LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Fruits of Redemption
Galatians 5:16-21
The Message
16-18My
counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit.
Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root
of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just
as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of
life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at
times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't
you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions
of a law-dominated existence?
19-21It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.
19-21It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.
For Reflection
Paul calls for a life, obedient to His will for us and the role we fill in the realization of the Kingdom of God. It is not just us working toward peace and justice but it is also us, joyfully engrossed in the love and protection that is offered in God's promise. To what extent do you practice your faith?
Pray
that you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. Pray that you will give yourself over completely and without reservation to the Holy Spirit.
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