Galatians 5:9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."
This is Paul writing to the Galatian church about freedom in Christ. The people are following the law of circumcision. Paul tells them, if you follow one of the laws, you are obligated to follow them all. Obligation is an icky term in my opinion. I never feel good when I feel obligated because for me it involves a feeling of guilt. The definition is: morally or legally bound; constrained. Constrained? Great. That's another word for restrained. That doesn't sound enjoyable at all. Yet, this is what we do. We want rules to follow. Tell me what I can and can't do. (This way we can easily keep tabs on other people too.) This is such an awful trap. We make ourselves in charge of our own change. There it is, a little yeast working through the whole batch. We start with something small. I will not swear. Then we work at not swearing and, of course, fail. We keep at it though. I'm not going to have road rage. That works for the first five minutes of the car ride. We just invent our own little laws. This practice flies directly in the face of what Jesus came to do. He has come that we may have freedom from the law. If the law was capable of changing hearts, then we don't need Jesus to come. However, obeying the law doesn't change people's hearts. Jesus does. Your Bible says it, "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." Romans 8:3 What little law do you find yourself following? Allow Jesus to come in and do the changing you know you so desperately need. When you turn the little things over to him, the big things start to fall into place too.
This is Paul writing to the Galatian church about freedom in Christ. The people are following the law of circumcision. Paul tells them, if you follow one of the laws, you are obligated to follow them all. Obligation is an icky term in my opinion. I never feel good when I feel obligated because for me it involves a feeling of guilt. The definition is: morally or legally bound; constrained. Constrained? Great. That's another word for restrained. That doesn't sound enjoyable at all. Yet, this is what we do. We want rules to follow. Tell me what I can and can't do. (This way we can easily keep tabs on other people too.) This is such an awful trap. We make ourselves in charge of our own change. There it is, a little yeast working through the whole batch. We start with something small. I will not swear. Then we work at not swearing and, of course, fail. We keep at it though. I'm not going to have road rage. That works for the first five minutes of the car ride. We just invent our own little laws. This practice flies directly in the face of what Jesus came to do. He has come that we may have freedom from the law. If the law was capable of changing hearts, then we don't need Jesus to come. However, obeying the law doesn't change people's hearts. Jesus does. Your Bible says it, "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." Romans 8:3 What little law do you find yourself following? Allow Jesus to come in and do the changing you know you so desperately need. When you turn the little things over to him, the big things start to fall into place too.
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