Session 2
Christianity is about taking broken people, transforming them, and then using those transformed people to transform the world. It’s always been this way, from the moment when the Holy Spirit came upon the early church in Acts 2.
What holds you back from seeking everything God wants for you and is calling you to? My suspicion is that most Christians settle for less simply because they get busy and distracted with so many other things.
Even things as good as jobs, kids, spouses, church programs, helping others, etc. can take our eyes off of what is most important if we begin to view them and use them in the wrong way.
Question and Answer
1. List the elements in your life that keep you distracted. Include both good things and bad things in this list. As I said before good things can take our attention off of the most important things. But why do these good things end up being distractions?
Once you have identified some of these things, it’s important to evaluate why you got distracted in the first place. Why do these good things end up being distractions? God wants you to be diligent and creative in your job. If you’re married, God wants you to devote time, attention, and love toward your spouse. If you have children, God wants you to invest time into their lives, loving them and teaching them how to function in the world that God created. But if you find yourself so focused on these things that you aren’t enjoying God’s presence in the midst of it, consciously trying to honor God through the way you do these activities and pursuing the things that you know God wants you to pursue, then these things have become distractions.
2. How is it that the good things in your life have come to distract you from what is most important?
3. What would it take to adjust your lifestyle and mentality in order to put the most important things back in their proper place?
It’s incredibly important that we keep our lives in the proper perspective. For one thing, we go to great lengths to avoid thinking about death. We all know that life is fragile, but who wants to think about the end of their life? It’s easy to get people to visualize wealth and success, but nobody wants to acknowledge that they could die today. We also like to live as though we were the center of the universe. Most of us would deny this, but when we examine the way we spend our time and money, it sure looks like we are the kings of our own mini-kingdoms. Our lives are focused on our goals, our desires, and our decisions. We could die at any moment and then we know we aren’t the center of the universe.
Start by reading James 4:13-17. After thinking about this then answer the questions below.
4. Make a few notes on this passage. What is James warning against? What is he calling us to do?
5. If James were to say these words specifically to you in the midst of your current life situation, what do you think he would tell you to avoid? What do you think he would tell you to pursue?
6. What are the sources of stress and anxiety in your life?
7. What can you do to remind yourself of God’s care and your dependence on Him in the midst of these stressful situations?
The Christian life is all about dependence on God. Again, this is something that we’d probably all agree on, but most of our lives look more like demonstrations of our own independence than humble attempts to rely on God in every situation. If this is God’s world, if every moment of your life is a gift from God, and if your life is about God’s kingdom rather than your own, then those realities ought to be reflected in the way you live.
8. How can you structure your life to reflect the fact that your every second is dependent on the grace of God?
Once we are reminded of our proper place in the universe, we can begin to function as God intended for us to function. Our lives will be off base and our priorities will be skewed unless we see ourselves as God sees us. Remember that this world is about God, not us. If we live for anything other than God’s glory, we will end with regrets. I’m reminded of the importance of this every time someone around me dies. It’s actually healthy for us to be exposed to death from time to time. Solomon says this explicitly in Ecclesiastes 7. By remembering that our lives are fragile—that it could all be over at any moment—we’ll find it easier to stay focused on the most important things in life.
9. Describe some people in your life who have died abruptly. What were some of their achievements in life and what were their regrets?
10. If today was the day you died, what would you regret, and why?
11. What can you change about your life today to avoid those regrets?
12. Close your time in this session by praying. You’ve been thinking through some pretty heavy issues, and if you’re seriously thinking about making changes in your life to avoid regrets, you likely have some important changes to make. Remember that this life is all
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