Why We Trample One Another

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." —Galatians 5:22 (ESV)

I can be about as patient as a two-year-old wanting more Cheerios at breakfast. It's a virtue that, for me, comes only after much practice and copious amounts of prayer. And even then, it's only the Holy Spirit's work within these dry impatient bones.

There are times when I lose all patience, and my reaction to a situation spirals into self-serving anger. It's during those moments I wonder if the Spirit really has any power over the old me at all. For, at base, I am a creature of force.

My Strength Is No Strength

In Paul's letter to the Galatians he emphasizes true Christian freedom because the Galatians fell under a false interpretation of it. After being duped into a lifestyle of law keeping, emphasizing works of the flesh, the Galatians ironically fell into a self-serving immorality.

The commentators remind us, "Our efforts to please God in our own strength result only in sinful behavior." The Galatians experienced this firsthand. Their sinful behavior festered in their personal relationships. They lived in danger of devouring one another through their biting and loveless interactions.

We think the law is so bad. By God, we want our Christian freedom, and now! But the law is less a list of do's and don'ts and more of a "way". The Hebrew idea of living by the law is walking in the way. John the Beloved often refers to this "way". And for John, he ate with, and talked with and lived with The Way. For it is Christ himself.

"I am The Way!" says Jesus.

Hell Pursuing, Spirit Living

And so when we fail to walk in The Way, we tend to walk another path—a path we think will lead to the good life. But that way crumbles into selfish immorality. Our self-producing godliness deceives us—we sleep our holiness away in the arms of other people, we destroy one another with our words and we trample each other under the force of our stride as we walk down the way of hell itself.

I feel hell biting at my heels when I act out of my impatience—it's like the Spirit evaporates from the room, replaced by the stench of a wayward morality.

Am I making too much of our relationships? I don't think so. How we treat one another is how we treat the rest of the world, a world searching for The Way. Our relationships form our families, form our friendship circles, form our communities and form our work environments. It all starts with how we treat our siblings and parents, our spouses and children and friends.

I want to walk in You, Oh Lord. For you are The Way. Help me stride with you as your Spirit works in me—producing the life-giving fruit rising from my ashes, and blooming into patience. 

Stop over here and share an encouragement or insight on patience or another fruit of the Spirit.  

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Stop Fussing

Sometimes Wormwood crawls into my brain and begins to whisper obscenities and lies. "Do more," he says. "It's not enough and you'll probably fail. You need more money. You need more accomplishments. You need … you must … go and get."  

How do I respond? In my weakness, I fuss and worry.

I like to think of myself as not much of a fusser. Truth is, in the quiet, my heart beats fast and I lay awake. Do you really have me, Lord?

Then Paul sneaks up beside me and says …

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.[1]

Then, Jesus climbs next to me, agreeing with Paul …

Well said Paul, he says. Tim, Don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.

Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.

Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can’t even do that, why fuss at all?

Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don’t fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.[2]

Paul concludes …

Tim, this is how we should live if we follow Jesus. So, if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides.

Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.[3]

God I need these words. I need to settle down. I need to relax in the peace of Christ. 

[1] Philippians 4:6-7, The Message

[2] Luke 12: 22-32, The Message

[3] Colossians 3: 1-2, The Message