Breaking the Cycle, Part 1
Pastor Danny Bote
Part of Judges
August 20, 2023

Lessons from the book of Judges

  1. There is no military campaign or governmental policy which can solve a problem which resides in the human heart.

  2. We are the problem, and we cannot be our own solution.

  3. God wants to set His people free.

Cycle of shame in our own lives

  1. Core belief: I am bad

  2. Try hard (will power)

  3. Willpower weakens

  4. Inevitable failure

  5. Guilt and shame

  6. Back to the belief, “I am bad”

Paul’s writing on the cycle (Romans 7:14–24)

The Answer (Romans 7:25)
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

The Result (Romans 8:1–4)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Why the struggle still?

  • Identity Issue: John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
    2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

  • Confused about our identity

  • Battle starts in the mind

  • Our emotions follow

  • Act on the sin

The Result

  1. Broken spirituality (relationship with God)

  2. Devastating physical loss (pain, sweat, hard labor, sickness, death)

  3. Fear (Adam and Eve ran from God)

  4. Broken souls (psychology)

What is the solution?

Living in our new identity by walking in the Spirit through faith.

Good Cycle

  1. I belong to Jesus

  2. I depend on the Spirit

  3. The Spirit builds my faith

  4. Faith empowers right action

  5. I become closer to God

  6. Reinforces my identity (I am His)

Questions for Individual Bible Study/and or Group Discussion

  1. Read Romans 7:14–8:4. How does this encourage you? What are the major truths from these verses?

  2. Think about a habit you’ve started or stopped in the past. How did your perception of your identity influence your outcome?

  3. What’s an area of your life that you feel is out of control?

  4. Read John 3:3 and 2 Corinthians 5:17. What are some ways you can find your identity in Jesus? How does is power help you overcome your wrong desires?

  5. How can you walk in the Spirit through faith this week? Read Galatians 5:16.