Everyone, including your youth ministry students, make excuses. Excuses can not only make us miss out on some opportunities, they really have the mightiness to demolish our lives if we let them.
Scroll all the way down to download the handout!
They Are Only Excuses
Exodus 4:10-12 Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Excuses can appear unbelievably strong and valid now and again, to the point where we wind up trusting they’re absolute truth. But, excuses can not only make us miss out on some opportunities, they really have the mightiness to demolish our lives if we let them.
When we continually talk ourselves out of executing matters we wish to do, we produce a mighty downwardly spiral of diminishing opportunities, dwindling abundance, and decreasing self-regard. Finally we wind up being a hollow shell of the person we may have been.
Don’t let your excuses ruin your life! Excuses are for weak-willed persons who have no want or willingness to grow and develop themselves. They’ve talked themselves out of making the lives they sincerely want, and they won’t budge from where they are today unless a life crisis pushes them to.
Is this you? Or would you rather be somebody who pokes fun at limits and faces their fears head on?
If you’re in the habit of buying into excuses, you likely say things like this:
“I can’t . . .”
“I don’t have the gift . . .”
“I wouldn’t be substantial enough . . .”
“I don’t have any time . . .”
“It would be too difficult . . .”
“It’s virtually unimaginable for somebody like me . . .”
How many times have you stated things like this? They’re excuses, plain and simple.
Here’s the worst thing: even if an excuse really bears some merit, like if you truly couldn’t accomplish a task you had in front of you – the excuse itself forbids you from even attempting or doing work toward the goal in some manner. Just because you don’t so far have the income, time, gift, courage, or whatever . . . Doesn’t signify you won’t have it at some later time.
Here’s the beneficial news: if you reject excuses, they abruptly cease to be real.
Beginning now, take a good severe look at your own excuses. Are they actually true, or have you been duping yourself because it appears easier than smashing the fantasy?
If you call into question the beliefs you hold about yourself and your potentialities, you may be surprised to learn that you’ve been held hostage by excuses. But because you defined the excuses, you are able to easily disassemble them too, one step at a time, one defective notion at a time.
Once you start executing this even in little ways, you start to acquire greater strength and empowerment within yourself, and your whole life will start to switch and change in marvelous ways.
Once we lay naked our fears, when we analyze them with an honest and brave eye – what we find are not limitations. What we find are excuses. Occasionally these are unconscious. They come from events, revilements, and cruel judgments that we have taken to heart. Without scrutiny, we have let them control our lives.
Each person has their unique self-justifications; no one can ever hope to supply a comprehensive list. But remember that excluding extreme conditions, they are just excuses.
Group Discussion:
What are some common excuses people use on a daily basis?
What is an excuse you have used recently? Why did you feel the need to use an excuse?
To say one has a “good excuse” implies there is a difference between good and bad excuses, do you believe there are good “excuses”? Why or why not?
Download the Handout directly from the link below:
