Abundant Living.L12 - Inventory (B) with Robbie Sedgeman

Inventory (B)

Over the past few weeks we have been looking at the wide variety of aspects to consider when completing your inventory.  Last week, Lillian discussed heart issues and the week before that I discussed relationships, priorities, attitudes and integrity.  Today I will finish up the categories.  But keep in mind that these lists are not exhaustive.  Continue to ask God to direct you to where he wants you to focus.  He might have a category reserved especially for you! 

Before diving into the final categories, here is a reminder of the principle we are working and the five common components of inventory.

Principle:  “Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God and to someone I trust.”  

Supporting Verses: 

• Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
• Lamentations 3:40 says, “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” 

 Inventory Components: 

These components are a great guide, but should be adjusted to fit the situations you are examining.

1.  The Person – List the person involved in the situation.

2.  The Cause – What specific action did you or that person take?

3.  The Effect –  What effect did that action have on your and/or the other person’s life (i.e., emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually, or in my life circumstances)?

4.  The Damage –  What damage did that action cause to my and/or the other person’s well-being and the fulfillment of my/their basic needs?

5.  My Part –  This is not meant to imply you caused the person’s actions.  It may well be that you had no part in the cause.  In that case, write, ‘Not Guilty!’  But, you may, for example, be harboring unforgiveness toward that person.  You are responsible for that.

Now let’s consider the final categories.  As you read, open your heart to determine if one or more of these areas is impacting you. 

Thinking

Nothing gets us into as much trouble as our thoughts!  Our thinking, drawn from the desires and inclinations of our hearts, prompts our actions and our habits.  Many Christian books have been written about the mind.  One of the most popular is Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind.  I recommend it to anyone struggling in this area.  Spiritual attacks hit hardest and the most consistently in our mind.  We are advised, commanded is probably more accurate, in 1 Peter 5:8:  ‘Be alert and of sober mind.  Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How have I guarded my mind in the past?  Denial?  Or have I faced situations head-on?
• Have I filled my mind with unhealthy and ungodly things?  Consider t.v., books, internet sites, etc.
•  How have I failed to concentrate on the positive truths of the Bible? 

Examining the history of our thoughts means considering both what we allow into our minds and what we choose to dwell on.  It also involves looking at the good we may have kept out.  But remember to lists thoughts which have been positive and healthy, too!  All of our minds are in a state of renewal, so both good and bad, healthy and unhealthy thoughts dwell in our minds.  Over time, God-directed thoughts will replace self and sin-directed thoughts.  But it does require some effort, as stated in Romans 12:2, ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ 

Body

Of all the things we have, it is a natural tendency to believe our bodies, more than anything else, are our possession.  But the Bible says differently in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:  “Haven’t you learned yet that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you?  Your own body does not belong to you.  For God has bought you with a great price.  So use every part of your body to give glory back to God, because he owns it.”  Our bodies are such a part of our identity that it is hard to imagine they are not completely ‘ours.’  But they are not. 

God gives many instructions and guidelines for the care and use of our bodies.  When doing your inventory, you may find it helpful to think in terms of these two categories:

                           

Care of our bodies

• Eating patterns
• Activity
• Sleep/rest

Use of our bodies

• Dull emotional pain
• Sex
• Work
• Senses
• Pleasure/leisure

Family

This is a topic that will comprise a large portion of your inventory!  Whether it is the family into which we were born or the one we married into, our families most directly impact our lives.  These relationships, especially your family of origin, played a major part in shaping who you are today.  A dedicated pursuit of examining your family will reveal many aspects of your thoughts, feelings and actions that you may not have realized originated from those relationships.  I encourage you to look at each immediate family member, even those you don’t think impacted your life.  You will be surprised how even the most seemingly distant relationship made an imprint on your heart and mind.  Here are some aspects to consider:

• Person by person
• Who mistreated you?
• Who did you mistreat?
• Who do you resent?
• What is the family secret?

 

Spiritual

We have been spiritually influenced whether we grew up in church or not.  Just as going to church impressed upon us the importance of God, not going to church impressed upon us the unimportance of God in our lives.  But the truth is that God is the most important aspect of our lives and we have been greatly influenced by what we learned about him growing up.  In addition, our ongoing spiritual experiences continue to impact our lives today.   Closely examining our spiritual life and making changes as God directs can have the greatest impact on our future.  Here are some aspects of your spiritual life to consider:

• What did you learn about God as a child?
• What are your current church experiences?
• How does your immediate family view spiritual matters?
• How are you doing in the spiritual disciplines

A few weeks ago, I presented a list of different categories, or aspects, of inventory.  There is no such thing as a comprehensive list because our lives are complex and each of us is unique.  But there are common aspects to each of our lives and you can look up that talk if you need more inventory ideas.  But keep in mind that the most important part of inventory is to examine what God is directing you examine today.  This will be an ongoing process throughout your journey.  It may not be as intensive as it is now, but even in the most mature Christian, God will bring to light an event from their past that is to be brought into the light.  God’s timing is perfect and he knows what we can handle and what we most need to resolve. 

God will bring healing and resolution to each situation.  Our part is to be willing to bring each situation to him.  That can be a difficult and even after we have completed our initial inventory, we need to be on guard against backing away from our part.  To help prevent that, the following is a reminder of some of the unhealthy ways we deal with our discontent:

• Minimize/Maximize – We either become paralyzed because we see sin around every corner or we minimize what has occurred in our lives.  However, we will continue to sin as long as we live in these bodies, and conversely, harm will be inflicted upon us.  The question is how we will respond.
• Ignore – Many believe that once we become Christ followers, the past is gone and should be forgotten and that we should look only forward.  But, as we have seen, our past experiences have shaped who we are today.  God does not wipe out our history when we turn to him.
• Shame – God calls us to admit our guilt, but not to succumb to shame.  Shame says ‘I am bad…a failure…a mistake.’  Guilt says, ‘I did something bad…I failed…I made a mistake.’  God calls us to admit guilt so that we can repent and receive forgiveness and freedom.  God does not call us to shame…we may have failed, but we are not, and never have been, a failure.
• Starve – This method calls on our will power to simply ‘stop it!’  The problem is that we would have stopped it already if we were capable of doing so on our own. 

God counsels us to turn to him for help in facing and expelling the unhealthy behavior.  It is God’s power, not ours, that brings lasting change in our lives.  And if you commit to completing your inventory and trusting God to give you the courage and perseverance, you will see lasting change infiltrating every area of your life.

 “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”  Lamentations 3:40 says,

Group Work

1. Mind:
1. What unhealthy thoughts do you most struggle with?
2. How have you been feeding your mind healthy thoughts?
2. Body:
1. How have you harmed your body in the past? 
2. How are you restoring God’s temple?
3. Family:
1. Do you have a family secret?
2. Who mistreated you or who have you mistreated?
3. Do you resent anyone in your family?
4. Spiritual
1. What did you learn about God growing up?
2. What are your current spiritual experiences?
5. Do you tend to deal with discontent in one of the unhealthy ways discussed:
1. Minimize/Maximize
2. Ignore
3. Shame
4. Starve