Men's Fraternity Week 7

Men’s Fraternity
Week #7 Looking Back

Psalm 90:12
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

The Keys to remember in this session:

a. Understand what needs to be…

• held onto
• let go of
• faced and reconciled

b. We will take a balanced approach to looking at our past, remembering our definition of manhood.

• Reject passivity
• Accept responsibility
• Lead courageously
• Invest eternally

2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

c. We will examine the concept of wounds.

• No matter our past, we have wounds that affect how we live today.

Note: We need to stop at this point to recognize that this is not a session to remember and blame those who have hurt us but to look forward to the healing of Almighty God in the present. This study may cause more pain than you are willing to face…in Christ, face it anyway!

[Here I wrote down: Don’t look back and blame, look forward to healing.]

Psalm 34:17-18
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

• Don’t hide the wound and pretend it isn’t there!
• Men learn to compensate and just put a protective lid over their feelings.
• For this man, real intimacy even with loved ones is impossible.
• Make no mistake about it, the pain will find a way of release if not handled in a healthy way.

WOUND: any unresolved issue where lack of closure adversely impacts and shapes the direction and dynamics of a man’s life in the present.

d. God is the Author of your life.

Psalm 139:1-3
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Proverbs 18:1
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

Group Questions:
1. Discuss with your group any hesitancy to look back at the defining moment and key relationships in your life.

2. Do you tend to blame your past or ignore your past? Why?