Love God & Love People

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:13-15 NIV

Freedom. What a glorious thing. To have the ability to do what we want, when we want; how awesome is that? When Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment for all of the sin in the world; past, present, and future. He gives us freedom from the bondage of our sin, if we choose Him as Lord and Saviour. In this passage Paul is addressing the people and calling them higher into their God-given freedom.

When he is speaking about indulging the flesh, he is talking about the things of this world; things that are not in alignment with God. He is urging them instead to serve each other in love. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This stems from what Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31) The golden rule. If this is not something we live by, this world will all be destroyed. I want to take extra care to see it says "as yourself." I'm not going to go into this too much (I'll save that for another post). God created each of us with intention and purpose. Just as it's important to love others, we must also love the craftsmanship God has put into ourselves. 

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatians 5:16-18 NIV

If we choose to walk with Jesus, we are walking in the Spirit. When we are walking in the Spirit our desires will be in alignment with Him. We will always have choices in life, but when we are actively seeking God, it becomes easier to make the choices we should be making. Things of God and things of this world are polar opposites of each other. They cannot operate together.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21 NIV

Paul lists out works of the flesh, or the things of this world. Not only is he referring to acts, he's referring to the motives behind each one. In verse 18 he says "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."  The motives behind the works of the flesh will lead to punishment; spiritually but also potentially in our physical life. Let's say you struggle with jealousy or envy. The jealousy or envy could provoke you to want to steal something. Drunkenness hinders decision making. Drunkenness is usually associated with alcohol. I'm going to take it a step further because drunkenness simply means to be intoxicated. Somethings that could also be intoxicating are lust, adrenaline, and drugs. If you are making choices while under the influence of those things, your judgement is clouded. If you are making choices in order to feed that intoxication, your choices are also not rooted in the best place. Making decisions with clouded judgement could lead to some serious repercusions.

Just like Paul had stated earlier, the Spirit and the flesh oppose each other. If we are operating out of the flesh, we will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:22-26 NIV

The works of the flesh are directly opposite of the fruits of the Spirit. In verse 23, Paul states,"Against such things there is no law." I can't think of a single law that would be broken by any of these attributes. These are all things this world is hungry for. Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to be joyful. Everyone wants peace. The fruit we bear as believers are the exact things people are searching for in this world. The only reason we are able to bear those fruits is because of the goodness of God and our choice to walk with Him.

One thing I have found very interesting is that within the works of the flesh idolatry and witchcraft are listed. Not interesting in the fact that they aren't of God, but interesting in the way that we as humans are created to seek connection spiritually and seek a higher power. Man created idols and started witchcraft in an attempt to create that connection themselves. They weren't happy with and rejected the way they were provided.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The flesh is prideful, vain, and full of ego. We are human and we are born with a fleshly nature. Gravitating to the works of the flesh is default when we aren't walking in the Spirit. All throughout our lives we will have to continuously put forth effort to make the choices we should.

I feel it's very important to acknowledge the fruit of the Spirit isn't something we can necessarily "work harder" to be good at or have. The fruit of the Spirit is called that because it is the fruit we bear by walking with Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit. The only way we can "be better" with any of those attributes is to grow closer with Jesus and allow Him to work through us. Those character traits are traits of Jesus. By allowing Him to live in our hearts, the world will see Him through the fruits of our lives.

So let us continue growing deeper in Jesus together. Let's not allow ourselves to become prideful in the things God is doing through us, or become envious because we aren't doing what someone else is doing. God made each of us unique and with that comes unique callings.

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My challenge for you:

• Look at the list of the fruits of the Spirit.

  • Are there some you can say are visible in your daily life?

  • Are there some you need some help with?

• Spend some time with God and bring your discoveries to Him.

  • Ask Him to reveal areas of refinement.

  • Ask Him to show you where He is working in your life, if you can't see it yet.

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Dear Lord,

Thank you for loving me like you do. Help me walk closer to you every day and make the best choices as I go about my daily life. You are good and faithful. I'm thankful I don't have to do this life without you.

In Jesus' name. Amen.