Hey iGroup Leaders! It’s the final week of Bittersweet, our series on forgiveness. To close, we’re reminding students that forgiveness is a process. It isn’t a quick fix or an easy answer, but instead, something that happens again and again over time. We’re praying for you as you encourage your students to keep moving forward in the process of forgiveness.

BOTTOM LINE: Healing takes time.

THE GOAL OF iGROUP: To help students determine where their value lies and to connect the dots to how that influences who they are becoming.

THINK ABOUT THIS: At this phase, students may be forgiving friend drama, annoying coaches, or parents after a fight. While in those instances forgiveness and a restored relationship can be encouraged. If a student is getting seriously hurt over and over, the message they need to hear may not be, “Forgive over and over,” but instead, “I’m here to help.” While forgiveness in the face of trauma is possible, if one of the three hurts –if a kid is being hurt, hurting themselves, or hurting others—is involved you may need to connect them to a professional who can help.

DAILY DEVOTIONALS: If you aren’t receiving the daily devotionals, text GZ to 34444

STORIES: Any time you have a win with your group as a whole or an individual, we’d love to hear it! Just CLICK HERE and fill out the form to let us know. Sharing wins is a great way we can all keep each other encouraged and motivated week in and week out.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

     Ask the group to…

1. Would you rather: Have a really good meal that took forever to be ready or an okay meal that was ready in two minutes?
2. Share: What is something you expected to go quickly but ended up taking a long time?
3. Explain: What do you expect forgiveness to feel like? When it doesn’t feel like that, how do you respond?
4. List the things that keep you from forgiving? (Examples: feels like it isn't fair, lets people off the hook, feels like you are supposed to get over it.)
5. Think back to the story in Genesis. If you had been in Joseph’s shoes and experienced what he did, how would you have responded? How would you have responded if you had been one of his brothers?
6. List some signs that prove you are moving towards forgiveness?
7. As a group, read Matthew 18:22.

• Why do you think Jesus tells us to forgive seventy times seven?
  • • Jesus is inviting us to continual forgiveness.
• What would it look like for you to forgive someone completely?

8. Explain: What is the difference between canceling a person and setting boundaries with someone who has hurt you? How do you know when you need to set boundaries between yourself and someone else?

Challenge the group to…

1. Think about you can do, this week, to

• To forgive someone (or yourself) when you can’t forget?
• Forgiveness can ultimately lead to a feeling of freedom; however, there can be a lot of complex feelings along the way. Using the feelings wheel, identify other feelings someone could experience in the process of forgiving.