Episode #242 Not Another Christian To-Do List – Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Hey friends, are you ready to receive more of the good stuff that God wants to pour into your life? I know I am, and I'm excited to explore that with you in today's episode. We're doing that in the context of learning about the spiritual disciplines, which are better, and more delightful, than most of us think that they are.

And today I want to actually piggyback off of the last episode when we were looking at the fruit of the spirit, which is listed for us in Galatians five. And so this passage of scripture, starting in verse 22 lists out the fruit of the spirit. It says

“...against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22b-26 ESV)

So I just read those verses in the ESV, but I actually want to go back and read Galatians 5, 23 through 26 in the message, which is more of a paraphrase than a literal translation.

And I want to do that because there's some everyday language that helps make this concept real for us. And so it begins,

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—"

It goes on to list the fruit of the spirit and in verse 23 it says,

“Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives.” (Galatians 5:22a,23-26a MSG)

Now I read that in preparation for the last episode, but there were so many things in these verses that jumped out at me when I read it in the message.

It's so easy to compare ourselves with others, or I know for me, to compare myself with the better version of myself that I think I ought to be.

But God says, hey, you have far more interesting things to do with your life. There's also this contrast between the fruit of the spirit and legalism. And I know in my background in the church world, legalism was very familiar to me. It was easy and comfortable. I knew the rules and I could follow them. And legalism was absolutely helpless in bringing about the fruit of the spirit in my life because I needed God to produce that fruit. I couldn't produce it on my own.

I also love the way it described the things that we get to crucify as Christ followers. Everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities.

Now, those things can happen in normal, everyday life places and work in friendships, in home, in school, they can also happen in church.

The opportunity that we have to walk out the spiritual disciplines, to get to engage in this interactive life with God in a new way, doesn't mean checking our brains at the door and mindlessly responding to all of these new things that someone else is telling us are necessary. But we get to walk in step with the spirit and respond to what he directs us to do and bring it into every aspect of daily life.

Spiritual disciplines are a way of experiencing more of God through a more interactive relationship not legalism not mindlessly doing yet another thing But walking with the spirit in every detail of our lives.

And that's not up to us to figure out and work harder at. That's up to God.

We can release that to God as he equips and empowers us to walk and step with him. And so in these next episodes, we're going to be exploring more of what that looks and feels like, and we're not in a rush because we can embrace God's unforced rhythms of grace.

And so here's a question that you can take to him today:

God, where has comparison, legalism, or a lack of discipline messed with me? And God, what do you long to do about it?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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