Text:           2 TIMOTHY 3:4

By:              Afekolu, Chris (Bishop)

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PREAMBLE

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of themselves,……….. Boasters, ……INCONTINENT, …… PROUD, HEADY, HIGH-MINDED.” II Timothy 3:1-5

• Our world is becoming more and more corrupted than ever? Have you noticed mankind is becoming more and more out of control, and showing recklessness, stubbornness, heady and high-minded.
• The love for fellow mankind has gone very cold. Our decisions and actions are becoming more of self than others. Even Nations are ruled on the premise of self and others secondary. Heady people embed themselves in such self conceit and deceit.

HEADY

• King James Bible Dictionary defines a Heady person as;
• RECKLESS; HASTY; HEADSTRONG
• What does God say about recklessness? Prov. 14:16
• ESV One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless. NIV -The wise fear the Lord and shun evil, but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure. NASB – A wise person is cautious and turns away from evil, But a fool is arrogant and careless.

What is the difference between carelessness and recklessness?

• Recklessness involves a conscious choice to ignore risks. In summary, while both terms denote a lack of caution, “careless” suggests unintentional mistakes, whereas “reckless” implies irresponsible and rash and unruly. Recklessness is a deliberate act of irresponsibility, rashness, unruliness and the likes. The bibles say we will see more of these persons in the last days!

Headstrong

• from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
• Adjective – Determined to have one’s own way; stubbornly and often recklessly willful. Synonym: obstinate; persist stubbornly
• Adjective – Resulting from willfulness and obstinacy – resolute adherence to your own ideas or desires
• from The Century Dictionary.
• Willful; ungovernable; obstinate; bent on pursuing one’s own ends.
• Directed by or proceeding from obstinate willfulness: as, a headstrong
• SynonymsIntractable, unruly, stubborn, dogged.
• from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
• Adjective – Not easily restrained; ungovernable; obstinate; stubborn.
• Adjective – Directed by ungovernable will, or proceeding from obstinacy.

From Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• Adjective – Determined  to do as one pleases, and not as others want.
• from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
• Adjective – habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition

Headstrong describes something that’s disobedient or willful. If you are headstrong, you want to do what you want to do. When you refused to attend a mission work because you want to watch a movie or football game, you are being headstrong. Another example, when you refused to attend the local congregation agreed evangelism because your perceived evangelism, same timing, you are being headstrong.

A closer look at the word headstrong can give you a hint to its meaning – the combination of the head and strong. You are determined to have your own way because you have a strong belief that your view – what you have in your head – is the best one. Being a headstrong person is not always a bad thing. Sometimes headstrong people make history because they fight traditional values or outdated rules that need to be changed. However, the context as used in 2 Timothy 3 verse 4 headstrong (NKJV) denotes  negative attitude and KJV used a very strong word – Heady representing RECKLESS, HASTY AND HEADSTRONG people.

Men will be… traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God: These characteristics are all about one thing: Self. Men are traitors because of self, they are headstrong because of self, they are haughty because of self, and they are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God because of self.

• The words heady and high-minded mean to be filled with selfish pride–to be like Satan, lifted up, inflated with self-conceit.
• You don’t have to look very far to find this crowd. They are everywhere in all areas of life! You can see and hear them in the sports world, business world, political arena, and also in church houses.
• These are the people who put on the pretense of humility; but, if you really get to know them, you would soon see their “self-centeredness”.
• It could be a very successful and charming husband who nurse the idea that he is a great prize his wife has won,
• or a wife that has the idea her husband got a trophy when he got her.
• It could be the athlete who feels he or she is what makes the team or a sport great.
• It could be the church member or leader who feels that their presence makes the church so much better.

God hates all sin. The Lord Jesus greatly condemns heady and high-mindedness.

Hear and Heed the words of God when He says, “Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

Satan has his ways to lead men to destruction. One such way is through “heady, haughty, high-minded” hearts.

God can Heal Stubbornness in Your Life

• We all have stubborn areas that God can heal. Stubbornness is a very serious heart disease because of its self deceit! Most stubborn people don’t admit their stubbornness is present and it is holding them back.
• If we allow God to heal our stubbornness, He can actually use that stubborn place in a sanctified way, where we “stubbornly” refuse to quit and stay at the course that is before us.
• Everything can be blocked from fruitfulness, simply because of a stubborn heart. Unhealed stubbornness could impact on your marriage, friendships, parenting and even your calling. Your children will often repeat the patterns you lay out for them.
• A person who is stubborn does not respond well to input, they resist change and become difficult to deal with. You can only go so far with them in relationship, because their personal will has built up impenetrable walls of self-preservation.
• God will not force His way into a stubborn person’s heart, as He resists the proud. But the good news is that continual grace is available to those who humble themselves.
• But the journey from stubbornness to humility can be a challenging road.
• Is Stubbornness Holding You Back?
• It takes humility to admit you have stubbornness that needs to be addressed. The problem is that stubbornness resists humility at all costs.
• The Old Testament, King Saul carried a stubbornness that the average person may not have discerned, but Samuel saw it. This stubbornness kept him from being able to experience the breakthrough and change that was available to him.
• The word of the Lord came to Saul, but his stubbornness actually blocked that word from taking shape in his life. God can work in powerful ways, but a simple block of stubbornness can prevent the flow of God from being experienced.
• Samuel didn’t play around with this situation. Saul not listening to the instruction and direction that was clearly given to him was revealing a problem in his heart. God’s warning through Samuel was direct and strong:
• For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. 1 Samuel 15:23 (KJV)
• Why is Stubbornness as iniquity?
• Samuel describes stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry.

When you see the word iniquity in the Old Testament, it often refers to the inherited sin that gets passed from generation to generation. The very nature of sin is stubborn. It resists change. One of the patterns of sin that easily get passed down is the sin of stubbornness. {Exodus 20:5, Deut. 5:9-10, Numbers 14:33, Jeremiah 32:18, Psalms 141:3-4}

So next time you see a stubborn trait in your child, look in the mirror, because they may have inherited it from your family tree. Don’t condemn yourself. This is an opportunity for you and your child to experience more freedom, together. This is a chance to learn and teach humility in a real way.

The best way to see stubbornness defeated in your child’s life is to allow God to heal it in your own life. If you really want to experience transformation in the area of stubbornness, One courageous step you can take: Ask your spouse, or very close acquaintance   – “Am I stubborn. In what ways am I stubborn?” And listen without defending yourself or arguing. Take in the feedback, because there are things you may have been ignoring, defending and deflecting for years.

• Just as iniquity is a seed that moves from generation to generation, the sin of stubbornness will continue to flow in the family tree, unless someone says, “no more.”

Why is Stubbornness as Idolatry? Stubbornness is as idolatry, because it manifests what idols accomplish. An idol blocks the flow of God grace from fully operating in our life. Stubbornness also accomplishes that. It keeps us from fulfilling the work of God in our lives. When we operate in stubbornness, we are often protecting an idol in our lives that we do not want to tear down. We are not open to another perspective or input about our life.

Stubbornness protects us from being vulnerable. Therefore, people who love you and know you cannot speak into your life. It creates a lot of “don’t go there” subjects in your life. People often have to tip toe around you with certain subjects because stubbornness keeps you walled off.

• The stubbornness is the hardness, the protective layer that does not allow truth to land softly on the heart.
• It keeps truth at a distance, so we remain bound to the beliefs that we feel are right, but may be off.

The danger of chronic stubbornness is that you become a standard to yourself, with little to no helpful input. It keeps you from being mentored or sharpened by other relationships.

• The idols we carry can be the stubborn arguments and mindsets that keep us from walking in humility and heart transformation. This is about cutting down the idols that keep our heart from the freedom to live in the love that God has for us.

The Only Solution In order to break free of stubbornness lies with you; you have to admit you have it and that it’s holding you back. You will need to get sober about the high stakes consequences that will manifest if you remain in your stubborn ways.

The only way to break free is to humble yourself. Get defenseless. Admit where you’ve been stubborn and invite the input that can help you change. 

The good new is that God bestows His grace to those who are willing to humble themselves.

CONCLUSION

We have being discussing one of the last days manifestations – Heady People. These group of persons are everywhere including the CHURCH. Such Reckless, hasty and headstrong persons in the Church has a form of godliness, but denies the power of the gospel to transform their lives; the bible instruct us to turn away from such a people and altitude. (2 Timothy 3:5).

• The wise fear the Lord and shun evil, but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure. (Proverbs 14:16)

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