Spiked Student Ministries

You can’t get to the south beach by driving north, and you can’t get to the top of the mountain if you are walking down it. Why? It’s because our direction always determines our destination. While we all know this basic rule for navigating the roads we drive, we sometimes forget how the same rule is true in our lives. You can’t lose weight by shoving down quarter pounders and watching five hours of TV. You can’t have deep relationships by ignoring the living, breathing people around you. You can’t grow closer to God by shutting Him out of your everyday life or failing to make the effort to know more about Him. So what is the destination you desire for your life? Are you even on the right path to get there?

Our actions are a path leading us to a certain destination. Chances are you have already thought about this in relation to your students. You see the path they are on and you know exactly where they are headed. This week is your chance to address some of these dangers in a general way. Work with your students to explore the principle of the path in their own lives. Try to lead them to come to their own conclusions about the choices they are making. The lesson will be more effective if they can come to that realization on their own. If you think a student is making poor choices, and honestly doesn’t see the danger ahead, next week will be a good segue for you to begin one-on-one conversations with that student about the warning signs in his or her path.
Have you ever been completely lost? What happened and how did you feel?
The “Path Principle” says that your direction determines your destination. What does that mean?
What is the problem with thinking that good intentions will lead you where you want to go?
How would your choices be different if you looked at them as paths rather than just choices?
Think about the following areas of your life. If you could look ten years down the road, where would you want to be? What choices will help you get there? (Hand out the Desired Destination sheets.)

a. Relationship with God
My Desired Destination:
Choices to put me on the right path:

b. Relationship with friends / significant other
My Desired Destination:
Choices to put me on the right path:

c. Relationship with parents and siblings
My Desired Destination:
Choices to put me on the right path:

7. Are you currently making the choices you need to make in order to be on the path that will ultimately lead you to the destination you desire?

8. How can friends, parents, teachers and small group leaders help us see the path we are on? Why is that important?