God's Word For You is a free Bible Study site committed to bringing you studies firmly grounded in the Bible – the Word of God. Holding a reformed, conservative, evangelical perspective this site affirms that God has provided in Jesus Christ his eternal Son, a way of salvation in which we can live in his presence guilt free, acquitted and at peace.

 
 

STUDY TWO WORKSHEET: BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES TO COMBAT THE DESIRE FOR PERSONAL POWER

© Rosemary Bardsley 2009,2014

#1 THE PRINCIPLE OF HUMILITY/SUBMISSION
Study these passages.  What do they teach about humility and submission? How are they expressed?
How do these expressions of this principle challenge you personally and in your work for the Lord?

Deuteronomy 8:1-6,16

2 Chronicles 32:24-26

Proverbs 11:2

Matthew 18:3-4

Philippians 2:1-8

Ephesians 5:21 [5:22 – 6:9 is about submission in various contexts]

1 Peter 2:13-16 [right through to 5:6 is about submission in a range of contexts]

 

#2 THE PRINCIPLE OF LOVE
Personal challenge: Having studied the verses in this section of Study Two, discuss and answer this question: How does our personal quest for power and prestige hold us in a collision course with the principle of love?

 

 

 


#3A THE PRINCIPLE OF GRACE
Discuss and answer the following statements and questions.
What is a definition of ‘grace’?


God relates to us by the principle of grace. What does this teach us about the security of our relationship with him?

 


God relates to us by the principle of grace. What does this imply for our feelings of guilt and self-condemnation?
Or, for our feelings of personal pride?

 


God relates to us and our fellow believers on the principle of grace. What does this imply for the way we tend to condemn each other and to change our behaviour towards each other relative to the other’s perceived merit?

 


#3B THE PRINCIPLE OF GRACE AND FORGIVENESS
Reflection: The opposite of grace and forgiveness is holding a person’s actions, mistakes, failures etc against them. How does this principle of grace and forgiveness challenge our automatic quest for personal power, position, and personal ‘rights’, and outlaw the inter-personal power-plays in which we commonly engage?

 

 


#4 THE PRINCIPLE OF PEACE AND RECONCLIATION
Reflection: This principle of peace and reconciliation is yet another expression of the principle of humility and submission. How does it challenge personal pride and personal self-validation at the expense of the other?