DAY THIRTY-FOUR – Saturday, March 27, 2021
Galatians 5:13-23
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. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 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.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
In this passage, we see Paul’s oft repeated theme regarding the distinction between material and spiritual attainment. He makes a very stark division between the two, which is intended to focus our attention on the latter. Indeed, verse 23, which delineates the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is one of the popular Scriptures which many Christians are familiar with or have even memorized.
While we need to recognize the importance of and make every effort to use the Holy Spirit’s gifts each day, it is not necessarily the case that material possessions are bad in and of themselves. Taking all of Christian teaching on this issue into account, it is how we view and how we use these material possessions that is really at issue.
Do we keep in mind that earth is only our temporary home and that, as the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you”? I think this is part of what Paul is trying to remind us about. We all need such basic things as food, shelter and clothing – and we all enjoy occasionally buying a book or attending a concert, and so forth. It is how we balance our physical needs and desires with our spiritual life and growth that this passage in Galatians addresses.
We may more readily recognize that having an extra piece of cake is not good than we do the harm that can be caused by passing on a piece of gossip about a neighbour or fellow church member.
This may just be one example of how we are to discern between what is material and what is spiritual – and how we should evaluate each; at least, it is one that makes sense to me.
Sean Madsen (2016)
Galatians 5:13-23
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. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 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.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
In this passage, we see Paul’s oft repeated theme regarding the distinction between material and spiritual attainment. He makes a very stark division between the two, which is intended to focus our attention on the latter. Indeed, verse 23, which delineates the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is one of the popular Scriptures which many Christians are familiar with or have even memorized.
While we need to recognize the importance of and make every effort to use the Holy Spirit’s gifts each day, it is not necessarily the case that material possessions are bad in and of themselves. Taking all of Christian teaching on this issue into account, it is how we view and how we use these material possessions that is really at issue.
Do we keep in mind that earth is only our temporary home and that, as the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you”? I think this is part of what Paul is trying to remind us about. We all need such basic things as food, shelter and clothing – and we all enjoy occasionally buying a book or attending a concert, and so forth. It is how we balance our physical needs and desires with our spiritual life and growth that this passage in Galatians addresses.
We may more readily recognize that having an extra piece of cake is not good than we do the harm that can be caused by passing on a piece of gossip about a neighbour or fellow church member.
This may just be one example of how we are to discern between what is material and what is spiritual – and how we should evaluate each; at least, it is one that makes sense to me.
Sean Madsen (2016)
