How Praising the Lord Frees Your Spirit
"You shall not steal." (Exodus 20:15)
When you take credit for the good you do, you are stealing from the Lord and buying into the first and biggest of all lies: that you—and not the Lord—are the source of all life. Doing this leads to fear, anguish and suffering, because you also end up stealing the Lord's responsibility for all future good, which you cannot possibly hope to manage without disaster. If instead you learn to praise the Lord for every good thing, then you will find you are able to enjoy all the Lord's loving gifts with a new sense of freedom.
To see that this is true, read Matthew 6:19-21, Genesis 2:15-3:24, and True Christian Religion 317-319, then listen to the full audio sermon explaining Exodus 20:15.
This is the seventh Rise Above It / Journey sermon on the Ten Commandments, addressing this time the seventh commandment, against all kinds of theft. It is archived at TheoBlog.com, and also available through PittsburghNewChurch.org, NewChurch.org, Apple.com (in the iTunes Music Store), and FeedBurner.com.