God’s before and after picture
Daily Scripture
Galatians 5:16-25
16 I say be guided by the Spirit and you won’t carry out your selfish desires. 17 A person’s selfish desires are set against the Spirit, and the Spirit is set against one’s selfish desires. They are opposed to each other, so you shouldn’t do whatever you want to do. 18 But if you are being led by the Spirit, you aren’t under the Law. 19 The actions that are produced by selfish motives are obvious, since they include sexual immorality, moral corruption, doing whatever feels good, 20 idolatry, drug use and casting spells, hate, fighting, obsession, losing your temper, competitive opposition, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, 21 jealousy, drunkenness, partying, and other things like that. I warn you as I have already warned you, that those who do these kinds of things won’t inherit God’s kingdom.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and its desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
The apostle Paul lived in the Roman Empire, where many believed a good life meant “do whatever you want.” (They called it “hedonism”—”a general term for all theories of conduct in which the criterion is pleasure of one kind or another.” * It’s still popular today.) Paul told the Galatian Christians a truly good life results as we allow God’s Spirit, rather than our own selfish wishes (literally “flesh” in Greek), to direct and control us. He listed nine vital qualities (“fruit) the Spirit will produce in our lives.
- Paul was clear-eyed about human brokenness. (Review his examples in verses 19-21 and note how he mixed socially “respectable” actions with things almost everyone rejected.) He didn’t prefer self-righteous “goodness” (“all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse” —from Galatians 3:6-11). How did his choice of the term “fruit” in 5:22 focus attention on the spiritual roots of the nine key Christian traits he listed as growing in our lives?
- Focus on the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” “The nine qualities Paul lists in verses 22–23 are not things which, if we try hard enough, we could simply do without help, without the spirit.” ** Which of the traits you get to have as a Christian are most present in you? Which of them do you most want the Spirit’s power to grow in you? How can you nurture an inner “climate” in which that fruit can grow?
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, and by your gentle, powerful presence grow your beautiful fruit to fill and guide my living every day. Amen.
GPS Insights
Jennifer Creagar
Jennifer Creagar serves as the Community Assistance Coordination Director in Resurrection's Congregational Care Ministry. She is married and loves spending time with her family, and she enjoys writing and photography.
I love a good list. Things to Do Before We Leave on The Trip. Grocery List for the BBQ. Books to Read. Pray for: _____________.
In today’s Scripture, Paul gives us, honestly, the only list we will ever need to live the way God intends us to live. It’s not a list we can fill at the grocery store, or the library. In fact, it’s not a list we can fill by ourselves at all. But God also provided the help we need.
“I say be guided by the Spirit and you won’t carry out your selfish desires” (Galatians 5:16). Let’s face it, what prevents us from acting with love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control all the time is, well, US. We move through our days, checking off our lists and looking out for what we want, often pushing aside care for others (and even ourselves) in order to finish those lists and get to where we want to go.
God’s Spirit is with us all the time. We can choose to ignore the Spirit’s guidance. We can treat our neighbors with disrespect and even hate. We can go through our days looking for the things that anger us or frustrate us, or we can find joy in the life we have. We can seek conflict or live in peace. We can treat others with patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness and self-control, or we can seek our own way, and become frustrated and angry and bitter.
We are influenced by the things we give the most time and effort. If we spend time seeking God’s will, if we read Scripture, worship often, pray and invite the Spirit to control our thoughts and actions, God’s list will become part of us and we won’t even need the list. But, for most of us, it’s a good idea to look at this list on a regular basis, asking the Spirit to show us the way to walk away from our non-fruitful, self-centered tendencies and into the life God promises us.
O God, who promised me a life filled with love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, help me to be open to your Spirit, guiding me toward a fruitful life lived with you. Amen.
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* From https://www.britannica.com/topic/hedonism.
** Wright, N.T., Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (The New Testament for Everyone), (p. 72). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
