Journal

Please use one of the prompts below to get your journaling started.

• Explore your fears and what’s behind them.
• Write about a relational conflict you are experiencing.
• List out all that you are grateful for.
• Recall a significant reaction, conversation or event.

• Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A Chart to help articulate feelings

Romans 8 Commentary

Bible Text: Romans 8:12-17 (ESV)

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Reflection Questions

Romans 8:12-17

• What does the “the spirit of slavery” lead to, and by contrast, what does “the Spirit of adoption as sons” lead to? Thank God for our adoption as his sons and daughters, and that we can relate to him as “Abba! Father!”
• Reflect on the fact that we are “heirs of God” and “fellow heirs with Christ.”  To what extent have I embraced this promise? What does our “inheritance” include?  What understanding of suffering and glory does this passage provide?

Prayer