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DISCUSS TOGETHER All of the material in this guide is provided for fostering healthy discussion in your group. Read through the prompts together and discuss the bolded questions out loud.

Last week, we committed to spending at least three days where you sit in complete silence for a period of time. How did it go for you?

Being in a healthy place mentally, spiritually, and physically will help us as we prepare for the different challenges that will come our way. In today’s passage, we will see how Joseph embodied the kind of healthy mindset that allowed him to make a tough decision: he was going to lose his coat rather than his character.

Out loud, read Genesis 39:11-18 Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. 12 She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. 15 When he heard me screaming for help, he left his garment beside me and ran outside.” 16 She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, 18 but when I screamed for help, he left his garment beside me and ran outside.

When someone talks about “temptation,” what is generally the !rst thing that comes to mind? Why do you think that is?

In verse 12, the word “escape” is the same word used to mean “escape death” or “retreat in battle.” Why do you think leaving was so urgent for Joseph?

While temptation comes in many forms, one of the most prevalent that we see in our culture today is sexual temptation. As we will see in a minute, this is particularly dangerous: sexual sin affects us in a more personal way than any other sin. God created people with desires that, when approached properly, bring us closer to Him. Twisting them around influences us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Out loud, read 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

18Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the

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Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.

Sexual sin clearly affected the early church, or else Paul wouldn’t have had to address it so often. How do you think the church is still affected by it today?

In your experience, how does the church usually address sexual sin? Do you think it has been effective? Why or why not?

Why do you think that sexual sin, in particular, is so damaging to us?

More studies are coming out every year about the influence of one particular type of sin: pornography. It has been shown to affect the brain in the same way drug use does and has been conclusively linked to anxiety, loneliness, body-image, relationship problems, insecurity, self-esteem, and depression. It has also been demonstrated that it fuels sex trafficking, sexual assault, and violence. (For more on how porn affects the brain, the heart, and the world, see fightthenewdrug.org/get-the-facts).

This all stems from taking something good that God gave us and turning it into something it was never intended for. But that is not exclusive to sexual sin; that is what sin does across the board.

Paul explains that our bodies do not belong to us. What do you think this means? How does it affect the way we use them?

What do you think it means to view our bodies as Temples?

Once we shift the way we see ourselves—that we are not our own but were, instead, bought at a price—that will change the way we approach sin. We are citizens of a higher kingdom, people of a greater calling than just self-gratification and pleasure-seeking Our bodies are extensions of Christ’s body Where the world says that our bodies exist to bring us pleasure, God tells us that our bodies are the very temples in which He dwells.

What advice would you have for someone who feels trapped in a cycle of sin? How have you seen freedom from it—either in your life or in someone else’s?

What are some safeguards you have put up to keep from falling into temptation?

As you close your time together, take a few minutes to talk about the action steps for next week. Then, make a plan to share next week with how your week went:

Write down one speci!c sin you need to run from right now. Then answer these questions about it:

What safeguards do you need to put up? What sources of temptation do you need to remove entirely?

Spend some time in prayer for one another, thanking Jesus for purchasing us and freeing us from the bonds of sin.

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Family Material This week is a great week to talk to your kids about what sin is, why God hates it, and how

we can flee from it. Talk to them about the very beginning of sin by reading two different verses: Genesis 2:15-17, and Genesis 3:1-6.

Family Questions What did God ask Adam and Eve to do?

How did they disobey His command?

What are some other things that God told us to do? Some of the things you can talk about are:

Matthew 22:37-39 — The Greatest Commandment Exodus 20 — The Ten Commandments

What do you think it means to sin? Sin is not just bad things that we do. It is when we decide that we are better at being king than Jesus. Sin is not a problem with our actions, but with our hearts (Matthew 15:18)

What are some things you are tempted by?

Optional Activity: Look up and read James 4:7. Have your kids repeat it along with you and then see if they can repeat it from memory. Then pray that God would help us resist temptation and learn how to submit ourselves to Him.

Prayer Prompt Thank God for being with us all the time and for helping us be strong when it’s hard for us to be strong on our own.

Tune in to facebook.com/ilovelhkids this week to do some of the activities geared toward involving kids in the sermon from Sunday:

• Sundays at 10am: LH Kits Bible Stories at Home

• Wednesdays at 10am: Family Challenges