Failure: A Bible Study

Note: This Bible study is the continuation of a post at my other blog. Click on this link to get the post that goes with the study: Is Failure Inevitable?

How many years have you been struggling with this sin or bad habit?

How many years (or weeks) have you been diligent about applying truth to the lies that are fueling your habit?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how diligent have you been?

When you think of how long you’ve been renewing your mind compared to how long you’ve had this problem, is it realistic to expect 100% victory at this point? Why or why not?

Gathering Your Tools

The first step in any home improvement project is to make a plan and gather your tools. It’s no different with a mind improvement project.

Here are the tools you’ll need: a Bible and a journal. This is the journal you’ll use to renew your mind in.

We’ll be going over several different ways to renew your mind on this blog, but one of the best ways is to find Scriptures that apply to your project and pray through those Scriptures on a daily basis.

If you want to get started on your project right away, make a commitment to find one new Scripture each day that will help you with your project and write out a Scripture prayer using that Scripture in your journal. Or just meditate on that Scripture once a day and think of how it would apply to your project.

After you’ve chosen your project and purchased your journal, answer the following questions to help you have an idea of what to expect in the months to come (you could put the answers to these questions in your new journal):

Getting Started

1.     What is your project?

2.    What is your goal?

3.    Why do you want to reach your goal?

4.    Do you think God wants you to reach your goal?

5.    If so, what would His reasons be? Are God’s reason’s different than your reasons? If so, why?

6.    Do you think Satan wants you to reach your goal? If not, why?

7.    What should you expect if you decide to take on this project? Read the following verses and list as much as you can from them:

a.     Romans 12:1

b.    Philippians 1:6

c.     Hebrews 12:10-11

d.    Galatians 6:9

e.     1 Peter 5:8-10

9.    Is this a project you’ll be able to accomplish in your own strength? If not, what will you need to do? (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:22-24)

10. How will the accomplishment of this goal help you love God and others better?

More to Come

My college kids are on break now so I won't be posting next week, but when their break is over we'll start talking about some other practical tools you can use to renew your mind. If you'd like some ideas before then, you could browse through a short-lived blog I wrote at www.transformedbytrials.com. I may repeat some of those ideas over here as I'm using this blog (and www.beyondthesinnersprayer.wordpress.com) to try to write a curriculum that could be used in a Bible study. (Yes, I know, too many blogs!)

1 Corinthians 10:23

I was looking through my old "renewing of the mind project journal for eating" last night and this entry made me laugh:

6/11/08

Belief: I forgot to put whip cream on my first bowl of ice cream so it's okay to have a second bowl with whipped cream.

Truth: It may be permissible, but it does not edify!!!

All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 1 Corinthians 10:23

A Renewing of the Mind Project

Remember that rickety old house we talked about last time? If you were going to fix it up, how would you start? Would you tackle the wholehouse in a day, or would you start with just one room?

I’m hoping you said just one room because that’s what I’d like to do on this blog: work together with each other and with God to tackle the “rooms” in our lives that could use a little makeover.

If you’d like to be involved, the first step is to choose a “renewing of the mind” project. We’ll talk more about what that will look like in weeks to come but for now let’sjust explore some project possibilities.

Here are a few examples of projects you could take on:

• A critical spirit
• A habit of worry
• Too much time on the internet
• Your attitude toward work or school
• A sin that controls you
• A difficult relationship

If you’re having a hard time deciding what to work on, here's a worksheet that might help:

Choosing a Project

1. What areas of your life cause you the most stress?

2. Why do they stress you out?

3. Can you think of any good habits you’d like to develop?

4. Can you think of any bad habits you’d like to break free from?

5. Of the following negative emotions andattitudes, which one (s) have you been struggling with the most lately?

• Worry, stress, anger, self-condemnation, people pleasing, insecurity in general, discontentment, envy, pride, judgment, and/ora critical spirit.

6. What are your most difficult relationships at this time? (You may want to just answer this one in your head rather than onpaper.)

7. Why are those relationships difficult?

8. Look over your answers to the preceding questions and list two or three possible projects.

9. For each project, answer the following questions:

a. On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard do you think itwould be to tackle this project?

b. How would your life change if you were to gain victory over this habit or emotion?

c. Would gaining victory over this habit or emotion help you love God and others better? Explain.

d. Can you do this project in your own strength? If not, what will you need to do if you want to be successful with this project?(Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:22-24)

10. Do you feel like God is leading you toward a particular project?

Note: This post is part of a class I'm teaching on my other blog. Since I can't figure out how to format worksheets and Bible studies at Wordpress, I'm posting them over here until I can figure it out! (if it can be figured out)