Life Group Discussion Guide
10.18.2020
Luminescent: Self-Control
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22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the
flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not
become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:22-26
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable,
undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for
a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to
suffer various trials, 7
so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though
perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed. 8Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe
in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9
for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the
salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search
and inquiry, 11 inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in
advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory.
I Peter 1:3-11
OPEN
Have you ever broken a habit? What habit? How did you do it?
NEXT
At what age do you first begin to demonstrate some level of self-control? Does a 1-year-old have selfcontrol? A 3-year-old? A ten-year-old? A sixty-year-old?
What do you make of that? What does it mean that we don’t inherently exhibit self-control from birth?
Where does self-control come from? Determination? A work of God within us? With self-control (and each
of the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit for that matter) is it something we do or is it something that is done in
and through us? Are we passive or active agents in this?
It’s safe to say that every person in this group wrestles regularly with self-control. We all have things that we
wish we did less or things that we wish we did more. We all have things that we wish we could stop
altogether or that we have always needed to start doing. What is on your list? Food? Shopping/Spending?
Compulsively looking at your phone? Pornography? Alcohol? Binging Netflix?
What does it look like to begin to mature in that area? Is it possible to have more self-control in that? How
is it possible? What makes it possible?
What does 2 Peter 1:3-11 have to say about all of this?
CLOSING
How might this group help you to walk that out? What does it look like for us to help each other to mature
in self-control?
What are your prayer needs?