LESSON 1 // EIGHT TIMES YOU NEED A RESET
John 10:10 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.
Jesus came so that you could experience a “more abundant life.” Experiencing this life requires our
cooperation with God by making the right choices. We have talked in this series about the “I wills” of
these choices: I will not settle for less, I will go deeper, I will get stronger and I will overcome.
Now we turn our attention to another important decision we need to make: “I will reset.” Most of us are
familiar with resets of electronic devices. In a spiritual sense a reset points to a new life and a fresh
start. In these lessons we’re going to talk about key resets that you must pay attention to regularly.
This begins by recognizing the times you need life resets. You need a reset when:
1. Debilitating mistakes have been made.
Mistakes are part of life. We all make them. Some mistakes are minor and have no major impact on
our life “system.” Other mistakes are debilitating and even potentially destructive to us and others.
When we have made debilitating mistakes, we need a spiritual and emotional reset—the kind of
reset Peter experienced with Jesus in John 21:15-17. There is a spiritual “trash can” that needs to
be emptied, spiritual “files” that need to be deleted and a spiritual “memory” that needs to be
overwritten in our lives!
2. Attitudes and perspectives have been contaminated.
We are continually exposed to spiritual viruses. Many times we “download” the wrong thoughts
through unguarded, unsafe practices or surreptitious, subtle attacks. If we don’t have the right filters
in place, our attitudes and perspectives get contaminated and spiritual diseases spread in us and to
others (see Acts 14:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). When this happens, it’s time for a reset!
3. Hurts have happened.
Human hurt happens in many ways, including the evil and meanness of people, misunderstandings
and misperceptions, disappointed expectations, losses and deferred or denied dreams. Hurts can
actually propel you into growth, but they can also send you into a downward spiral of anger,
resentment, bitterness and despair.
Hebrews 12:15 (NIV) See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root
grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
To grow through your hurts, you must learn how to reset your spirit and soul when they happen.
4. Good, healthy habits have been neglected.
Good habits must be managed and maintained if we’re going to benefit from them. As surely as we
can develop good habits, we can also lose them. Notice how the Apostle Paul approached this:
1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT) I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.
Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
Sloppiness in our habits is a pathway to problems. When good, healthy habits are neglected, it’s
time for a reset!
5. Wise instructions have been ignored.
The best way to stay on track in any part of life is to get and follow wise instructions (Proverbs 8:3235). But there are times when we fail to listen to or follow good guidance from God or others. We
usually notice this when something in our life is not working, or not working well. At these moments,
it’s time for a reset!
6. You have become complacent and stagnant.
To be “complacent” is “to be satisfied with how things are and not wanting to change them.” It is
“marked by self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or
deficiencies.” This lead to a stagnant life that is unhealthy and useless. That’s why God tries to stir
people out of complacency (Romans 13:11-12). When you find yourself complacent and stagnant,
you need a reset!
7. Old ways no longer work.
In Luke 5:36-39 Jesus gave us a very clear picture of our tendency to hold on to old ways that don’t
work. There are times when we need to recognize and admit that old ways are no longer working.
Maybe they never really worked, or didn’t work as well as we thought they did! Or maybe the old
ways worked in their season. When you realize that old ways are no longer working, you need a
reset!
8. Life becomes overly complicated.
Life becomes complicated when we have lost our sense of purpose, shifted our priorities, changed
our values or given primary places to wrong, unnecessary or unimportant things. The answer for an
over-complicated life is a reset of purpose, priorities and values—managing your life the simple way
Jesus taught us to live (Matthew 6:33; Mark 12:29-31; John 3:16).
Discussion questions
1. Why are resets important for your life? What happens if you don’t reset when you need to?
2. Read Romans 13:11-12. How do these verses encourage and stir you to reset when you find
yourself complacent and stagnant?
3. Read Matthew 6:33 and Mark 12:29-31. How can these help you reset your life to Jesus’ simple
purpose, priorities and values when you get overly complicated?
church-redeemer.org // I will reset // lesson 1