Monday
Galatians 5:13 For you were called to
freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity
for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the
whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another,
take care that you are not consumed by one another. 16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify
the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the
Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are
opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife,
jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like
these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will
not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Paul
presents two polar opposites: either we ‘live by the flesh’ or we ‘live by the
Spirit’. He is writing from Antioch to churches initiated by himself and
Barnabas (Acts 13:14-14:26) in the Phrygian cities of Pisidian, Antioch and
Iconium, and in the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe. Christian teachers
had arrived from Jerusalem, who insisted that Gentile followers of Jesus must come
under the Law of Moses in order to be loved by God. Circumcision must be added
to Grace.
Paul
therefore posits living by the laws of the flesh (circumcision) as the opposite
of living by the Spirit: “ if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
subject to the law (Gal 5:18). He is not suggesting that followers of Jesus
are lawless, but he is rejecting the teaching of those who want to link Jewish
religious codes to following Jesus. Instead, says Paul: “live by the Spirit”
which will result in character qualities such as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control”.
The
invitation for this week is to worry less about who keeps what religious code,
and more about how we can live side by side with gentleness and love.
Thought
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Imagine all the people
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Love is the Sign
The Scripture passage for
the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer
for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 167.
This reflection is from my own
devotional exercises for the day.
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