I’M WITH STUPID
The BIG Idea Team, Individual and Family Study Guide
Please take time to run through this study guide with your team, on your own or with your family so that you can further apply and process the BIG Idea.
Big Idea:
We all have difficult relationships. God can take these difficulties and turn them into good for ourselves and for others.
Key Verse:
READ Romans 8:28 (The Message)
That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
The Scoop:
It is often our temptation to focus on the stupid things that other people do in relationships when we fail to see that sometimes the most problematic thing in the relationship is us. A common saying in recovery circles is: “We have to clean up our own side of the street.”
1. Describe a difficult teacher you had in elementary school, Jr. High, or High school. What made this teacher difficult?
2. Be it a co-worker, a neighbor, a family member, a boss; what are some of the things you catch yourself doing to “get back at” those who frustrate you?
3. Think back on a relationship in your life that has caused you grief and pain. During that season of your life, was it easy or difficult for you to believe that God was WITH you?
4. Where are you facing relational difficulty in your life right now and need hope that God will make good out of it?
Bottom line is everyone has moments of relational stupidity. We all do things that hurt the people we love and we all have been hurt by the people we love. In order to have strong, close relationships in our lives, it will inevitably involve forgiveness and reconciliation. Keeping the following things in mind will help us forgive others and reconcile our differences when those in our lives make stupid relational choices:
• I need to take responsibility for my part
• God is always with me.
• God will use it for good.
What’s Next? (take home/further processing/application)
Which one of the above 3 perspectives is the most difficult for you? What is a specific step you can take to move forward in this area?
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