Friday, July 11th
Read: Galatians 5:13-15
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Spend a few minutes discussing questions you have about the passage. Here are a few to get you started:
What keeps us from being free?
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Is this always easy?
What does it mean when Paul says “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other”? Can you give an example of this?
It was just a little fib, so it can’t hurt, right? That cookie was delicious, my parents won’t find out I ate it before supper, right? It was an innocent kiss, nothing happened. No one saw me looking, I’m okay.
God wants us to be free. All these things mentioned above (and so many more that you know about and I don’t need to mention) keep us in bondage. Let me say this again— GOD WANTS US TO BE FREE! Hallelujah! That privilege we have shouldn’t be taken for granted by continuing to live in sin. The enemy wants us to stay in sin, because then it keeps us from being active. It keeps us from advancing on the enemy’s ground.
Admitting that you need God, and allowing Him to change you is the first step. I don’t think I need to go into all the details, I believe you know them. What does Paul say? “…do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). How do we serve one another in love? Well Paul goes right onto that in verse 14, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
It’s pretty straight forward. Whatever you want done to you, do it to other people. But wait, I thought there were more commands, does that mean that this is all I have to do? Well, what Paul is saying is that by loving your neighbor as yourself, you will automatically follow His commands and love Him. If you love someone, do you murder them, or covet their stuff, or gossip about them, or steal from them? Of course not!
Paul warns us that if we continue “biting and devouring each other” (Galatians 5:15a), we will “be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15b). There are so many rifts in the church—people holding on to stuff, not loving each other. If people just loved each other and treated each other the way they would want to be treated, the Church would be the ultimate fighting force. Satan would be trembling, even more terrified than he is already.
So—be free. Ask God to help you through temptation, and to give you the strength. I’ll give you another verse to help you with this. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) Tell the enemy to stick it! Mend broken relationships and love your neighbor.
Process:
– There is stuff in everyone’s life that they are holding onto and “rolling in the mud” with. Give it to God, get an accountability person and get free. God wants you to be free, and once you are, He will be able to do tremendous things through you. What friendships/relationships in your life have been destroyed, or are on the rocks? How about you phone them up and mend it. Keep a soft, forgiving heart toward them, remembering your own weakness as well as theirs. How can you love someone today, this week, next week, this month, this year? Make a list and go do it! There is nothing more fulfilling than loving and blessing other people.