July 12, 2026 - The Struggle & The Toolbox
Day 1: The Bumper-Ripping Pride
Scripture: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” — James 4:6
Devotional: Pastor Chris shared a story about straining to drag a fallen tree out of his driveway with a tiny car, snapping ropes and nearly ripping off his bumper, simply because he didn't want to ask his neighbor for help. He realized later that the underlying malady was simple: pride. We do the exact same thing with our sins, anxieties, and hidden habits. We strain under weights we were never meant to lift because we don't want to admit we are in need. But the reality is that every single one of us is in need. Humility isn't hanging your head; it's having the strength to say, "I can't do it all myself."
Reflection: What is the "fallen tree" in your life right now that you are stubbornly trying to drag on your own?
Day 2: The Reality of "The Do-Dos"
Scripture: “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want.” — Romans 7:19
Devotional: Pastor Chris affectionately called this passage the "do-dos"—the agonizing, frustrating cycle of wanting to walk in righteousness but finding ourselves pulled toward the flesh. He noted, “I want to do good, but evil is always there. That is the harsh reality of the world we live in and the harsh reality of our battle against sin and against Satan and even against our own flesh.” If you feel this internal war waging inside your mind, take heart: it means you are in the fight. Even mature Christians find themselves momentarily out of control. The key is not to panic, but to run back to a posture of desperate reliance on Jesus.
Reflection: How does recognizing that the spiritual battle operates on three fronts (the world, Satan, and your own flesh) change how you prepare for temptation?
Day 3: Learning Your Triggers
Scripture: “...according to this world's present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience.” — Ephesians 2:1-2
Devotional: A vital part of ongoing holiness is self-awareness. Pastor Chris challenged us to "learn yourself" and "learn your enemy." The enemy operates on schemes, and our flesh has specific weak points. Pastor Chris candidly shared that because of his ADHD, boredom is a massive trigger that makes him want to seek out stimulation or self-medication. We have to stop playing games with the sins the world glorifies. When you know what triggers your specific flesh, you can plan ahead, step off the world's path, and choose actions that foster true spiritual joy instead of temporary happiness.
Reflection: What are your primary spiritual triggers (e.g., boredom, exhaustion, loneliness, stress)? What is a healthy, life-giving joy you can replace them with this week?
Day 4: Making the U-Turn
Scripture: “...if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” — Romans 8:13
Devotional: Pastor Chris shared how much he dislikes the cultural mandate to just "say you're sorry." A simple, empty apology leaves the underlying sin untouched and the cycle intact. In Scripture, freedom demands true repentance—which is the spiritual equivalent of a U-turn. True repentance requires four active steps: 1) Admit you are wrong without making excuses, 2) Express godly remorse for the pain caused, 3) Commit to a change in behavior, and 4) Humbly ask for forgiveness. We take responsibility for the vehicle, and we count on the Holy Spirit to give us the supernatural power to move in the opposite direction.
Reflection: Is there an area in your life where you have been offering cheap "sorries" to God or others instead of executing a true, behavioral U-turn?
Day 5: Doing Your Homework
Scripture: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” — James 5:16
Devotional: Pastor Chris closed the sermon by giving the congregation actual homework: Find your people. He shared his own weekly practice of meeting via video conference with a group of pastors where they systematically go around in a circle, confessing exactly where they blew it that week and praying over one another. Forgiveness comes from God, but James 5:16 tells us that healing happens in the context of community. When we hide our habits, we stay sick. When we build deep trust with real people and dare to answer the question "How are you doing?" with absolute honesty, the enemy's power breaks.
Reflection: Do you currently have "your people" whom you can look in the eye and tell the absolute truth to? If not, what practical step can you take this week to begin building that circle of trust?
Additional Resource: 7 Days to "Finding Your People"
Day 1: Audit Your Joy and Your Triggers
“Learn yourself... What kinds of things bring you joy? When you know about it, do more of it... The opposite is also true. What kinds of things lead you to sin? You might call them triggers.”
Today’s Action: Take 10 minutes with a blank piece of paper or a notes app and divide it into two columns: Life-Giving Joy and The Triggers.
How to do it:
In the first column, write down 3 specific things that bring you deep, clean, refreshing joy (hobbies, walks, calling an old friend). Commit to doing one of them today.
In the second column, be brutally honest about your weak spots. Like Pastor Chris noted with his ADHD and boredom, what opens the door for you to self-medicate or take the quick, temporary path to "happiness"? Is it exhaustion at 9:00 PM? Is it isolation on Sunday afternoons?
The Goal: You cannot invite others into your struggle until you clearly know what the struggle actually is.
Day 2: Drop the "I'm Fine" Reflex
“Sometimes we need to ask this question and wait for the actual answer. ‘How are you doing?’ And then wait. Because the person will probably say, ‘Fine.’ And they're probably lying.”
Today’s Action: Pay close attention to how you answer people today, and make a conscious decision to ban the automatic "I'm fine" from your vocabulary.
How to do it: If someone at work, church, or home asks how you are doing, practice giving a 1-to-2 sentence honest update. It doesn't mean you dump your deepest traumas on the grocery store cashier, but if it's been a tough week, say so: "Honestly, it’s been a bit of a heavy week, but I'm hanging in there."
The Goal: Break the habit of hiding. True community is impossible as long as you are pretending everything is perfect.
Day 3: Identify Your Potential "Crew"
“Find your people. Who can you be this honest with? Build relationships. Build trust. It is hard... Do it anyway.”
Today’s Action: Look around your existing circles and write down the names of 2 or 3 people who are spiritually mature, trustworthy, and safe.
How to do it: Look at your small group, your serving team, or mature Christian friends you respect. Ask yourself: Who is someone I know I won’t feel judged by? Who is someone who loves Jesus enough to tell me the truth, but is gentle enough to carry a heavy burden?
The Goal: You aren't reaching out to them just yet. Today is simply about identifying who your potential "neighbor with the big truck and the chainsaw" might be.
Day 4: Draft the Text (The Pastor Chris Model)
“I practice this every week. I meet with a group of pastors... Each week we start with, ‘This is where I blew it this week... Please pray for me about this.’”
Today’s Action: Select one person from your Day 3 list and draft a simple, no-pressure invitation to connect.
How to do it: Send a text or an email. You don’t need to confess your deepest secrets in the text; just pitch the concept of mutual accountability.
Script Copy/Paste: "Hey [Name], I was listening to the sermon this past Sunday about how much we need real community to fight our battles and pray for each other. I'm trying to take the homework seriously. Would you be open to grabbing coffee or jumping on a quick call sometime next week? I'd love to share a bit of what I'm working through and be a sounding board/prayer partner for you, too."
The Goal: Move from thinking about community to actively initiating it.
Day 5: Identify the Right Help
“Ask for help. You have to ask for the kind of help you need, right?... If I am stuck in a cycle of lying... I don't need to go to a proctologist... Get the kind of help you actually need.”
Today’s Action: Look at the specific triggers and cycles you wrote down on Day 1. Assess if your struggle requires standard peer accountability, or if it requires specialized, professional help.
How to do it: Be realistic about the depth of the tree blocking your driveway. If you are struggling with everyday marital communication, a small group partner is great. If you are buried in an active addiction, severe clinical depression, or deep-seated trauma, identify the counselor, recovery ministry (like a 12-step program), or pastoral staff member you need to contact.
The Goal: Ensure you are matching the weight of the struggle to the correct tool in the toolbox.
Day 6: Prepare Your First "U-Turn" Confession
“When you fall, here's what you need to do... Admit you're wrong... Express remorse... Commit to change... Then we ask forgiveness.”
Today’s Action: If you have an active conflict or a hidden sin that has damaged a relationship in your life, prepare to own it using Pastor Chris's 4-step framework.
How to do it: Write out or mentally rehearse exactly what you need to say to God and to the person you hurt. Do not say, "I'm sorry, but you made me mad." (That's the cheap children's version). Instead, use the template:
“I did [X], and it was wrong.” (Admit)
“I know it caused you pain, and it grieves my heart.” (Remorse)
“I am actively changing my behavior so this doesn't happen again.” (Commit)
“Will you forgive me?” (Ask)
The Goal: Clear out the relational debris so you can walk into your new community with a clean slate.
Day 7: Show Up and Be Helpful
“When you're helping others, you're helping yourself also... Carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Today’s Action: Go to your small group, church service, or coffee meeting with the primary goal of listening intently to lift someone else up.
How to do it: When you ask someone how they are doing today, don't just let them off the hook with a quick brush-off. Lean in. Listen to their eyes and their tone. If they open up, don't try to fix them or lecture them. Just say, "That sounds incredibly heavy. Can I pray for you right now regarding that?"
The Goal: Complete the cycle. By stepping outside of your own head to carry someone else's burden, you will find that the Holy Spirit naturally breaks the power of isolation over your own soul.
Scripture: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” — James 4:6
Devotional: Pastor Chris shared a story about straining to drag a fallen tree out of his driveway with a tiny car, snapping ropes and nearly ripping off his bumper, simply because he didn't want to ask his neighbor for help. He realized later that the underlying malady was simple: pride. We do the exact same thing with our sins, anxieties, and hidden habits. We strain under weights we were never meant to lift because we don't want to admit we are in need. But the reality is that every single one of us is in need. Humility isn't hanging your head; it's having the strength to say, "I can't do it all myself."
Reflection: What is the "fallen tree" in your life right now that you are stubbornly trying to drag on your own?
Day 2: The Reality of "The Do-Dos"
Scripture: “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want.” — Romans 7:19
Devotional: Pastor Chris affectionately called this passage the "do-dos"—the agonizing, frustrating cycle of wanting to walk in righteousness but finding ourselves pulled toward the flesh. He noted, “I want to do good, but evil is always there. That is the harsh reality of the world we live in and the harsh reality of our battle against sin and against Satan and even against our own flesh.” If you feel this internal war waging inside your mind, take heart: it means you are in the fight. Even mature Christians find themselves momentarily out of control. The key is not to panic, but to run back to a posture of desperate reliance on Jesus.
Reflection: How does recognizing that the spiritual battle operates on three fronts (the world, Satan, and your own flesh) change how you prepare for temptation?
Day 3: Learning Your Triggers
Scripture: “...according to this world's present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience.” — Ephesians 2:1-2
Devotional: A vital part of ongoing holiness is self-awareness. Pastor Chris challenged us to "learn yourself" and "learn your enemy." The enemy operates on schemes, and our flesh has specific weak points. Pastor Chris candidly shared that because of his ADHD, boredom is a massive trigger that makes him want to seek out stimulation or self-medication. We have to stop playing games with the sins the world glorifies. When you know what triggers your specific flesh, you can plan ahead, step off the world's path, and choose actions that foster true spiritual joy instead of temporary happiness.
Reflection: What are your primary spiritual triggers (e.g., boredom, exhaustion, loneliness, stress)? What is a healthy, life-giving joy you can replace them with this week?
Day 4: Making the U-Turn
Scripture: “...if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” — Romans 8:13
Devotional: Pastor Chris shared how much he dislikes the cultural mandate to just "say you're sorry." A simple, empty apology leaves the underlying sin untouched and the cycle intact. In Scripture, freedom demands true repentance—which is the spiritual equivalent of a U-turn. True repentance requires four active steps: 1) Admit you are wrong without making excuses, 2) Express godly remorse for the pain caused, 3) Commit to a change in behavior, and 4) Humbly ask for forgiveness. We take responsibility for the vehicle, and we count on the Holy Spirit to give us the supernatural power to move in the opposite direction.
Reflection: Is there an area in your life where you have been offering cheap "sorries" to God or others instead of executing a true, behavioral U-turn?
Day 5: Doing Your Homework
Scripture: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” — James 5:16
Devotional: Pastor Chris closed the sermon by giving the congregation actual homework: Find your people. He shared his own weekly practice of meeting via video conference with a group of pastors where they systematically go around in a circle, confessing exactly where they blew it that week and praying over one another. Forgiveness comes from God, but James 5:16 tells us that healing happens in the context of community. When we hide our habits, we stay sick. When we build deep trust with real people and dare to answer the question "How are you doing?" with absolute honesty, the enemy's power breaks.
Reflection: Do you currently have "your people" whom you can look in the eye and tell the absolute truth to? If not, what practical step can you take this week to begin building that circle of trust?
Additional Resource: 7 Days to "Finding Your People"
Day 1: Audit Your Joy and Your Triggers
“Learn yourself... What kinds of things bring you joy? When you know about it, do more of it... The opposite is also true. What kinds of things lead you to sin? You might call them triggers.”
Today’s Action: Take 10 minutes with a blank piece of paper or a notes app and divide it into two columns: Life-Giving Joy and The Triggers.
How to do it:
In the first column, write down 3 specific things that bring you deep, clean, refreshing joy (hobbies, walks, calling an old friend). Commit to doing one of them today.
In the second column, be brutally honest about your weak spots. Like Pastor Chris noted with his ADHD and boredom, what opens the door for you to self-medicate or take the quick, temporary path to "happiness"? Is it exhaustion at 9:00 PM? Is it isolation on Sunday afternoons?
The Goal: You cannot invite others into your struggle until you clearly know what the struggle actually is.
Day 2: Drop the "I'm Fine" Reflex
“Sometimes we need to ask this question and wait for the actual answer. ‘How are you doing?’ And then wait. Because the person will probably say, ‘Fine.’ And they're probably lying.”
Today’s Action: Pay close attention to how you answer people today, and make a conscious decision to ban the automatic "I'm fine" from your vocabulary.
How to do it: If someone at work, church, or home asks how you are doing, practice giving a 1-to-2 sentence honest update. It doesn't mean you dump your deepest traumas on the grocery store cashier, but if it's been a tough week, say so: "Honestly, it’s been a bit of a heavy week, but I'm hanging in there."
The Goal: Break the habit of hiding. True community is impossible as long as you are pretending everything is perfect.
Day 3: Identify Your Potential "Crew"
“Find your people. Who can you be this honest with? Build relationships. Build trust. It is hard... Do it anyway.”
Today’s Action: Look around your existing circles and write down the names of 2 or 3 people who are spiritually mature, trustworthy, and safe.
How to do it: Look at your small group, your serving team, or mature Christian friends you respect. Ask yourself: Who is someone I know I won’t feel judged by? Who is someone who loves Jesus enough to tell me the truth, but is gentle enough to carry a heavy burden?
The Goal: You aren't reaching out to them just yet. Today is simply about identifying who your potential "neighbor with the big truck and the chainsaw" might be.
Day 4: Draft the Text (The Pastor Chris Model)
“I practice this every week. I meet with a group of pastors... Each week we start with, ‘This is where I blew it this week... Please pray for me about this.’”
Today’s Action: Select one person from your Day 3 list and draft a simple, no-pressure invitation to connect.
How to do it: Send a text or an email. You don’t need to confess your deepest secrets in the text; just pitch the concept of mutual accountability.
Script Copy/Paste: "Hey [Name], I was listening to the sermon this past Sunday about how much we need real community to fight our battles and pray for each other. I'm trying to take the homework seriously. Would you be open to grabbing coffee or jumping on a quick call sometime next week? I'd love to share a bit of what I'm working through and be a sounding board/prayer partner for you, too."
The Goal: Move from thinking about community to actively initiating it.
Day 5: Identify the Right Help
“Ask for help. You have to ask for the kind of help you need, right?... If I am stuck in a cycle of lying... I don't need to go to a proctologist... Get the kind of help you actually need.”
Today’s Action: Look at the specific triggers and cycles you wrote down on Day 1. Assess if your struggle requires standard peer accountability, or if it requires specialized, professional help.
How to do it: Be realistic about the depth of the tree blocking your driveway. If you are struggling with everyday marital communication, a small group partner is great. If you are buried in an active addiction, severe clinical depression, or deep-seated trauma, identify the counselor, recovery ministry (like a 12-step program), or pastoral staff member you need to contact.
The Goal: Ensure you are matching the weight of the struggle to the correct tool in the toolbox.
Day 6: Prepare Your First "U-Turn" Confession
“When you fall, here's what you need to do... Admit you're wrong... Express remorse... Commit to change... Then we ask forgiveness.”
Today’s Action: If you have an active conflict or a hidden sin that has damaged a relationship in your life, prepare to own it using Pastor Chris's 4-step framework.
How to do it: Write out or mentally rehearse exactly what you need to say to God and to the person you hurt. Do not say, "I'm sorry, but you made me mad." (That's the cheap children's version). Instead, use the template:
“I did [X], and it was wrong.” (Admit)
“I know it caused you pain, and it grieves my heart.” (Remorse)
“I am actively changing my behavior so this doesn't happen again.” (Commit)
“Will you forgive me?” (Ask)
The Goal: Clear out the relational debris so you can walk into your new community with a clean slate.
Day 7: Show Up and Be Helpful
“When you're helping others, you're helping yourself also... Carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Today’s Action: Go to your small group, church service, or coffee meeting with the primary goal of listening intently to lift someone else up.
How to do it: When you ask someone how they are doing today, don't just let them off the hook with a quick brush-off. Lean in. Listen to their eyes and their tone. If they open up, don't try to fix them or lecture them. Just say, "That sounds incredibly heavy. Can I pray for you right now regarding that?"
The Goal: Complete the cycle. By stepping outside of your own head to carry someone else's burden, you will find that the Holy Spirit naturally breaks the power of isolation over your own soul.
