Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

John 8:36 tells us, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Today’s devotion title is not just an important line of Scripture, but it is also a moving line from Hillsong’s song, “Who You Say I Am.” The song describes freedom as chosen, forgiven, redeemed, reclaimed, and the most heart-wrenching line, “In my father’s house, there’s a place for me.” Freedom means belonging to a community of other free believers.

Freedom is such a difficult concept to embrace as a reality, especially when some followers of Christ have chosen to live a life defeated, held in bondage from the very situations Jesus has emancipated them from guilt, uncleanness, failure, shame, or separation from God.

Paul opens with the key to staying free. “For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Embracing freedom requires standing firm against anyone who would coerce them into bondage. This is what was happening in Galatia. Judaizers, a faction of Jewish Christians, manipulated the congregation’s belief so they thought that to please God, they had to practice physical circumcision under the Mosaic law rather than applying spiritual circumcision under Jesus’ new law. Holding on to the old was creating such an unnecessary burden than embracing the new.

Some modern churches have contaminated the truth with theology outside the Gospel.

Examples of counterfeit teachings:

• False: Jesus will return for political and social reform through earthly governments.
• Truth: Jesus came to save lost souls. (Luke 19:10)
• False: Godly living brings prosperity.
• Truth: Believers’ reward is in heaven. (1 Corinthians 9:25)
• False: Right decisions lead to a good life.
• Truth: Even with choosing well, there’s suffering. (Job 1 and 2)
• False: God never gives us more than we can bear.
• Truth: God designed us to lean on Him for strength. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Paul addresses another more disturbing false teaching floating around the congregation. Believers were abusing the gift of forgiveness of sins as an excuse to indulge in fleshly desires (Galatians 5:13). Just because we are under the umbrella of grace does not give us the freedom to continue in deliberate sin (Romans 6:1-2). When we become believers and followers of Jesus, we are a new creation. We are endowed with God’s Holy Spirit that changes us from carnal beings operating in sin to spiritual beings producing fruits of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and forbearance (Galatians 5:19-21).

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• How does having faith in Christ alone free you from any other "requirement" for His love and His gift of salvation?
• Listen to these songs of freedom that can help you to set the tone for your week:

“Who You Say I Am” by Hillsong

“I’m Grateful” by Mmatema

“Break Every Chain” by Tasha Cobbs

“Set Me Free” by Casting Crowns

“Freedom” by Hillsong

“I’m Free” by Milton Brunson

• Prayer: Jesus, thank You for completing the old laws and establishing Your new law of love and grace. This change gives me greater freedom to have a growing relationship with You and others. I confess that I don’t always live a godly life. Forgive my intentional and unintentional sin. I ask that You guide me to produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Family Devo: Galatians 5

By: Lauren Strickland

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset 

Head

When Paul wrote to the Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit, he wasn’t giving them another list of rules to follow! Paul was giving them a picture of what happens in our lives the more we trust God’s love for us and spend time with His Son, Jesus. He compared the Galatians (and you and me) to plants that grow fruit! Can you think of some plants that grow fruit?

Do apple trees grow grapes? (No!) An apple tree grows apples, and a grapevine grows grapes! Why? Because the fruit and the plant are connected! In the same way, when we are connected to the True Vine (Jesus), our lives grow the kinds of fruit that reflect the character of Jesus. In John 15, Jesus calls Himself the Vine and us, the branches of the vine. He says just like a branch cannot produce grapes by itself, we can’t grow fruit unless we are connected to Him. The fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—all grow from a life connected to Jesus, every day!

Heart

Can you name three things that help plants grow and produce good fruit? (Soil, water, sunlight) That’s right! The same is true for us. We need these things too. Just like a grapevine has roots deep down in rich soil, our roots must be planted deep in the soil of God’s love! (Knowing how much we are loved helps us love others!) We also need sunlight and water. Well, guess what?! Jesus calls Himself the Light of the World (John 8) and His Holy Spirit, the Living Water (John 4). When we spend time with Jesus (just like you are right now!), His Holy Spirit works inside our hearts and helps us to grow and change (becoming more and more like Jesus), just as if we were plants getting fresh water and sunshine every day.

Hands

The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of a person who is growing to know, love, and follow Jesus. We can’t grow the fruit of the Spirit without being connected to Jesus and His Spirit working inside us! The more connected we are to Him, the more His Spirit helps good fruit grow in us! Spending time with Jesus in His word each day helps us to love others well, find joy in all things, experience peace when things are hard, be patient with others, show kindness to our friends and siblings, focus on the good, be faithful in our responsibilities, be gentle with other’s hearts and have self-control in our words and actions.

Spend a few minutes talking about the fruit you see growing in your family. Can you find evidence of the fruit of the Spirit anywhere—siblings being patient, showing love, being gentle? Talk about ways your family can share this good fruit with someone this week. (Share love, joy, patience, self-control…)

Prayer: Father, we thank You for Your Son, Jesus—who gave us the perfect example of what it looks like to stay connected to You and share the good fruit that comes from a relationship with You! Help us share the fruit You are growing in our lives with others around us!