Today is Veterans’ Day—a day we’re asked to pause and reflect on the men and women who’ve served our country … people who for a period of time—some for a few years, some for the majority of their adult lives—made themselves available to defend and preserve our nation’s freedoms. The reason we acknowledge them is because freedom is a big deal! It’s why the majority of those seeking to enter our country choose to leave their land of origin. Yes—there is economic opportunity in this land. There are resources and access to services that may be skimpy in their native land. But many of those streaming to our borders live in oppressive environments and there’s within each of us a deep-seated longing to be free.
Freedom is also a big deal in the Christian life, and it’s a clear-cut theme in the book of Galatians. The Galatian believers were people from non-Jewish backgrounds who’d embraced the message of Jesus. But a contingent had slipped into the church and said, “If you’re going to be a true follower, you’ve got to adhere to the Old Testament law as well.” And Paul said, “That’s nonsense. You’re free. Don’t let yourself become entangled in a yoke of bondage.”
But Paul also touches on another important matter related to the topic of freedom. Most of us, when we think of “freedom”, think of it as doing whatever we want whenever we want—not denying any desire or accepting any form of restriction. Freedom means no rules … no restraint … no strictures of any kind. But what Paul says is this isn’t freedom. To use our freedom irresponsibly and live a life of reckless indiscretion is merely swapping out one form of bondage for another. The freedom Paul is talking about is not the freedom to live life unconstrained or unregulated. The freedom Paul is calling the Galatians to is the freedom to live life according to the values that flow from the heart and character of God. Such a life not only enables us to get out from under the bondage of trying to impress people, but it also frees us from selfishly using other people in ways to where we end up hurting or scarring them. It’s a freedom to love them without hesitation or reservation.
Where this thought becomes most clear is in the last half of Galatians 5. For what Paul does in this section is contrast and compare what a life of true freedom looks like as opposed to a life of false freedom.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:13-15)
It’s as if Paul says, “You want to keep the law? Just love people! This not only sums up what the law is about ,but will also keep you from chewing each other up.”
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)
The legalists thought giving people license would inevitably lead to sin and the only way for them to stay on the straight and narrow was to embrace the rules and restrictions. And Paul says, “That’s just plain wrong! Yes—you have the ability to choose … and you can use your freedom irresponsibly. Freedom can become a platform for selfishness if you’re not careful. But if you truly walk by the Spirit, you won’t do that. You won’t use your freedom as a way to please yourself at the expense of others.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:19-26)
The evidence of how a person uses their freedom is the nature of their relationships with others. True freedom enhances the lives of others and builds them up. False freedom diminishes them and tears them down.
When a Gentile in Galatia made a profession of faith in Jesus, they lost a lot of their social and civic legitimacy. To leave the Roman religious system and embrace a “fake God”—after all, Jesus didn’t have a portrayal that could be made into an idol or a temple dedicated to Him—it often disrupted their social network and negatively impacted their relationships. You can understand why it might be appealing for them to embrace the Jewish law. It gave them a place to belong … a group with whom they could affiliate. The fact they’d consider going through the rite of circumcision as an adult lets you know that the belonging it offered must have had some serious appeal. It was this susceptibility those who were advocating for maintaining and upholding the law were exploiting.
But Paul’s message is clear: Jesus came to set us free—not to extend or increase our bondage. To retreat into a life of adherence to the law—to embrace a life of trying to uphold a standard that generations of folks had proven couldn’t be upheld … to let a group of people determine your place and your worth according to whether you toe the line they say you need to toe … to think that the legalistic observance of a bunch of rules and regulations is the essence of a life that’s pleasing to God—such an approach doesn’t lead to a life of freedom. It leads to servitude and misery. It creates a bunch of uptight and uneasy people that are always living in fear they’ve crossed the line to where they now find themselves on the ‘outs’ with God. It undercuts everything God wants us to experience. We are called to be free!
But Paul says the bondage that comes through the reckless and irresponsible use of our freedom is every bit as harmful and debilitating. To think freedom means we can live a freewheeling life that won’t result in blowback and be void of consequences—that leads to an enslavement and bondage that is every bit as real. That’s why Paul begins this section with the words, “Don’t use your freedom to indulge the flesh.”
Imagine a one-lane gravel country road with a ditch on each side. If you veer to one side thinking a life of conscientious adherence to a bunch of rules and regulations is the measure of a life that’s pleasing to God, you’ll end up in bondage and find yourself stuck in a ditch. But if you veer to the other side and think a life of freedom means anything goes, you’ll fall in a different direction but still end up stuck in a ditch. The key is to stay in the middle and steer clear of the hazards on both sides.
It’s easy for of us to get hung up on doing things that please people—particularly people who’ve earned our respect, or people who seem to have it together in ways we don’t. If we’re not careful, we can focus on trying to please people to the exclusion of pleasing God. And that’s not freedom! Desperately trying to prove ourselves to somebody—trying to make our life fit a certain pattern or look a certain way so someone will be happy with us—that is not freedom! It’s slavery! It’s bondage!
What a lot of us do, when we find ourselves at that place, is give up. We decide we’re just going to live only for ourselves and ignore everyone else. But this also fails to produce freedom. Freedom is lost when we focus on other people, but freedom is abused when we focus solely on ourselves and other people become nothing more than objects to help us get what we want. It creates misery and heartache for them, and it eventually boomerangs and creates bondage and enslavement for us, too.
Paul talks about what inevitably happens, and how this looks, when he cites his list of “acts of the flesh” beginning in v. 19. If you try to identify a common thread running through that list, it isn’t that these are bad things or immoral things. Each of them have to do with using people for our own benefit. Think about it—sexual promiscuity is all about using someone sexually for my personal satisfaction. It’s not in any way focused on them—it’s all about me and what I want! A “fit of rage” is nothing more than lashing out and punishing someone who has done something to make my life other than what I want it to be. It’s not in any way focused on them—it’s all about me. If you go through this list, every item listed isn’t merely a bad thing or a harmful vice. There’s a woven in element of not caring about others but, instead, using them for my benefit. Other people aren’t persons to be loved. They are objects to be used!
We can’t with integrity say we’re about freedom when we use our freedom to inflict pain on others and compromise their freedom. If we’re for freedom, then we need to be for everyone’s freedom—yours … mine … everybody’s. God calls us to love freedom—not to lose it by focusing on others (as was the case with the Gentile believers who were buckling under the pressure of those who were trying to get them to uphold the law). Neither does He call us to abuse freedom by focusing on ourselves and objectifying or using the people around us. The freedom God invites us into, and that Paul is calling the Galatians to embrace, is the freedom to truly and genuinely love people. When we focus on other people, we lose our freedom and become enslaved. When we focus on ourselves, we abuse our freedom and become victimizers. But when we focus on God, we are free to love other people—genuinely … authentically … and without an agenda or some hidden motive.
When Paul talks about “living by the Spirit” or “keeping in step with the Spirit,” I’m convinced what he’s saying is focus on God—not other people, not ourselves, but God. It may not be as much about trying to stay on the middle path between the ditches on each side as it is about living a life that functions on a different plane. It isn’t so much about staying in the middle as it is about rising above.
When many of us think about someone who “lives by the Spirit”, our mind goes to that super-spiritual person who prays eloquently, gets up at 4 a.m. so they can read their Bible faithfully, and has an aura of holiness about them. While we deeply admire and respect them, there is frequently an awkwardness about them because they’re somewhat detached and a bit clumsy socially. But that isn’t what Paul is talking about. When he lays out the fruit of the Spirit, every single quality he lists is relational—i.e., they’re about how we interact and relate to other people. Which means that the context for living by the Spirit is not something that goes on in our hearts, but that happens within the realm of our relationships.
Additionally, we typically think of this as a list of nine character traits. But it seems to me there’s only one character trait—love—and the other words are merely some of the various ways love looks when it’s fleshed out. Bottom line: Living by the Spirit is not a detached, withdrawn life. It’s a connected and deeply relational life. The fruit of the Spirit, at the end of the day, is validated by healthy relationships—exuding joy … radiating peace … being patient, kind, and good … manifesting faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. For many of us, this may be a different paradigm for how we understand what it means to be spiritual.
I used to hear people say things like “my relationship with God is top priority—it comes before my relationship with anyone else” or “as a man, I’m supposed to love God first, then my wife, then my kids” and on down the line. But what does it mean to love God? Does that mean reading the Bible or spending time with Him? That’s part of it! But I’m also convinced I’m loving God when I’m loving my wife—that He delights in me cherishing and treasuring the one He gave me to go thru life with. I’m convinced I’m loving God when I love my kids and relate to them in ways to where they can come to know Him and be a positive Kingdom influence in their community and society at large. And I’m also loving God when I relate to the people in my life in the ways Paul spells out for us in this passage.
The fruit of the Spirit isn’t about being less angry… or less envious … or less divisive. It’s about being loving and expressing it in a variety of ways. For when you truly love someone, it’s hard to be envious of them. When you’re filled with joy, it’s hard to be angry. When you’re manifesting patience and relating to them with kindness and self-control, it’s hard to be contentious and introduce discord into a relationship. The fruit of the Spirit isn’t about sinning less, for you can avoid sin and not be loving. The fruit of the Spirit is about loving—purposely, willfully, and intentionally. The goal of the Christian life isn’t to avoid sin. The goal of the Christian life is to willfully love. When we do that, steering clear of sin will be the inevitable byproduct. And we won’t be defined by what we’re against; we’ll be defined by what we’re for!
Jesus prayed in John 15 that His followers would abide in the vine and bear much fruit. What He had in mind, in terms of “fruit,” is what Paul highlights in this passage. When the world comes into contact with a group of people who relate to each other in this way, they’ll be enamored and won’t have any trouble concluding God is in their midst. And the church will become the magnetic, alluring entity God longs for it to be.