WEEK 4- The Body at Work

MONDAY — Read the passage with your team.

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.    16 From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

  20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.  21 Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.    22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.  28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

 Ephesians 4:15-28

What does this passage have to say about work habits?

Why is that important?

TUESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.

1) How are work habits an important part of the function of the body of Christ? (v. 16)  If the body grows because of Christ, why are work habits important?  Why shouldn’t we just relax, kick back, and rely on God to cause us to grow?  Is a body that does not work the sign of a body that is growing?

WEDNESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.

 2) Do you work in a way that builds up your teammates and helps them to improve?  When you are at practice, are you “doing something useful with [your] own hands” (v. 28), or do your actions demonstrate laziness or selfishness?  When you do not work hard, how are you stealing from your team? (v. 28)

THURSDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.

 3) What negative attitudes are holding you or your team back from being successful?  How can being “made new in the attitude of your minds” help you to abandon the “futility of [your] thinking” (v. 17-24)?  How would “putting on the new self” impact your work habits?  How might it help your team?

FRIDAY — Discuss sport applications of work habits and pray together.

Ask your athletes to briefly reflect on what they’ve learned about work habits this week, and to repeat some of those things.  (Remind them of some of the Biblical truths about work habits you’ve discussed, if necessary.)

Ask your team, “Based on what we learned about work habits this week...What does an athlete with godly work habits do?”  Do not settle for vague answers; challenge your athletes to go beyond general qualities of an athlete with godly work habits, and to determine what those qualities look like in action.

Add the results to your team’s list of descriptions of the “athlete with godly work habits”, and be sure the list is displayed somewhere that is constantly visible, as a reminder to the team.

Pray together as a team.  Encourage your athletes to pray for your team’s growth in regard to the discipline of work habits — especially in relation to some of the issues and challenges that you discussed together this week.  Challenge them to also ask for forgiveness, when applicable.  Give time for athletes to request prayer (regarding work habits or anything else), and pray together.