For many of us, during these last 18 months, our childhood wounds surfaced and addictions or struggles returned. In this new season, we can put good habits and patterns in our lives to support healing and growth. We can relaunch our lives by looking honestly at things revealed that God wants to heal.

Work through the following questions and scriptures on your own, and get together with your running partner, life group, or friends and family to talk through what you are learning.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.) Read Luke 12:34, Proverbs 3:5, Psalm 119:11, 2 Chronicles 16:9 The heart is the spiritual center of who you are—it’s where you relate to God, it’s the place from which you can truly love people, it’s where your creativity, your emotion, your motivations come. How have you seen this to be true in your own life?

2.) What stood out to you from the message?

3.) Signs of a Wounded Heart: loss of joy, protecting yourself, deep sadness or fear, defensiveness, easily offended or angered, shame and self-condemnation. Have you (n the past or currently) recognized any of these signs in yourself? Which ones?

4.) Matthew 20:29-34. Why do you think Jesus asks this question? If Jesus asked you the same question about a place in your life where you are wounded and need healing, how would you answer him?

5.) Read Romans 12:18-21. That other person may not want forgiveness—or accept it—but you forgive for your sake. To forgive is an act of obedience to God (who forgives you everything), so you can be free. Are you living at peace with others like this passage describes? Why or why not?

6.) What do you need to do with what you heard from the message (sign up for a restore class to actively work on finding healing (Divorce Care, Safe People, Grief Share, Soul Mates, Place of Healing, etc), honestly evaluate if you have unhealed wounds, have a conversation with someone who can help you identify a next step)? 

KEY SCRIPTURE

Luke 12:34    For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Proverbs 3:5   Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Psalm 119:11   I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

2 Chronicles 16:9   For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.

Matthew 20:29-34   As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Romans 12:18-21   If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

DIGGING DEEPER

1.) Spend time in solitude (carve out 1-2 hours) to just be quiet, alone, and uninterrupted praying and talking to God. Take that list of Signs of the Wound. Pray – “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24. Ask God to search your heart and show you if there’s an unhealed wound from the past. Ask, and sit quietly for about 30 minutes calming your mind and listening for what comes to mind.

a. ) If quieting your mind is difficult for you, do the Grocery Store Test—imagine you turned down the aisle in the store, and there in front of you was [that person], but he/she didn’t see you—if your first inclination would be to turn around before they saw you, write them down. Don’t evaluate why, just write down that name. There’s a wound there—something needs healing. Or it may be something you did that needs making amends so healing can come.

b.) List every person or event that might possibly have wounded you. I say “might possibly” because our tendency is to over-spiritualize and say “I forgave that” or “that didn’t really hurt me” and so we ignore the many “paper cuts” still oozing infection. So, no spiritual editing—put them all down.

2.) Join a Restore Class that we are offering this fall to go after specific healing and growth: www.gatewaychurch.com/restore

a.) Recovery – North campus Thursday nights, South Wednesday nights, Central campus (men only) Monday nights, Pflugerville campus Wednesday nights

b.) Soulmates – Sundays at 2:30pm @ North

c.) Divorce Care – Mondays at 7:00pm @ North

d.) Safe People – Mondays at 7:00pm @ North

e.) Grief Share – Mondays at 7:00 pm @ North

f.) Bearing God’s Name  – Sundays 4:00pm (Online)

g.) Place of Healing (for Women) – Saturdays 9:00am @ South