate ourselves and think of ourselves so much higher and so much greater and so much better. But you know, in a lot of ways, we're not much different. Different situations, different environments, different government, but we're not that different. And I say that today because I want us to start thinking about ourselves as the individual person before we put ourselves in a group or in a race or in a people, just the individual person. If today was your last day on the earth, what would others say about you? Not about your group, not about your crew, not about your clique. What would they say about you? Hey guys, it's Mr. You. You know how much Mr. You loves his coffee. I think I found the answer for all you guys that are health conscious but still love coffee, strong coffee company. 15 grams of high quality protein, check. Sustain energy throughout the day, check. No jitters and crashes, check stress relievers like Ashwagonda for your morning commute, check and double check. It's also good for your skin. Come on now. A healthy alternative that actually tastes good. I've arranged the highest exclusive discount for my listeners. Use the promo code strongcoffeecompany.com forward slash discount forward slash TCMY. That's what they call me, Mr. U. StrongCoffeeCompany.com forward slash discount forward slash T C M M Y. The link is also in the show notes. Check out Strong Coffee. Let me know what you think. About a gentleman by the name of Jacqueline Harrels. Sorry, Jaclyn Harrow Lucas. Jack Lucas. Born in February 14th, 1928, died June 5th, 2008. He was an American Marine in World War II. He was awarded the Medal of Honor at age 17 as a private first class of the Marine Corps during the Battle of Iwo Jima. His story goes as follows. During a close firefight in two trenches between Lucas and three Marines, with 11 Japanese soldiers surrounding him, Lucas saved the lives of the other three Marines from two enemy hand grenades that were thrown into their trench. Without hesitation, he placed himself on one grenade while in the next instant pulling the other grenade under him. The grenade he covered with his body exploded and wounded him severely. The other grenade did not explode. Jack Lucas is the youngest Marine and the youngest serviceman in World War II history to be awarded the United States highest military decoration for valor. He later re-enlisted in the United States Army and reached the rank of captain. Now, as you hear this story, ask me this question. Or answer this question for me and ask yourself Is this sacrifice? Did Jack sacrifice his life? Theoretically speaking, how many of you in a non-war kind of thought process, how many of you would throw yourself on a grenade for somebody who's not in your household that's not related to you? See, Mr. Lucas was not related to these three Marines. He was just a part of an organization that he believed in, and they were a part of it as well. They were his brothers in arms. And he threw himself on a grenade to save three other lives. Knowing that it will cost him his own. We're talking about sacrificial living here, ladies and gentlemen. How many of you would theoretically throw yourself on a grenade for somebody who doesn't live in your household, who's not a member of your family? But may just be a member of your organization or a member of your neighborhood. Who would do that? Ask yourself this question. Take all the rhetoric take all the rhetoric out. Ask yourself this question. Are we in a wartime right now or are we in a peacetime mindset? See, if you if you have military experience, I'm not talking about what you may be thinking I'm talking about. I'm talking about a mindset that when I named all of those diseases and struggles that we experience here in America, but also in other countries around this globe. A battle for their souls, a battle for their lives, fighting against drugs and pornography and sex trafficking and child abuse and incest and all of the things that plague our society. Because every day we have to fight. Forces that I was not even able to see or put a name on. Most of my upbringing was a fight, a challenge. Not only a struggle to be relevant, but a struggle to survive the environment that I was living in. I'm not trying to compare it to a World War II. I'm just talking to you about the mindset. Are we in a wartime mindset or in a peacetime mindset? Because those two are very starkly different things. And how we approach them is very different as well. See a wartime or a peacetime lifestyle, they're different. Now, one of these, in my opinion, is a sickness that we must get healed from. If you're in a peacetime mindset, what that means is that you see everything as being good. You don't see the need to put your helmet back on and pick up your weapon. You don't see the need to battle. You don't see the need to intercede. You don't see the need to stand up and be a voice for the voiceless. You don't see a need for that. It's all good. You got the hedonistic lifestyle going. You call in luxuries needs and the place where you are right now, you're calling it home. You settled in. You love the toys and the idols that all your friends love. If it's suggested on your television set that you should buy this or invest in this, you're gonna do it. You're trying to fit in where you really don't fit in. You're forgetting about people dying. You're neglecting missions and causes that were once close to your heart. They even had an inkling, you know what? Perhaps I should be involved in that. You discarded it altogether. You stopped dreaming about victory. You stopped fighting the voices and stopped fighting the darkness and just allowing it to cover you and envelop you. Thinking more about what man can do for you temporarily rather than what you can do for a kingdom that's permanent. You're just chilling, living the life. You're at peace. That's a peacetime mindset, a peacetime lifestyle. We got these cute songs that talk about it in pop culture. But would you really throw yourself on a grenade for somebody that's not related to you? We have really gotten off of the wall. We have left our designated posts. We have abandoned our responsibilities in an effort to find comfort. I'd I say to you today that this is not a time for a peacetime mindset. Unless you got your eyes closed and you just have no idea what's going on around you. It seems to bring you down and it makes you feel sad and make you feel sorry for it's not about any of that. I just want to be, in some ways, I guess, a wake-up call. Start looking around you and seeing what's going on. There are a lot of places and a lot of opportunities for us to live and give sacrificially. What makes you lay your sword down and take your helmet off? What's that obstacle right now that's keeping you from your mandate to stay alert and be watchful at all times? Why would you stay alert and be watchful at all times? What's the point of that? That's because we are at war. It's not like Vietnam, which my dad served in faithfully. It's not like World War II, where Captain Lucas served faithfully. But it's a war of a different kind. It's a war for humanity. And we fight it every single day. The second part of that passage I was uh sharing with you guys earlier in the podcast, the letter begins to go on, and and the uh the the apostle, the spiritual leadership is speaking to the people. He's saying, Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the cultures around you, but be transformed inwardly, experience a total reformation, change your course, remove the abuses of the privilege that you have, the inaction, the inactivity, make improvements for the better on how you think, how you view others, be perceptive, seek after sound judgment, and in the eyes of God, you are living a beautiful life that's satisfying and perfect in his eyesight. Hear that's what we're talking about today. You can't live a sacrificial life if it's not costing you anything. Just like the story I detailed with Cain and Abel. Think about the times where you've gotten a gift. How many seconds did it take you to realize if the gift was thoughtful or not? It's not going to take very long. Once you pull that bow off and tear off the paper, you'll know if the person that gave you that gift put thought into it. They really considered you the person and what you like and perhaps what you need. What's up, everybody? It's Mr. You. You know I love hearing from all of our viewers and listeners. You guys have some great questions. I love it. On every episode of the podcast, they call me Mr. You, right at the top of our show notes is a way you can text me directly. It's called fan mail. Send a text to me anytime in or out of our shows with questions, feedback, topic ideas, or some kind of encouragement for the coach. And I'll respond back to you at the very next episode of our show. I'm making you a part of our show. So send a text, show some love, ask a question, fan mail. Thanks for supporting us again. We love you, we appreciate you. Have a great day. Enjoy the music, coach out. Every day, we should be in a posture of giving, in a posture of serving, in a posture of honor and respect. Every single day. Because we have received such mercy to live in this country, to have what we have. It may not be enough for you, but if we were to justipose that with somebody in a third world country that we were talking about earlier, they would take this in a heartbeat so fast. It'd make your head spin. Because they recognize how valuable what you have is, even if you don't. Another story I want to share with you guys. And you know, I always believe that leaders are readers. It's a heart-wrenching concept that, or I should say, excerpt that I read in a book by Minister John Piper. The name of the book is Don't Waste Your Life. Again, leaders are readers. I invite you to check that book out. I I really believe it would change your perspective on how you look at the life that you live and the life that you should be living. It's going to cause you to do some serious evaluations. It's not going to be cute. It's not for the faint of heart, but the name of the book is Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I strongly recommend you check it out. But the first part, the excerpt is from a World War II history book. It reads, As rainy morning wore into afternoon and a fighting balked down, the Marines continued to take casualties. Often it was the medics themselves who died as they tried to preserve life. William Hoops of Chattanooga was crouching beside a medic named Kelly, who put his head above a protective ridge and placed binoculars to his eyes just for an instant to spot a sniper who was peppering his area. In that instant, the sniper shot him through the Adam's apple. Hoops, a pharmacist mate, struggled frantically to save his friend. I took my forceps and reached into his neck to grasp the artery and pinch it off, hoops recalled. His blood was spurting. He had no speech, but his eyes were on me. He knew I was trying to save his life. I tried everything in the world. I couldn't do it. I tried. The blood was so slippery, I couldn't get the artery. I was trying so hard. And all the while he just looked at me. He looked directly into my face. The last thing that Kelly did as the blood spurts became less and less was to pat me on the arm as if to say, that's alright. And then Kelly died. Now, Mr. Piper writes in this in his book, in this heartbreaking moment, I want to be hoops and I want to be Kelly. I want to be able to say to suffering and perishing people, I tried everything in the world. I was trying so hard. And I want to be able to say to those around me, when I die, it's alright. To live is Christ and to die as gain. Here's a question to ponder today, among the others that I've already given to you. Have you ever lost anything? Have you ever lost anybody? When was the last time you made a sacrifice that truly costed you and benefited somebody else? What does sacrifice even mean? By definition, it means the act of giving up something that you want to keep, especially in order to get or do something else to help someone. It also is defined as an act of giving up something, especially for the sake of someone or something else, for the sake of helping others. So, understanding the definitions of what sacrifice is, what would you surmise a living sacrifice means? It means all those things with the living component, the free will choice. Excuse me, free will choice, not free will, excuse me. You know what needs to be done, but you do it. If the word sacrifice immediately brings to mind a vision of a goat lying on the altar, I totally understand why you have that vision. Let's make a substitution and place you on the altar instead of the goat. See, the living aspect of this hypothetical scenario is that the goat didn't climb the altar and lie down on it of his own volition. He didn't have a choice. Munching on grass was his choice. That's what he wanted to do. But the living person, out of their own desire, gets on the altar, trusting the one to whom the altar belongs to. That's where we are, or where we should be. Getting on the altar intentionally, trusting the one whom the altar belongs to. If you believe that you just live in this life and it's yours to live, to do what you want, and do to whomever you want to do it to, you have a totally warped view of what this life is all about. Like I said before in many podcast episodes in the past, I say it again on our 20th episode today, it's not even about you. D.L. Moody had a fantastic quote that he will always say that I love. He would say, The problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off of the altar. Anytime we need to be humbled, we need to operate in a level of service and honor and respect and dignity, the things that our country talks about ad nauseum that are part of the reason why we have all of the values that we have. We get off of the altar when it's time for us to be humbled, when it's time for us to be broken so we can be made better again. We get off of the altar. We stop the process because we refuse to humble ourselves, mostly because we just don't want to do what is being asked of us. We want to do what we want to do, which is the total opposite of what sacrificial giving is all about. Figuratively speaking, that is the problem for all of us. We have free will decision-making ability, but we don't trust the one that has provided us with such an incredible power. It's what separates us from the animals. They don't have free will. So they can't decide, is this sacrifice on this altar going to work for me today? We keep getting off of the operating table because we don't trust the physician. We keep getting off of the potter's will because we don't really trust the potter. And we think as the clay we can do a better job of forming ourselves. And it's absolutely ridiculous. The last year should have been enough evidence for us. I mean, raise your hand if you've been close to death before. Maybe not like perhaps like William Hoops. And maybe not like what you heard from Jack Lucas. But raise your hand if you've been close to death before. My hand is up right now. Matter of fact, both of them are up. Did you forget that helpless feeling? Can you recall all of the valuable, worthwhile things you regretted not being able to complete when you thought that this was about to be over? And that this was the end? The people you wish you could have repaired relationships with? Well, now that you are back to life, now that you are still alive and still living and breathing, where did all those things go? See, one thing I learned that when coming face to face with death or experiencing its effects and its impact, the stuff we thought about that we thought mattered is revealed to be what it truly is. Something useless for lasting happiness. Relationships, the opportunities to serve others becomes more precious. We think immediately about the things that are most important. I want you to catch that because I I don't know how to put that into better words. I don't know how to say that in a way that you may understand it. When you're face to face with death, like I have been on a couple of occasions, probably more than that, matter of fact, now that I think of it, all the things that I thought were important that I wanted to do in life, I couldn't see any of that. All I could see were the relationships, the people whose lives I was I had an opportunity to help make better. I thought about the things that were basically at the end of my list of things to do. And that's true. Even if you don't have your Bible in front of you and you're not inclined to read it, just hear this. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. Essentially, we're talking about a life of sacrifice. All the things that you want to do, all the things that you want to make a goal so that people can say, Oh, look at you, or perhaps maybe lift you to a higher standard in life, a higher financial bracket in life. You gotta ask yourself, is it worth it? Is it worth what you lose to gain this? So we talked about a wartime and a peacetime mindset. I know that most people that are listening to this podcast today are gonna choose the peacetime mindset because it's simpler, it's easier, less drama, less confusion, less struggle, less challenge, but also less purpose. Do you really believe you were made and fashioned and formed and created to sit on the couch and play video games all day long? Or to just go to work and go home and go to work and go home? Do you think that that's the life you're being called to? I know it's what you're probably doing. I've done that. But is that what we are called to do? Is that the purpose for our life? When that day comes, see I ask you a hypothetical question about if today was your last day on the earth, what would others say about you? But when that day comes, you're not gonna be thinking about your video games. You're not gonna be thinking about going to the office, you're not gonna be thinking about, man, I didn't get to go on that skiing trip. You're gonna be thinking about things that are way more precious to your family, the time you spend together with your loved ones, and a host of other things. You'll probably be thinking about. I don't know how else to say this, but flat out, we are at war, ladies and gentlemen. People are dying every day for senseless reasons, and they're dying without purpose, they're dying without having fulfilled all that they were supposed to in this life, and people are alive watching them die, and they're dying a slow death as well, because all they care about are the things that benefit them, the things that they can feed themselves on, engorge themselves on, and don't even realize how much is being lost. So if indeed we are at war, would you give your today for someone else's tomorrow, like Captain Lucas did and William Hoops of Chattanooga did? If we are indeed at war, would you give your today for someone else's tomorrow? If today was the last day on the earth, what would others say about you? I asked that earlier in the podcast and throughout. I'll ask it one final time today for you to think about and for you to ponder. You can share your comments on our social media platforms if you'd like to, but you don't have to. Just want you to think about this. If today was your last day on the earth, what would others say about you? Hopefully, they will say that you lived a life worth living, and others were better because you did. Guys, we thank you so much again for your time, for listening to They Call Me Mr. You, the People's Podcast. We thank you for giving this topic some thought today. I thought it was really valuable and it meant a lot to me, and I hope that it means something to you today. I don't know who's listening and where you are in life, but all of us are gonna have a last day. I just hope you're able to say that it was a life worth living and that others were better because you did. Thank you so much, guys, again, for joining us on our podcast. Check out our blog article version of this podcast today, entitled A Living Sacrifice on theycallmeistery.com. Love to hear your thoughts and comments there. Guys, have a fantastic week. We appreciate you. Coach out. Enjoy the music.