Road to Recovery: The First Step to Freedom

Conversation:
Tell about a time when you relearned how to do something that previously you had been doing wrong.
Who told you you where doing it wrong? How did you react?
After you changed where you able to do it better?

Scripture questions:
Read Isaiah 57:18
How do you thnk the Israelites (the people God is talking to in this passage) where acting?
What does God say he will do?

Read Matthew 5:3
Look at the surrounding text and discuss the context of this passage?
Who is talking? Who is listening?
How do you know you are spiritually poor?
What do you think someone who is spiritually poor look like?

Read Romans 7:15-17
What is it that Paul (the author of Romans) recognizes about himself?
What is Paul's problem? Do you experience these same problems?
Paul sounds frustrated, as a result of this problem. What are some other consequences you can have when this problem (sin) is not adressed?
(Optional related verses: Psalm 32, Proverbs 28:13, Gen 3:10)

Read James 4:6
What is the cure for this problem of sin?

Heart Questions:
What Hurts, Habits and hang-ups have you had?
What needs changing in your life?

Close by saying together or one person reading out loud the first step to freedom:
Realize I am not God: I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.
"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." Matthew 5:3