Right in My Own Eyes (3) – From the Inside Out

Welcome to CROLCC, we are so glad you are here worshiping with us. When you were little, did anyone ever ask you what you want to be when you grow up? Do you remember what you answer was? Even if you don’t remember what your said, I am sure you didn’t say, “When I grow up, I just want to be like everybody else.” Everyone wanted to be something special when they were a little kid. But why is it that when we become adults, we take our cues from everybody else? We wanted to live like everybody else, drive like everybody else, make our kids go to good schools like everybody else.

Being like everybody else just makes you average – worried, in debt, bored, and dissatisfied with what you have. If you knew that living like everybody else on the outside would leave you feeling like this on the inside, you would have done what you suspected was right in your heart instead of doing what was right in your own eyes. When it comes to who you want to be like, God wants you to look up at him, not at the people around you. Have you ever yielded your heart to the invisible king? For the next seven days, pray the words of the verse that follows out loud, so that you can be changed from the inside out, and not from the outside in.

Changing Your Mind

Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.

Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Psalm 119:35-37

Discussion Questions

1. When you were a child, who did you want to grow up to be like? What did you admire about that person? Looking back, how realistic was your perception of that person?

2. What are some things you do to make sure people only see your life’s highlight reel? How does that influence whether you’re living in a “kingdom of conscience” or a “kingdom of covet”?

3. Read Joshua 23:12–13. What are some of the cultural “snares” and “traps” we face today? How do they separate us from what God wants for us?

4. How has the cycle of disobedience, disaster, and deliverance played out in your relationship with God?

5. Think about one area of your life in which you need to stop trying to be like everybody else. What is one thing you can do to yield that area to God? What can this group do to support you?