Why Walking Away from Temptation Was Totally Worth It Group Guide

Discussion Questions

Choose the questions for your group; no pressure to use all of them.

1. Eric started his message telling of a funny “instant” regret he had trying a skim-board for the first time -- instantly breaking his ankle. Have you had a similar “instant” regret where you immediately knew you had made a mistake from a decision that you made?
2. Have you ever had an “around the corner” regret - one that you didn’t realize until a short time later, such as Eric’s example of eating tacos before class and then suffering regret as he sat in class afterward with stomach discomfort?
3. Of the three kinds of regrets Eric talked about, the “down the road” regret is the most tricky and dangerous one, which involves giving in to a seemingly small temptation, like pressing that “buy” button or eating that donut, that, sometime later, results in a hard to pay bill or weight gain or other undesired circumstance. Can you think of a “down the road” regret in your own life?
4. Read James 1:14-15. In this passage, Jesus’ brother James describes sin as something that matures and grows. If left unchecked, a decision will turn into “descent,” and descent is defined as a one-time compromise that becomes a pattern, a lifestyle that drags us to places we never planned on going. What is an example of this from a movie, book, TV show, or real-life situation?
5. Eric stated, “We know from experience that some of our biggest regrets can come from something that seemed tiny at the time.” Can you think of a seemingly insignificant temptation you gave into that resulted in something that affected other people and pulled you off track as a parent, spouse, friend, co-worker, etc.?
6. Read James 1:13-14. As a first step, we have to learn to recognize our temptations, or “lures” – that thing dangling in front of us that looks shiny and sweet but actually has a hook in it. What would be ways we can recognize our “lures” or temptations?
7. Read Romans 7:15,19. In this battle against ourselves, Eric suggests that to fight this battle, we should resist situations that are most likely to trip us up, such as times when we are tired, anxious, or emotionally depleted, or going to certain parts of town, or not hanging out with certain people alone, etc. What are some examples of boundaries we can set for ourselves to help us resist temptation?
8. Read Hebrews 12:1-2. Eric’s third tip is to replace the bad urge or temptation with something good or positive. As we try to run our race with perseverance and fix our eyes on Jesus, what are some good things we can do to replace our temptations?
9. Jesus is in the resurrection business, and he wants to help us in this fight to recognize, resist, and replace our temptations with his resurrection power and strength. Is there something you currently need to recognize as a lure that will not pull you where I want to go? What does it look like to resist? And what can you do instead?
10. Take turns sharing prayer requests, and then go around the circle and pray for the person on your left.

Verse to meditate on and memorize this week

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1b-2a)

Put It into Practice (Between Meetings)

• This message talked about how to face our temptations head on with 3 steps: Recognize, Resist and Replace. Think of a temptation you are facing and consider how you can apply these three steps. Write it down and pray for God’s help to see how you can apply these steps so that your future self will have no regrets.
• Be the one to lift another up this week. Take someone out to lunch or coffee, listen to someone without judgement, have a kind word for a stranger, find a way to help a neighbor, etc.
• To dive deeper into Hebrews 12:1-2, and watch this video from the Life Essentials Study Bible on the principle: We should always focus our thoughts on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the source and perfecter of our faith.