Loving Snowbabies

Galatians 5   Part 1
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.   Galatians 5:6


LET IT GLOW

All winter long, my granddaughter kept talking about us making a snowman. (We made a small one last year.) Well the day finally came when I could not put her off no longer. We had snow that was about 4-6 inches deep. Besides that, she was equipped with boots, coat, and hat. (I had gloves.) It was inevitable. So we both got all bundled up, since it was below freezing, and went outside. We encountered a problem right away-dry snow. (For those of you who have never made a snowman, it requires moist snow so it sticks together in a snowball.) I couldn't let my sweetheart down, could I? So I filled up a bucket with water, added it to a bowl of snow, then formed the  snowballs. She was happy as we did this three times, stacking the balls on top of each other. Finally, there was our "snowbaby",  less than a foot tall. I quickly took a picture and was gathering our supplies when-wham. The girl used the snowballs of the snowbaby to hit me. Here I endured the obstacles for at least half an hour to make this little thing, and she took it apart in seconds. I thought that tiny snowbaby, which caused my freezing feet and nose, would survive at least a week in our backyard. Oh well, we had fun and that's why I endured the cold, isn't it?

I thought of this escapade as an example of  "faith which works by love." Addi had faith that I would work it out so we made a snowman, inspite of the cold temperature, wind, dry snow, and inconvenience. (Probably, I was the only one considering the hardships.) And because I love her, the snowbaby was made. (It wasn't all that bad.)

David Guzik had some good things to say about this chapter. He said,"If your faith doesn't work, it isn't real faith. If it doesn't work through love, it isn't real faith. Faith must work through love. A wonderful test of our spiritual state is simply how we treat other people. It isn't measured by how much we pray, how much we know of the Bible, or how many things we don't do. The measure is how we treat our brothers and sisters in Jesus."

I had not really conected faith and love before. But love should be our motivation for doing things.

Verse 13 says "by love serve one another." According to verse 14, we fulfill the law when we "love our neighbor as ourself." How can people can see our faith in Jesus? They see it  when we show love to others.

Here are a couple quotes that David Guzik used:
"Neither can any one love his neighbor as himself, but he that loves God above all," said Trapp.
"The loveless life is a life lived on the level of animals, with a concern only for oneself, no matter what the cost to other people," said Morris.

James said  that faith without works is dead. (James 2:17, 20)  I don't want a dead faith. I want a living faith. One that works because of love for my neighbor and for Jesus.


LET IT GROW

Verse 1 states,"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

We are to keep on standing and not bow our neek to the yoke of slavery, that is, legalism. I am to take a tenacious stand and not be moved from that position. Christ is the great Liberator, definitely, deliberately, and decisively He liberated us. The Galatians escaped the slavery of heathenism, but were in danger of the slavery of Judaism. A yoke is a symbol of slavery. (Falwell)

As I think of it, maybe I have been more of a "legalist" through my years. Does it matter more to me to "do" certain things, such as rituals causing me to  judge others that aren't doing them, than just loving people? This verse tells me that  I am free in Christ, not free to do whatever I want in sin, but free to live righteously by faith (verse 5).
Falwell said, "Grace does not make one free to sin; it makes him free to serve." (verse 14)
Things to think about.


LET IT GO

Let my faith work because of love.

Love God and others.

Stand free in God's grace and serve others.