Galatians 5:24-26 NCV
Romans 5:2 and Mark 10:18
The Character of God is Graciously Gentle
The Beginning, Part 2
Paul’s words following his description of the character of God using the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:24-26 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit. We must not be proud or make trouble with each other or be jealous of each other.”
Notice the term ‘crucified’ that we read in Galatians 5:24 is worded differently that “I have been crucified with Christ” that Paul wrote about in Galatians 2:20. Paul’s words here mean that I belong to Christ and therefore I choose to let go of my desires. I gave them up. I laid them down at the cross. I made the choice to follow the Spirit.
By the very nature and character of God we are given the choice to come. God waits patiently for us to surrender. God always gives us the choice and doesn’t force us. Even after we have the Spirit of God living IN us, God continues to gently and graciously help us to rely on Him.
The biggest problem and issue we face is that our culture, particularly the American culture teaches us we are self-reliant and capable. Our history speaks for itself. We are self-made men and women. We sometimes need to be careful about thinking we got to where we are in life on our own. Surrendering is not written into our history.
We need to learn that this kind of surrender is not an admission of defeat. Instead it is an admission that we WILL accept the victory that God provides for us. We choose to surrender our life to The Spirit of God who now lives IN us.
Notice that Paul says when we chose Jesus we gave up (crucified) our selfish sinful feelings about what WE want. Our life is no longer just about what we want. It’s about what Jesus wants FOR us.
In my heart and mind, Galatians 5:25 gives me great hope. “We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit.”
This ‘New Life from the Spirit’ means I don’t need to have a strategic plan for my future.
I don’t need to decide my next steps.
I am not alone.
God is IN me.
Because God is IN me, the characteristics of God, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) are available to me. Those characteristics that are from God are now part of me.
They are part of you. God IN you gave you new life in the Spirit.
Paul also gives us a guide for living in this section of scripture. I am often shocked by the letters the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches nearly two thousand years ago. Clearly, God gave Paul a vivid picture of the human condition that was as applicable in the first century as it is in the 21st Century.
After Paul tells the churches in Galatia they have the gift of the fruit of the Spirit of the living God available to them, he tells them they have a NEW LIFE in the Spirit.
In Galatians 5:26, Paul wrote, “We must not be proud or make trouble with each other or be jealous of each other.” The NIV and the NLT both translate the beginning of this verse as “we must not become” as in future tense. The Greek word used is from ‘genomai’ which is translated as come into being, happen, or to become (in the Greek it is preceded by the word for NOT).
We must not automatically think because God lives in us that we are always right. God is IN us always, but the choice to rely on God in all things continues to BE a choice. We cannot be so conceited in our thinking. Surrender is not a one time thing. Because God is IN us we have access by faith to this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:2), but that doesn’t mean our struggle is over. We continue daily to choose good or evil and that’s where surrendering comes in. When we make difficult choices we can turn to God for help and guidance.
We cannot be proud or conceited because WE are not good enough or right enough. Remember, only God is good (Mark 10:18).
We must also not be proud or conceited in our thinking that God speaks only to us to the point we make trouble with each other. I can only speak for myself and what God has for me. For example, if I know someone very well (like my own children) I might tell them how God directed me. Even then I would not say that they didn’t hear God speak correctly. In that case, I would go back to God and ask that God speak to both of us clearly. I would ask for confirmation about my message because am human and I am certainly not perfect.
Finally, we must not be jealous of one another. I have met people in my lifetime who glow with the presence of God in them. The first time it happened to me I was 20 years old. I met an old man who was in his 80’s who had visions when he saw me, and he told me things I did not know. I was moved. I saw the power of God at work in this man. I wanted God to speak to me with the same power. I wanted my relationship with God to grow stronger.
But I was not jealous or envious. I knew I had witnessed the power of God at work and I longed for God to change me. I asked God that day to teach me how to hear Him clearly. I asked the Spirit of God to change me. I don’t think I am there yet, but I am not 80 yet. I still long for God to continue to change me so I can hear Him every so well. Still, I continue to choose to surrender.
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: Surrender by Choice
Whatever gifts God has given you, ask Him to increase it in you today. Watch for where God is at work IN you.
In God, Deborah
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