This is a message from Dr. Michael Yousef, Bible teacher, on leading the way.

Our prayer is that it will encourage you in your walk of faith.

And if you'd like to learn more about Dr. Youssef and the ministry of leading the way,

the place to start is l-tw.org.

How many of you have heard the term control freak?

I know we joke about the reality of a control freak, but most control freaks actually

are unaware that they are.

Most important thing that I want to tell you is this. Be careful of confusing

those who have the spirit of control with those who are diligent workers. We often confuse the

two because there's a world of difference with someone who is actually a control freak

and someone who has just been diligent and conscientious and lives up to their responsibility

and they're faithful in their life and in their service.

I want to explain the difference between the two, the difference between diligence and controlling.

Living up to your responsibility means that you are diligent, that you redeem the time, that you are faithful in meeting your obligations.

And that cuts across the board, whether as a parent or whether it is

in ministry or it's in your profession or it's just being a faithful husband and wife.

All of our responsibilities in life, we are to be diligent, to be thoughtful, to be hardworking, and to be responsible.

That's very different, very different from being controlling.

Controlling often comes from a severe case of insecurity, which comes out of anxiety.

Controlling is out of a desire to take credit for everything.

Controlling comes out of being more concern about image and reputation than with reality.

Furthermore, controlling people work over time to manipulate others and to manipulate

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