DISOBEDIENCE BLINDS US AND CREATES DISTANCE BETWEEN US AND GOD. 

SCRIPTURE | Judges 16:4-5,16-30 

CENTRAL TRUTH 

Our own strength will never be enough to help us walk away from sin. We need the supernatural strength offered to us through Jesus’s death and resurrection. 

KEY QUESTION 

SAMSON STILL LOOKED THE PART OF A NAZIRITE, BUT HIS HEART WAS FAR FROM GOD. HOW DOES THIS PLAY OUT IN OUR LIVES TOO? 

KEEP IN MIND 

Students value their freedom. But they often don’t let this mindset translate into their spiritual lives. Instead, it’s as if they voluntarily walk into a jail cell. They do this when they embrace sin—when they ignore God’s commands and give in to temptation. Doing this over and over is a lot like volunteering for captivity. Sin is slavery. It traps us and blinds us to what life could be like apart from it. But God offers us another way through Christ! As believers, our students have the Holy Spirit living within them. He convicts them, or points out their sin; He draws them away from it. In the same way they value earthly freedom, students should value the freedom purchased for them through Christ’s blood. We want to help them walk in that freedom rather than allowing themselves to be bound by sin, and they should lead others to this freedom too. 

APPLICATION 

WHAT HAVE YOU ALLOWED TO BIND YOU? WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE FOR YOU TO CONFRONT YOUR WEAKNESSES? 

THE WIN 

FOR THE STUDENT: If students will surrender these sins and behaviors to the Lord, He’ll empower them to walk away from them. If they’ll confess these struggles to Him and to others, then they can experience accountability when they’re tempted to let turn to sin. Instead of ignoring their weaknesses, students can walk in freedom because of Christ’s work on the cross! 

FOR THE LEADER: We all struggle with certain sins. Even as leaders, many of us struggle with freeing ourselves from the ropes of these sins. In fact, the ropes only tighten when we underestimate the sin’s power—when we ignore its effects and think we’re strong enough to withstand them. Like our students, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in freedom.