This morning as I sat down to pray, pondering the state of our nation, and all the swirl around this election, I felt led to read out of Paul's letter to the church in Galatia, the fifth chapter. I could quote the whole of the chapter, but instead am trying to glean the key parts that were highlighted to me this morning. Here are the verses - Galatians 5:1,7-10,13-17,22-26 NIV:
[1] "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
[7] "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? [8] That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. [9] “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” [10] I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty."
[13] "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. [14] For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [15] If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."
[16] "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want."
[22] "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. [24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25] Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. [26] Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
If I could summarize these verses I would begin with verse 13, "Love your neighbor as yourself". The core message and command of Jesus is to "Love one another!" (John 13:34). Let us look to our actions and words and make sure that they are loving.
Secondly, we are called to stay in the Holy Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, guided and directed by the Spirit. While Paul first lists the things of the flesh, I figured it makes more sense to look at the fruit of the Spirit and compare our thoughts and actions against that list. Paul warns us that anything contrary to these is of the flesh, and in conflict with the Holy Spirit, and thus the will of God.
It is so easy to get all wound-up by all the swirl around us, but our call is to keep our eyes focused on the Lord, and to stay in step with Holy Spirit. We should not be swept up into the turmoil, but instead, embracing the call to love one another, every bit as much today as last Monday, as any other day! We should be constantly monitoring our lives, our thoughts, our words and our actions, and making every effort to live in peace (Heb 12:14) and to allow the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in our lives. We want to bear witness to the Holy Spirit, who lives within us!
Let us stand in the freedom that we have, and let us love each other well. Let us stay in step with the Spirit, that we might bear witness to Him who lives in us!
Blessings, Sam
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