GALATIANS 5:19-21

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

TO PONDER:

I don’t know about you but I’m glad I’m not as bad as those other people, you know, the ones listed in today’s verses. 

Do you ever sit in worship and think someone else needed to hear the sermon and then walked out satisfied that you are doing great compared to those other people?

Today’s verses mention the “obvious” things like witchcraft and debauchery and I think, since I have never even attempted to cast a spell on anyone and I am fairly confident that I haven’t "debauched", Paul is obviously talking, once again, to those other people.

In the list of dysfunctions mentioned by Paul he leads with the obvious, the “sins”, the lifestyle choices that require purposeful decisions to enter into, I don’t think its possible to stumble into an orgy (sorry Paul mentioned it first) but some of those other things, you know the grey areas he lists, like anger (rage), jealousy (envy), selfishness, and denominations (sorry I meant factions), I maybe have stumbled into once or twice, a long time ago, of course…

Just because we haven’t committed the “obvious” doesn’t mean we haven’t fallen into the other “less severe” dysfunctions of say factions or perhaps envy.

Martin Luther himself reminds us about the pedagogical use (the mirror) of scriptures like today’s verses which expose sin and drive us to Christ even if we never tripped into an orgy.

PRAYER: Forgiving Saviour, I ask for forgiveness for my pride and my idolatry of self, thinking I am better than those “others” who need to cry out to you due to their sin Jesus help me run to you daily. Amen.

Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside