The Galatians were from Ireland. Really.
OK - maybe they were from France. But they were part of the Celtic people known as Gauls. The Gauls in Galatia were subdued by Julius Caesar in about 50 BC.
It's an interesting twist that puts Paul in connection with these people who share a common ancestor with many of my ancestors... They were NOT Jews, so much of his discussion deals with their relation to the covenant made with Abraham. That was discussed in yesterday's post.
Paul talks again about love. He notes that all of the law may be condensed into one word - love. If we love each other, we demonstrate our love for God. If we love each other, we will treat each other with proper respect and deference. We will act in meekness and humility. We will readily and freely forgive each other. We will not seek opportunities to injure each other, but will look for opportunities to bless and serve each other. We will share the burdens we all carry. We will exercise self-control in an effort to make each other's lives as peaceful and peaceable as possible. And in all things we will emulate the actions and feelings of the Savior Himself, who taught that there is no greater love than that which freely abandons even one's life for one's friends. As I've noted before, I don't think that this means necessarily dying for one another, although that's what Christ did for us. I tend to think of this as living for one another - we abandon our own selfish desires in an effort to please and serve those around us, and we do this every day of our lives.
This is not easy. This is perhaps the most difficult thing we are called to do. We are proud, and we are taught that we must be independent and self-sufficient. We are taught that we are strong and must be stronger. But all of this cannot be. We are not strong. We are not capable of doing anything through our own efforts. We are saved by grace, after all we can do. We must come to rely on the merits of Him who is mighty to save. We must learn to let go of everything that would tie us to a mortal/temporal attitude or sphere and become His sons and daughters, heirs of glory and power.
And as I've noted elsewhere, once we are able to divest ourselves of all our pride and sins, we find ourselves free all over again. In fact, the freedom we thought we had is ethereal compared with the freedom we will find through such abandonment. Christ Himself said that His peace is not as the world gives (see John 14:27). Interestingly, He then goes on to enjoin fear, saying the great and memorable phrase - let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. That fear is swallowed up in the faithful hope of the Lord and His mercy and grace, which is something we cannot merit by ourselves. And THEN we are free, truly free.
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