These are my notes from our 4/24/2011 church meeting.
Leader: Russ Farmer
Assignment
SPIPS
Our lesson will be all about practicing balance and moderation in our daily lives. Bring your thoughts and scriptures on the following topics:
Social - What do you become if you focus on being too social? Not social enough?
Physical - What happens if you focus too much on your physical being...or not at all?
Intellectual - You learned everything there is to learn already...or you are incapable of learning anything else, so you don't really try. How does this affect your daily life?
Psychological - You live inside your own head and you are the most important person you know...or you rarely think of your inward person and focus mainly on the things around you.
Spiritual - Is your mind always on Heavenly matters...or do you rarely consider God to be a part of your daily life?
First think of a person (what they become, how they act) who would be on both sides of these spectrums...then try to relate a time in your life when you may have gone too far one way or the other in each category. How did this work out for you?
My Notes
Social
A person who focuses on being too social is likely to strongly desire to fit in with others, to the point of engaging in things they shouldn't. A person who is not social enough is likely to not have (many) friends, or perhaps be perceived as rude or unfriendly. The antisocial person would probably find it harder to lead people to Jesus.
The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
(Prov. 12:26 NKJV)
A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
(Prov. 18:24 NKJV)
Physical
One who focuses too much on their physical being is likely to be focused on the things of this world, which are temporal. They might also face stronger temptations of lust as they focus on outward beauty. They might be shortsighted without long-term plans. By contrast, a person who doesn't focus on their physical being at all is not taking care of the Holy Spirit's temple, will be limited in their ability to serve and help others due to their own physical problems, and may lose opportunities to teach others about Jesus—their life is likely to be shortened.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
(Matt. 6:19-20 NKJV)
But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(Matt. 5:28 NKJV)
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
(Gal. 5:16-17 NKJV)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
(1 John 2:15-16 NKJV)
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
(1 Tim. 4:8 NKJV)
Intellectual
Regardless of which side of the intellectual topic a person is on, they don't have a hunger for growth and learning more.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
(Phil. 3:12-14 NKJV)
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands. I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.
(Psalm 143:5-6 NKJV)
Psychological
Much like the physical aspect, the psychological person who spends too much time inside their head reflecting doesn't do enough good, but the one who never reflects is busy—but probably not redeeming the time for things of utmost value.
And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
(Luke 9:18 NKJV)
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
(Jam. 1:22-24 NKJV)
Spiritual
Our mind should be focused upon GOD throughout our day, each day, but we live in a physical world where we have responsibilities that demand our attention. And GOD has revealed His will that we do a good job with those things, such as with our work. The person who focuses too much on spiritual things can never have a conversation with people about other aspects of physical life. On the flip side, the person who never thinks about GOD or spiritual things never get discussed in their daily conversations is likely going through the motions, at best, and in need of refocusing on what's important.
