Keeping in step with the Spirit

We continue in the letter to the Galatians, now hearing from Paul as he moves toward the close of His letter. He is instructing the Galatians in how they ought to live out their faith, together, based on the truth of the Gospel. Like in chapter three, Paul contrasts living in step with the Spirit of God and trusting in our own power and abilities. What is God saying to you about keeping in step with the Spirit as you read? 

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REFLECTION

Keeping in Step with the Spirit

by Kelsey Bacon

I have a funny memory from my teen years of one Sunday when I was the scripture reader in the service. It was Mill Run Xalt at the time, and today's passage was the scripture that I read aloud. I think back and laugh as I remember how embarrassed I was to read out this list of sins in front of the congregation, glossing as quickly as I could over the more mortifying ones. I left the podium with my cheeks burning.

I always remembered that moment and thought it funny, but now as I read this scripture and reflect, I ask myself why I was so embarrassed. It felt shameful to read out those sinful words, for my lips to be associated with them. I felt the weight of those sins in that moment, and I didn't want anyone looking at me while I digested what they meant. It was like a shameful, private moment that everyone was looking in on. And I suppose that's what we're supposed to feel, isn't it? When the devil whispers the lies of guilt and shame into our hearts. Whether your sins are public and exposed or inward and secret, our human instinct is to hide those sins away, to keep our sins locked up where no one can see, where we can be fed by the shame that comes only in the dark.

And that is why there is more to this passage. It doesn't stop with a list of sins, but a way of life that frees us from those sins. To keep in step with the Spirit is freedom, not a burden of perfection. We don't have to try and get all those fruits on our own. They are the products of life with the Spirit, the gifts that grow naturally within us when we surrender ourselves to Jesus. And fruit cannot grow in the dark, where the shame lives. It needs light and water, both of which Jesus provide.

So when we sin, which we will, and we feel the edges of shame--the flush in our cheeks, the creep of darkness trying to kill our hope--we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, and the gift of his Spirit to us, whose purpose it is to guide us and grow us. We are forgiven; we are free.

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