SESSION 5 - THE MODEL OF BEHAVIOR
GROUP VIDEO
Today we discussed the importance of transparency!
SESSION 5 - GROUP VIDEO
Watch 10-20 minutes of a GROUP video teaching, that correlates with the full Workshop semester topics.
GROUP CONVERSATION GUIDE
WHY DO
YOU DO
WHAT YOU DO?
There is something inside of you and me that winds us up, springs us up and messes us up!
Maybe you think it is a PERSON:
- Those kids – “They are just driving me crazy – I get mad and then I get sad – I don’t like me when my kids make me that way.”
- My husband – “He makes me feel so alone. He is shut down. He just sits like a toad in front of the TV – I feel so SAD and disappointed.”
- My boss – “She makes me feel so stupid. I can’t do anything right. I am a loser when I am at work and just hope I don’t do something that gets me fired. I go home every day thinking I’m a failure.”
- My wife – “She makes me so mad. I come home and I’m happy. As soon as I walk in the door she is a tidal wave of attitude and questions and interrogations. I blow up. Man, I wish she didn’t make me this way.”
- My parents – “I want to be a good kid. I want to be of a surrendered pliable heart. I want to be intimately connected. But then they just yell at me and yell at me until I have had it. They don’t listen to me. So I quit. So I isolate. I get emotional distant and disconnecting. I don’t like it but it’s their fault.”
Maybe you think it is BEHAVIOR:
- Spending money
- Wasting productive hours
- Escaping into sexual fantasy, pornography, etc.
- Drinking alcohol, or smoking pot
- Overeating
- Talking too much
- Complaining all the time
- Gossiping
- Overreacting to impersonal injustices
IF YOU COULD
CHANGE ONE THING
ABOUT YOU,
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Remember, there are many things you are incapable of changing:
- Your family
- Your boss (the way he/she is)
- Your friends (the way they are)
- Your history
- Your body type (although you can manage your body)
- What other people say about you
- Other people’s desire for, or interests in, you
- The successes or failures of others
- How much money you have today
- The abuse and wounds that have happened
- Imperfections (You will never become perfect in this life)
- Where you are today (though you can change where you will be tomorrow)
- God
IF YOU DESIRE TO CHANGE,
WHY HAVEN'T YOU
CHANGED ALREADY?
Most people answer that with this response:
- “I just need to TRY harder.”
- “I’m probably NEVER going to be able to.”
- “I guess I don’t WANT it enough. If I desired enough, I would change.”
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE
TO SOLVE A PROBLEM
WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW
WHAT THE PROBLEM IS
TO BEGIN WITH!
ROMANS 7:15, 22-25 NKJV For what I am DOING, I do not UNDERSTAND. For what I will (want) to DO, that I do not PRACTICE; but what I hate, that I DO... I see another law in my MEMBERS, WARRING against the law of my MIND, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my MEMBERS. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!
THERE IS A
WAR GOING ON
IN THE MIND!
JOHN 8:30-32 NKJV As Jesus spoke these words, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the TRUTH shall make you FREE."
THE TRUTH YOU BELIEVE
MAKES YOU FREE.
THE LIES YOU BELIEVE
KEEP YOU ENSLAVED.
QUESTION:
What LIES are you presently BELIEVING?
God* Yourself * Others
QUESTION:
WHY are you believing LIES?
Rationally * Emotionally
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Take a few moments to discuss your answers to these questions with the Group.
ICE BREAKER
Where would you live if you could move anywhere in the world, and why?
MY MEMOIR STORIES
Start with the Hosts (husband, wife), then if you have an Apprentice go next. Then open it up to the Group.
- IMPORTANT: If the Group would like to continue telling one Memoir Story per week until they are completed, that might allow for a more congruent transition. Please be sensitive to the Science of Freedom content and discussion. It is important that our people are exposed to the possibilities in their potential that this content will provide. Please take no more than 20-25 minutes for the Memoir to leave time for the rest of the content below.
QUESTIONS
- Is there anything that surprised you about Pastor's perspective of why we do what we do? When you hear him say that behavior isn't about disciplining a "choice point," but about regulating the inner world, what does that mean to you?
- How often have you though or said, "I need to get ________ (behavior) under control"? Why is this so important to us?
- When you hear about a system of behavior, transforming your life, desires and contentment, what excites you the most? What scares you the most? Are you skeptical?
- What would a functional, healthy inner world look like if you had one? What would an dysfunctional, unhealthy inner world look like if you had one?
- How do you think God views your struggle with desired behaviors? Does He project disappointment, sadness, grief; or does He project confidence, empathy, and hope?
- Have you ever thought about where your personality comes from? What about your experiences of desire, hope and contentment, where do they come from? Is it possible that you have relegated personality to hard wiring, when in fact many of these traits are neuroadaptive (the brain can adapt and evolve)? What would it mean to you to experience a transformation in areas of your inner world?
SESSION 5 - WRAP UP VIDEO #2
This is a 5-10 minute video for MOVING FORWARD, GOING DEEPER, use of worksheets and periodic church-wide announcements.
MOVE FORWARD
Receive the challenge to “MOVE FORWARD” by applying what was learned this week.
SUGGESTIONS:
- MEMOIR STORY - If you haven't told your MEMOIR STORY, continue preparing to tell your story to the rest of the Group over the next several weeks.
- PRAY FOR GROUP MEMBER - Pray for at least one person in the Group. Try to identify someone who hasn't been prayed for, or given an encouraging Scripture. Don't worry about feeling inadequate as a prayer. No one feels like they are professional prayers, at least not when they look into eyes of the Almighty God. Praying the Scriptures over people is the best way to learn how to pray effectively. Simply find a Scripture, put the person's name in the text, and pray those words out loud. Then ask the Lord to help you think of things to say to Him about them that would help their lives.
- ASK FOR A SCRIPTURE WORD - Ask God to give you a Scripture to give them to encourage, comfort and edify them. You can Google search "God's Promises" and find a plethora of appropriate texts. Look for one that seems to give you a spark of energy as you think about the person you have been praying for.
- DELIVER THE WORD TO THEM - Then send them an email, text or phone call to encourage them. This is how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. As you practice these movements you will expand your own capacity with God, all while giving people much needed hope and strength.
GOING DEEPER
Encouragement to engage the FULL WORKSHOP SEMESTER experience. While this is not required, nor is the Group discussions connected to the full workshop, it is an option for everyone.
PRAYER / DISMISS GROUP
Prayer time with the Group.