Sunday, January 31, 2010

Week 4 of our series on "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality"

Principle 4: Accept the Gift of Limits

• First, if you are reading this, please zip me a short e-mail to let me know you are using the blog at nate@stmarksindialantic.org – I am trying to understand if this is a good use of my time – trying to understand my "gift of limits!!"  Thank you!

• Begin with a time of silent prayer becoming aware of God’s presence with you and settling into a mode of listening to what God may want to say.
• What experiences have you had of taking on more than you should have?
  • How did that turn out?
  • What adjustments have you made, if any to avoid repeating that?
• Discuss how saying "yes" to something means that you are saying "no" to many other things.
• How would you define "boundaries" or limits?  Give examples
• Are there any Bible stories or passages that speak to our need to accept our God-given limits?
• READ **  (David is told he cannot build God a temple)
  • What do you think David felt at God’s refusal to let him build?
  • How would you feel if you were king and were told you can’t do something?
  • How did David respond and how can we learn from that?
• What thoughts or feelings about God lie behind our unwillingness to accept our own limits?
• Can God sometimes take us beyond our limits with God’s power?  Can you think of some Biblical examples besides the following one?
  • eg. Sarah was 90 and Abraham "as good as dead" (Rom. 4:19) but God gave them a child.
• How do we discover the balance between accepting limits and expecting God to take us beyond them?
• READ ** Jesus’ temptation
  • Talk about how each temptation was a temptation for Jesus to exceed his God-given limits
  • Talk about how Jesus responded to each one
• Talk about who God has uniquely created you to be and how you can embrace that freedom and those limits for God.
  • Consider the limits of your season of life, your personality, your life circumstances, your emotional, physical and intellectual capacities, your scars and wounds
• Closing thoughts:
  • Do you take good care of yourself by respecting your own limits?  If not, how can you begin to change that?
  • Are there people in your life who are taking more than you can give?  If so, how can you lovingly free yourself from having too much demanded?
  • Do you have trouble saying "no?"  Practice, practice, practice!!
• Closing prayer – ask God to give you wisdom and discernment about your limits

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