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Thoughts on Galatians 6.1-10


Several years ago, Dick Wills, former episcopal leader for the Nashville Area of The United Methodist Church, introduced to the Memphis Annual Conference a spiritual discipline called the LifeJournal.  It's a Bible study method, employing a technique known as SOAP, wherein the reader approaches the scripture, makes basic observations, considers its application, and forms a prayer for God to bring fruit from what's been learned; I've used it in my personal study ever since.  Starting with this post, I'll occasionally share my journaling here.  May you be blessed by something you find, and encouraged in your own journey through God's written Word.

S  Brothers and sisters, if a person is caught doing something wrong, you who are spiritual should restore someone like this with a spirit of gentleness.  Watch out for yourselves so you won’t be tempted too.  Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks they are important when they aren’t, they’re fooling themselves.  Each person should test their own work and be happy with doing a good job and not compare themselves with others.  Each person will have to carry their own load.  Those who are taught the word should share all good things with their teacher.  Make no mistake, God is not mocked.  A person will harvest what they plant.   Those who plant only for their own benefit will harvest devastation from their selfishness, but those who plant for the benefit of the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.  Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up.  So then, let’s work for the good of all whenever we have an opportunity, and especially for those in the household of faith. (Galatians 6.1-10, CEB)

O  St. Paul, speaking to the Galatian church, offers instruction regarding how persons--particularly within the body of Christ--ought to care for one another.  Verse 1 offers an important exhortation to "restore [wrongdoers] with a spirit of gentleness," followed in the next verse by the imperative to "carry each other's burdens."  The passage closes with the apostle reminding us to "work for the good of all."

A  A primary challenge in these verses is that they expect something of believers that's generally counterintuitive for human beings.  Typically, when "a person is caught doing something wrong," we're more likely to call for punishment than we are forbearance.  We're more likely to focus on the improper action than underlying causes.  Simply, we're often more about guilt than we are about grace.  Truly, context matters; I can't advocate for committers of heinous crimes getting off scot-free.  But God's ultimate aim for creation isn't annihilation; it's restoration.  It's that it'd be made new.  A proof of this is the self-giving of Jesus, who carried our burdens under the weight of a cross and freed us from them through his death and resurrection.  The same selflessness is expected of us as we encounter others who have fallen; in this, we "fulfill the law of Christ": to love God and neighbor.

P  Forgiving God,
thank you for the ways you've pardoned me and pardon me still.
If you kept a tally of my sins, I'd have no hope.
But my hope lives in your promise to love me,
regardless of my faults and failures.
Help me to love others in the same way--
not leaping to retribution, 
but desiring that all would know the grace you offer.
Amen.

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