August 10, 2018
Galatians 6:1-6 The Message
Every believer will make mistakes in life; we are imperfect people who are loved by a perfect God. We carry flesh-dwelling imperfections, but we learn how to put them on the cross and receive a spiritual blessing. Believers desiring the Lordship of Christ do not knowingly practice sin against God, but we still sin because like children we want our own way. Our flesh is strong and our ability to bring it under the authority of Christ requires divine power; otherwise, we are too weak to walk in righteousness or share good deeds with others. God knows all about our strengths, as well as our weaknesses and imperfections. He knows our personality quirts and he knows our emotional bents or inclinations toward sin (living for self or flesh rather than living for God).
His knowledge of our true selves is why he allows us to face different situations; they become LIFE lessons. He wants us to lean on his strength at those times by taking responsibility for identifying our weaknesses. He watches if we will be merciful with others, because we are all in the same spiritual state of needing a Savior. God is not wanting us to fail; far from it. He is wanting us to listen and learn how to be led by the Spirit into a spiritually healthy place of unity. He desires to gain our attention and guide us to a right place long before we make mistakes. We will all say or do wrong things at times, we will all need forgiveness, and we will all need to take responsibility for our lives and grow. This process is called spiritual formation. To press on and not quit we must realize, with every lesson we learn, a seed of righteousness is planted in our hearts and we will harvest good things in our lives as a result. Galatians 6:9 reminds us “And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.” Truly, our witness becomes even greater because we see more clearly God’s love at work in our lives.
I have really needed our Scripture reading this morning and I delight in sharing it with you. I am in awe of the goodness of God and the timeliness of His Word to my heart. Wow, God is so good. I pray you are blessed, as well. Have a wonderful weekend.