Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Living by Faith - Galatians 1:13-17; 2:11-21

      I have been thinking a lot this week about what exactly makes living by faith so difficult, and I think it boils down to the fact that it is not about us. Which is hard to swallow.

      A casual reader of Galatians, especially chapter one, may say that Paul is talking a whole lot about himself. They may think that Paul was saying that it's all about him. But as we dig deeper we find that this isn't the case. Paul isn't talking about his past in order to say how great he is, instead he saying to folks "look at how great the Gospel is." Look how the Good News of Jesus changed even and most especially me. That is the power of Christ that we claim. 

     Faith is all about the power of Jesus. But we live in a world that tells us that it's about us. Work hard and you will be rewarded. Be wise and you'll get ahead. But Paul comes into all of that and turns it on his head when he says that being in Christ, having faith in Christ, is about Christ and not us. It's not about simply saying the right thing or believing the right thing, it's about being changed by Christ.  And that is not something we can do by our own strength or will. 

     How would you define faith and why do you think living by faith is difficult at times?

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