1. Reread Romans 5:3-5. How does what Paul says there help you in the difficult things you’re walking through in your life?

2. Take another look at Romans 5:6, which tells us that “at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” If God planned the biggest, most significant event in human history for “just the right time,” don’t you think He has your life right on track? What are some areas of your life that you feel like God might be a bit behind schedule, or that you’re in a situation too soon, that this truth can help you reframe?

3. Paul says in Romans 5:17 that through faith in Christ, we are able to “reign in life.” In what areas have you accepted a victim mentality, blaming circumstances or others, when in reality, Christ is within you to give you victory in every arena of your life?

4. As we talk about in the video above, Romans 6:11 says that if you are alive to Christ, you are dead to sin, and goes on in verse 12 to tell us not to let sin reign in our lives. Paul shows us, then, that we no longer have to sin, but that we still have to choose to find life in Christ. What areas of your life are you experiencing the death of sin rather than the life Jesus came to bring? A relationship? A pattern of sexual sin? A negative thought pattern about yourself? Whatever it is, take a moment to write it down. Then, declare boldly, “you are dead in my life, and I am ALIVE in Jesus Christ!”

5. Romans 6:21 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It asks the question, “What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?” It introduces to us an essential paradigm for mature living: analyzing what benefit a given action gives us. In the case of sin, it simply brings shame. But what we do by faith brings peace, purpose, and joy into our lives. Take a few minutes to analyze your life, and take inventory of what things bring shame and death, and what actions bring peace, purpose, and joy.