Work It

Galatians 5 makes it pretty plain that we are in a battle everyday-the battle of our sinful nature and the Spirit. It creates conflict in us and sometimes (far too often if you ask me) makes for very difficult days. They are in opposition to each other and cannot coexist peacefully.

Anyone who intends to feed both animals and expect to do so successfully is only fooling themselves. It has to be an honest effort (although that effort will most definitely be futile if attempted by our own willpower and strength) to do the things that lead to a Spirit-filled life. It's obvious throughout Scripture that what we put our efforts into, talk about, think about, watch, listen to, dwell on and act on will influence what we end up as. If a Spirit-filled life is what we intend to have then there must be a desire and an effort on our part to end up there. You don't "accidentally" become Spirit-filled. You choose now which team you will be on and then we trust in a God who wants to make His strength evident in our weaknesses. As He works in our willing spirits we will see the godly results He desires for our lives.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

On Your Mark

In Galatians 6:17, Paul states that he bears on his body the marks of Jesus. In this context, he is acknowledging the physical beatings that he has endured for the cause of Christ. If we were to see Paul in this time the evidence of his conviction to follow Christ would be visible to us.

I read this and wonder where my "marks of Jesus" are. Can I even see what they are? We don't suffer physically here in America for our beliefs as our brothers & sisters around the world do, so our marks must show up in different ways. Is it through our finances? The time we spend with our families seeking God's will for us? The sources of media that we allow to either pollute or enrich our minds each day? The enmity or true forgiveness that we feel towards those that have wronged us? The unconditional love that we share with our children, spouse and family members? Our desire (and corresponding actions) to help a world without Christ find deliverance and salvation?

I have to stop and ask myself the personal question. Is God truly leaving on impact on my life that is evident to other people? I desire to have those "marks" in my life-for it to be plainly known and seen that my life belongs to Christ. I may not have them yet, but I pray that my passionate desire for them may be the beginning.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Expressive

In Galatians 5, Paul is writing to the church and refuting some of the legalistic actions that have been imposed by leadership. The argument here is over the practice of circumcision and whether or not the Gentiles who are coming to Christ must be circumcised before they can join the church. Paul makes a clear statement that if they are going to enforce the "law" that they must enforce all of it, but that Christ came and essentially made circumcision null and void. In verse 6 he says, "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

The question that rolls through my mind this morning after reading this is, "How am I expressing myself?" If this is truly what counts as believers, then I should make it a focus to show love to those around me as a reflection of my faith in God. What happens instead is that I get focused on how I am feeling that day, whether I like something or not, how people treat me and my ideas, the value that I think others place on me, and the impact that I can have other people. These are all expressive emotions, but certainly not ones that reflect my faith in Christ.

Imagine how different our families would be if we focused on expressing our faith through love to each other. Think of how different our communities would be if we would show the same passion for sharing faith through love that we do for our hobbies, careers, favorite sports teams, TV shows or our children's athletics. How powerful and far-reaching would God's church be if we prayed each day for our faith to be expressed in love and then acted on it?