ColaSalk2023 Wednesday

 

Wednesday Morning

We Belong…Together

Galatians 5:13-14 and 22-25 13 

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. 14 All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.

 22 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and its desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit.

In verses 13 and 14, Paul is saying to the Galatian church you are free from the burdens of the law, but not free from love. Love binds us and connects us. Love unites us with Christ and in our love for Christ we are called to love one another. We are called to love our neighbor. Jesus says if we love him (Jesus) then we must love our neighbor. We belong to one another, we belong together. When we love someone we do not have the freedom to sit idly by while they are harmed. If you exercise that freedom to do nothing, then you can no longer claim to love your neighbor who is being hurt. Not helping is saying to your neighbor, you don’t belong. Love motivates us to be helpers.    

So, how do we help? How do we become helpers? Thankfully, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives us fruits of Love, Joy, Kindness. Each of these fruits of the spirit are character attributes of a helper. Interestingly, the list of fruits follows a list of negative attributes that are the opposite of gifts: like hate, jealousy and losing your temper. These behaviors destroy communities, they make us forget we belong to one another. The fruits build up community. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are all character traits that strengthen and build up togetherness. These behaviors help us to belong to one another in peace. 

Challenge or “Look for it moment”: So, today’s challenge is to look again for opportunities to use the gifts of the spirit to connect with one another and remind ourselves that we belong together. 

Prayer: Dear God, We belong to you. Help us today as we work and serve you. Amen.