I just finished reading Galatians last night. In some ways, when I began the book, I was thinking "Man, I am going to be hard-pressed to find relevance for my life in this book." I mean, Paul is talking about circumcision and the relationship between Jew and Gentile, and I was wondering when I was going to run into the "classic" verses.
First of all, let me say that I strongly support careful exegesis--studying something that is confusing oftentimes can be very rewarding. I lived with a theology major for two years...I know that much. Don't decontextualize.
Yet, when I got towards the end of the book, I found some words that were of great use for my daily life. Around the classic recitation of the characteristics of the Spirit, Paul exclaims "If we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit."
I am overly analytical and lazy, which seems to be counterintuitive, so sometimes I simply overlook the fact that I am full of the Holy Spirit if I claim to be a Christian. Blame it on Western rationalization, or blame it on a dull spade of a mind, I just usually prefer to live my life without this memo.
Which just goes to show that I prefer to be my own god. Which is a sin. And which does also not make life that enjoyable.
So, my challenge for the rest of the summer, for the rest of my life really, is to live everyday in light of the fact that I am Spirit-filled--empowered.
Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. Self-Control.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I get stuck in this place sometimes where I feel exactly what you are talking about. This is an encouraging post.
I hope that you (and myself) can create habits that deter this kind of ignorance in my faith. Hopefully those habits go above and beyond this summer.
Mount up cowboy because it is a long, humbling ride, but we are all in it together.
Post a Comment