Galatians
Unbound, Unchained, Unbroken
Week 12 | Galatians 6:1-10
Lisa Scheffler, author
You can listen to an audio version of the Engage God Daily at bit.ly/EngageGodDaily.
If you’ve spent much time around youth team sports like basketball, soccer, or lacrosse, you’ve probably encountered the “ball hog” phenomena. On a team of young kids, sometimes a talented player will emerge. If they get the ball, they’re going to score. So, they always want the ball.
The coaches can yell “pass the ball!” until they are blue in the face, but it doesn’t matter. After all, this star player is getting results and helping win games. Why shouldn’t they get the ball? What coaches understand is that having one player hog the ball will cost you games, especially as kids get older and the competition gets tougher. The opposing team will quickly identify “the shooter,” shut them down, and dominate the field.
It may sound obvious, but in a team sport, games aren’t won by a single individual. They are won by teams, with everyone doing their part and supporting one another. Victory comes when each player does their individual best but also works as a team.
In our passage in Galatians this week, Paul is going to remind us that following Jesus is not just a personal journey; it’s also a team sport. We can’t grow and thrive as a Christ-follower without our fellow believers. Jesus saves individuals, but intends for them to act as part of his body. Jesus secured our victory over sin and death, but we need each other to live out that victory. We’ve got to both walk in the Spirit as individuals, and rely on our spiritual family. This week, we’ll consider how.
Day 1
Last week was such pivotal week in our study of Galatians, so let’s review.
Paul made much of a believer’s freedom in Christ. In Christ, both Gentiles and Jews are free from the Mosaic law. Paul has been adamant that people can neither enter into nor maintain their relationship with God by following the law. The righteous live by faith (3:11). The object of that faith is Jesus Christ. Paul doesn’t want these believers to fear that true Christ-followers will abuse this freedom and fall apart morally, because to be in Christ means to also be free from sin’s control and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
As those who will inherit the kingdom, people who walk in step with the Spirit act like kingdom-people. They are people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (5:22–23). They don’t live to indulge desires that dishonor the Father, or harm themselves and others. The heirs of God desire to be led by the Spirit, so that they can live out their love for God and others. The Spirit’s leading isn’t just for our own personal growth and spiritual health. The fruit he bears in us allows us to humbly serve and love those around us.
This week we’ll focus on how a Spirit-led life affects our relationships with other believers. What do you see in the passage about supporting and relying on each other as brothers and sisters in Christ? How do we sow together to reap the Spirit’s harvest?
Read
Galatians 6:1-10(NIV)
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
According to Scot McKnight, what we find in this section of Galatians “is an interplay between two themes: personal responsibility and mutual accountability—both emerging from the context of communal strife.”[1] Where do you see those themes in the verses you just read?
There are phrases that might be familiar in this passage, even if you’ve never read it before. What do you think Paul means by “carrying each other’s burdens” and “reaping what you sow”?
[1] Scot McKnight, Galatians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 282.
Respond
As we go through the week, reflect on your relationships with other Christ-followers. Commit to praying for your spiritual brothers and sisters. As a local expression of the body of Christ, we want to live out Paul’s vision of bearing one another’s burdens, supporting those who instruct us, recognizing our accountability before God, and of doing good to all people, especially those in our spiritual family.
As we explore the implications of this vision, let’s discuss the “how’s” and “why’s” with one another, so that as we individually walk in step with the Spirit, we overcome distance and divisions so that we are also walking in step with one another in genuine love. Let this passage inspire you to have real, authentic, meaningful conversations with others.
Finally, as we move from studying Paul’s words to applying them, let’s commit to pray for one another. By name, pray for some of your brothers and sisters in Christ right now. Praise God for them, and pray blessings over them. Who is one person you could encourage this week? How will you do it? Could you commit to encouraging them regularly? Invite the Spirit’s presence into that relationship as you seek greater love and authenticity.