Category: Galatians

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 6:1-10 (day four)

After reading about the fruits of the Spirit last week, did one of them stick out to you? The command to be gentle has stuck out to me lately, and it seems that Paul had gentleness on his mind too as he wraps up his letter to the Galatians. The Spirit will produce gentleness in our lives.

More often than not, though, I feel like a bull in a china shop. I put my foot in my mouth and say the wrong thing, I go into a conversation ready to get my way and defend my own ideas, my “correction” or critique of others  comes off harsh and prideful. I have a lot of room in my life for the fruit of gentleness to ripen.

Why is this particular command so difficult? It may be because gentleness doesn’t get us very far in the ways of the world. The world tells us to be pushy and to do whatever it takes to get ahead. When I act in this way and move through life quickly and harshly, I’ve conformed to the ways of the world without even thinking. As Christ continues to renew us, we will begin to see more opportunities to sow gentleness, and in so doing, we will look more like Christ.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 6:1-10 (day three)

“If anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…”

It’s easier to police behavior than to join the work of restoration. It doesn’t require curiosity, patience, or empathy, just good old-fashioned rule-making and forced conformity. But Paul presents a vision of the church as the one open door on earth inviting people into a vision of what they can be — in fact, what they’ve always wanted to be – but have given up on being because they got lost. When, on mission with Jesus, the church finds a person, that person needs all the Jesus-infused longsuffering the church can muster. It’s hard to be restorative toward someone when all the energy goes into being shocked at behavior. The church never loses sight of how beautiful a person can be.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 6:1-10 (day two)  

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. vs. 10

Keeping score can get exhausting. Who said what to whom? When was I last wronged or slighted? Was I treated fairly when…? Paul does not discount that fact that misunderstandings happen. He doesn’t deny that life is hard and so often unfair. He is aware, however, of the grace that he was given through Jesus, and that has changed his perspective on how to treat others. Remember when you were forgiven and you didn’t deserve it? There is such a feeling of relief not having to carry around that burden. That burden which impacts how we speak to, relate to, and treat others. Before that grace what was your reaction to misunderstandings? Harsh, bitter, ugly? Perhaps your defenses were so attuned to protecting yourself from further harm, that you became the one hurting others. Paul isn’t saying that doing good is easy, but it does take the pressure off of trying to remember who to be nice to and who not to. Remember when Jesus was kind to you? Pass it on.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day seven)  

those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. vs. 21b

Upon reading this list, I find myself in conviction of missteps in my own life where I succumbed to the desires of my flesh. What about you? Does that mean that we will not inherit the kingdom of God? It would seem as if the very legalism that Paul is attempting to extinguish is being fed kindling. We feel as if when we commit one of these sins we have committed an unpardonable offense… or that is what the enemy would want us to believe. When we think we are unredeemable, we lose our hope and will to endure. The game changer here comes down to “practice.” In this instance, practice does not make perfect but is the road to condemnation. The grace of God allows us to recognize that the flesh has not won the war and we can repent of our missteps. By the work of the Spirit and the evidence of His fruit, we can pull ourselves up out of the practice of sinning through the practice of praying.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day six)

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23

The evidence of the Spirit is not the clothes you wear, the food you eat, or the places you go. Nor is it your family lineage, how early in life you attended church, your Sunday school attendance, or your well-versed prayers. The Spirit of God will always lead the children of God to love God and others.

A child of God is not determined by how they look on the outside but by how they love on the outside. Say “yes” to God’s Spirit and love well today!

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day five)  

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25 The scripture teaches that there is rhythm and movement of the Holy Spirit- steps (forward progress). The challenge from Paul to these believers is remarkable. The God of the Universe, through His Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to walk WITH Him.  There are “steps”- pace, cadence, stamina, required to be in stride with the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is both possible and beneficial. The prerequisite is that we live by the Spirit (“If we live by the Spirit”).

Being in step with the Holy Spirit is not dependent on spiritual highs or lows, or good or bad circumstances, but rather faithful obedience in our daily lives. Throughout scripture, importance is placed on walking with God on a daily basis. We must discover and practice rhythms that will keep us in step with the Spirit- prayer, worship, reading and meditating in scripture, just to name a few.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day four)

My favorite attraction at water parks is the lazy river. There’s something blissful about sitting back and letting the current send you slowly drifting down the stream. Sometimes the river is so lazy that you’re hardly aware it’s moving you, until you look up and realize you’ve gone further than you thought. This is all well and good on vacation, but when the same thing happens to us spiritually, it’s a very different story. The natural flow of life does not lead toward righteousness. There are times when life is busy or we’re distracted by the things of the world, and we find ourselves in the lazy river, slowly drifting towards unrighteousness without even realizing it.

At first we may think, “well, it’s not so bad, I haven’t drifted that far.” Soon, though, we look up and realize we’ve slowly gone a lot further than we thought, and this depiction of fleshly deeds is starting to sound a lot like us. It may not be all at once, but the rhythms of the world will always lead to a life of destruction.

But when we begin catching the rhythms of the Spirit, things start to look different. When we encounter the Holy Spirit, God lifts us up out of our lazy drift and sets our feet on solid ground, leading us into all truth. As we walk in that truth we begin to see the fruit of the Spirit ripen in us. This leads us to the question, then – how do we keep in rhythm with the Spirit? What practices help you walk by the Spirit rather than drifting into the rhythms of the world? Is there a new spiritual discipline you’d like to try as you continue to see fruit grow in your life?

That lazy river may seem appealing now, but the fruit of the Spirit is too sweet to miss.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day three)

“Against such things there is no law.”

The law turned on the light so Israel could see both the way God lives – goodness, beauty, righteousness, and love, which is the eternal kind of living – and their own patterns of not living that eternal way. Because God desires his creation to live eternally, his law is therefore against this non-eternal way of living, which is what sin actually is. Conversely, the law is not against anything that produces in human beings a desire for that eternal kind of living. When the Spirit’s movement produces such a desire in a person, the law is not against that desire, but for it. The law’s prescriptions for purity are then unnecessary for that person, because the Spirit is already producing what the law agrees with. The Spirit’s work is so good that the law’s work is done.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day two)  

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. vs. 17

This duality in our nature is nothing new to Paul. He speaks very directly about this to the believers in Rome (Romans 7:14-20). Knowing that the apostle Paul understood and struggled with this idea of wanting to do one thing, but doing another should help our understanding of the challenge we all face. We are in a spiritual battle. It is a daily conflict to choose the Spirit over the flesh. It is also why we are instructed by Jesus to take up the cross daily. 

Make no mistake complacency in the faith leads to an erosion of our will. We all desire to live by the Spirit, but this desire requires surrender. If the evidence of the Spirit isn’t obvious, take a spiritual inventory and recalibrate. Don’t give up the fight.