Do your parents have any rules that you don’t like, but you understand why they have them? Give an example.
When do you tend to keep rules and when do you tend to break them? What rule do you tend to break a lot? Why do you break it?
Read
Perhaps the most famous list of rules is the Ten Commandments. Before you read them take a moment and see how many you can remember before you read. Share with your group how you did.
Exodus 20:1-21
What would the world look like if everyone obeyed the Ten Commandments? What if everyone disobeyed the Ten Commandments?
Why wouldn’t everyone want to keep these rules?
Why do you think God seems to be so concerned with rules?
What do God’s rules tell us about who God is?
Think about it
Ps 119:9 – How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
Ps 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Ps 119:133 – Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
Ps 119:67 – Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
Ps 119:37 – Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
Over and over we see that God’s word and God’s rules are meant to DIRECT our lives and PROTECT our lives.
How do God’s rules give us direction?
How do God’s rules protect us?
Make it personal
Which of God’s rules are hard for you to follow? (Not just the Ten Commandments)
What makes them difficult to follow?
Do you see how those rules are there to direct you and protect you? How do they?