1. Do you resonate with the statement "I do the very thing I hate?" (Rom 7:15)
2. Is this sense of tension between one's ideal for oneself and the reality of how one lives unique to Christians? Where else in the world do you see it?
3. Richard identifies three responses to the dissonance between who we are and who we think we ought to be. What are they? (1. Destroy the rules; 2. Walk away from the faith; 3. Live a double life)
4. Describe the life style that destroys the rules.
5. Describe the life that walks away from the faith.
6. Describe the life that lives a double life.
7. Which of these is most tempting for you? Is there another way that you are tempted to deal with the dissonance between who you think you should be and who you are?
8. How does the law provide a fourth and better option for dealing with this dissonance? (The law exists to reveal our sinful condition. This realization allows us to pursue the ideal that God has for us).
9. How can we ever achieve this ideal? Who delivers us from our constant failure? (see 7:24)
10. Does the conflict between our reality and the ideal ever end in this life?
11. If this conflict never ends in this life, what is our task? (Continue the fight with Christ's help)
12. Take some time to consider where you are struggling. Pray silently or with each other with the following as a prompt: I can't win the battle with ________ (fill in the blank). Jesus help me! Fight for me!