Know Thyself

Week 2 | Don’t Play the Possession Game

I am loved and valued for who I am, not what I have.

How have you been able to B.L.E.S.S. someone recently?
If your house caught on fire, and your family and pets were safe what three possessions would you try to save from the fire?

Read Luke 4:5-8. The second temptation of Jesus is to value status, authority, and wealth above God. What do you think are the most tempting symbols of status and authority that exist in our culture?
Jesus overcomes this temptation of status by saying, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” We may not think normally think of our relationship with our possessions as one of worship, but in what ways might we worship our money and possessions?

We are exposed to a massive amount of marketing in our culture, which essentially tells us we will only be satisfied, happy, or safe if we buy the product being sold. Share a time when you were so sure that a certain product or service would satisfy you, but you were disappointed instead.
Richard Foster, in Celebration of Discipline, writes: “Because we lack a divine Center our need for security has led us into an insane attachment to things. We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy. We buy things we do not want to impress people we do not like . . . We are made to feel ashamed to wear clothes or drive cars until they are worn out. The mass media have convinced us that to be out of step with fashion is to be out of step with reality. It is time we awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick.” What do you think of Richard Foster’s Statement? What do you like about it? What do you dislike about it? Do you agree or disagree with him?
The weekend message focused on generosity as a way to combat the temptation to “always want more.” What are some ways we could practice being more generous as a group or as individuals?
How can we support one another in an effort to be loved and valued for who we are and not what we possess?