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2 Samuel 13, Galatians 5:22, Colossians 3:12-14, Luke 19:41-44, John 16:20-24

Memory text: John 16:20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

Amnon, Tamar and Absalom

  • What would you say is the primary lesson to be learned in this story? (e.g. incest, lust, revenge, guilt, emotions controlling behavior, etc.)
  • Is attraction negative and evil?
  • If not, what makes it so?
  • How can attraction be used positively?
  • Biblical examples (e.g. Song of Solomon).
  • What advice do you have for victims of abuse?

Note the contrasting effects of negative and positive emotions in Galatians 5:22 and the SS lesson list.

  • What might you add to these lists?
  • Do you see connections between the fruit of the Spirit and human feelings?
  • Do you see any significance to the sequence of items in that list?

Jesus’ compassion often motivated Jesus’ actions (e.g. feeding the crowds, healing lepers, touching children).

  • How have we acted on feelings of compassion?
  • Is it important to act out a response to our feelings?
  • What of feelings experienced but not acted on?
  • Might apparently good acts be motivated by something other than compassion? (e.g. mission trips for the adventure vs the service)
  • Better not to act kindly at all?
  • Do feelings ever follow actions? (E.g. Jesus as sorrowful and suffering after looking over Jerusalem just preceding His triumphal entry, and the description in Isaiah 53).

God’s plan for painful emotions.

  • Does John 16 offer hope or discouragement? (“In this world you will have trouble. . .”)
  • Why give up all the fun things in life now for an uncertain future hope?
  • Is this comfort for the comfortable or only a message for the suffering?
  • What does one say to those already comfortable?

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