Begin a New Life

Four Universal Steps of Life Change

and Spiritual Transformation

A Process for Making Conscious

and Intentional Life Choices

WORKSHEETS
Condensed Version

The Issue I’m Working On

Date

Based on the Bible as Explained in the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

Copyright Ó 2020, Begin a New Life | [Link]
 Step 1
Examine Yourself

Actions Thoughts Intentions Will

Things I've done Thoughts, opinions, or Aims, plans, or intentions Wants, desires, or will
and/or said, beliefs linked to that underlie my thoughts at the heart of it all
either openly or secretly my actions & words (What I’m really after) (What would I do if…?)

INSPIRATION
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts;
and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
(Psalm 139:23-24)

If you’re using a printout and need additional space, duplicate this page.
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 A Prayer From the Heart
Take a moment to pray to the Lord. Talk with him from the heart, asking him for the things you most
want, need, and hope for in this part of your life.

INSPIRATION
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”


“The prayer is to be a request that the Lord have mercy on us,

give us the power to resist the things we’ve repented of, and
provide us an inclination and desire to do what is good.”
(Psalm 51:10; Emanuel Swedenborg, True Christianity 539)

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 Step 2
Recognize and Acknowledge

2.1 Recognize and Acknowledge Your Sin

How are the things you’ve uncovered during self-examination harmful or destructive?

Do they go against any of the Ten Commandments? If so, which one do they seem to go against the most,
and what are one or a few ways in which they do so? (For help answering this question, see Sourcebook
Section D. Your intuition may also help you answer.)

What other truths that now come to mind which help reveal the true nature or quality of the thing you
looked at during self-examination?

Based on your answers, what would you say is the true nature or quality of the thing you uncovered
during self-examination... How would you briefly describe or encapsulate it? What title would you give it?

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 2.2 Accept Responsibility
In what way(s) can you accept responsibility for the sin you’ve identified?

2.3 Confess Your Sin Before the Lord

Think about things you’ve discovered in this process so far… What good outcome has occurred for you
as a result of each of the early parts – self-examination, recognition/acknowledgement, and accepting
responsibility? Does the issue you’re working on make you happy… What effect does it have on you
emotionally? Where do you see yourself in relation to the Lord as a result of this sin? Etc.

Now imagine coming before the Lord in a spirit of confession. How would you sum it all up before him?

INSPIRATION
“Lord, I acknowledge my sin to You,
and my iniquity I have not hidden.”

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and in
your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.”


“The tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes
to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ ”


“The confession is to be that we see, recognize, and admit to our evil,

and that we are discovering that we are miserable sinners.”
(Psalm 32:5; Luke 15:21; Luke 18:13; Emanuel Swedenborg, True Christianity 539)

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 Step 3
Pray to the Lord

Beg for His Help and Power in Resisting Your Sin

Take a moment to pray to the Lord. Ask and even beg for his divine help and power in resisting your sin.

INSPIRATION
“With God all things are possible.”
✴✴✴

“The smallest amount of divine power is enough, every time it is called on, to tame
instantly the entire devil's crew, even if it consisted of millions.”
✴✴✴

“People who believe in God say to themselves,

‘With God's help I will conquer this.’
And they pray for it and obtain it.”
✴✴✴

“Ask, and it will be given to you.”

(Matthew 19:26; Emanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven 8626, Charity 203; Matthew 7:7)

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 Step 4
Begin a New Life

4.1 Stop Doing It…

(Having Completed Steps 1 Through 3, Abstain From Your Sin)

Following your prayer to the Lord for divine help and power, imagine that you are actively abstaining
from your sin. Visualize yourself doing so in the moment. What do you see, hear, feel, or otherwise ex-
perience in your visualization? Most importantly, what do you see yourself doing to abstain?

4.2 …And Live a New Life!

Imagine again that you are actively abstaining from your sin. The moment you abstain, what do you feel
a leaning to do, even a desire to do, that is new, different, and better, inspired by the Lord from within?
Often it will be the opposite of what you've been doing up until now. (For help answering this question,
see Sourcebook Section F. Your intuitive sense of opposites may also help you answer.)

What other truths now come to mind which either confirm or help flesh out the new life you'll now live?
(These can be any truths that come to mind or that you know or discover. But truths, stories, or images
from the Lord’s Word/divine revelation may be especially helpful in this part of the process.)

Now that you’ve started to abstain from your sin, picture yourself living the new life outlined above.
Visualize yourself doing so in the moment. What do you see, hear, feel, or otherwise experience in your
visualization? Most importantly, what do you see yourself doing as part of the new life?

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 4.3 Do All of This as if You Were
Doing It on Your Own
What opens up for you as you reflect/meditate on the words, “Do all of this as if you were doing it on
your own” – especially at this point in the process, when you’re actively abstaining from your sin, begin-
ning a new life, and living it?

4.4 Do This Once Or Twice a Year as You

Prepare to Commune With God
What do you experience, or what opens up for you, as you picture yourself coming before the Lord and
taking part in this communion – eating the bread and drinking the wine of this God-centered commun-
ion, receiving gifts of love, goodwill, faith, and truth from him, and making them your own?

4.5 Afterward, When the Sin You’re Responsible for Recurs, Say to Yourself,
“I Do Not Want This Because It’s a Sin Against God”
Imagine that the sin you’re now abstaining from is recurring as an option for you to choose or reject.
Imagine speaking out against it because it’s a sin against God. Describe what you see, hear, feel, or other-
wise experience.

Now imagine a host of angels gathered around you, all declaring with you, “We do not want this because
it’s a sin against God.” Now what do you see, hear, feel, or otherwise experience?

INSPIRATION
“Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.”


“If after self-examination we decide that we do not want an evil,

because it is a sin, then we are practicing a repentance that is true and deep.”


“When we see something evil in ourselves that we love and desire, and we know
what sin is, we can, if we beg for the Lord's help, stop willing it.”

“Then I will take the stony heart out of their flesh
and give them a heart of flesh.”
(Matthew 3:10; Emanuel Swedenborg, True Christianity 532, Divine Providence 278; Ezekiel 11:19)