Free to be Me - Galatians Week 5

“The Spirit-led life offers such freedom to live headlong into the values of God, to create ripples and flow in his river.”
— Carolyn Moore

I spend a lot of time with middle schoolers these days. As a parent to a young teenager, I clock quite a few hours driving carpool, chaperoning hangouts, and hearing about the latest TikTok challenges. Many things have changed since I was this age (back in the olden days, when “tick-tock” was just the sound made by an analog clock), but one aspect of adolescence has held constant throughout the generations: a deep desire to fit in.

In a challenging and important developmental stage, young teenagers may sometimes feel that their highest priority is fitting in with peers – especially those peers who seem to have life all figured out. Social rules, frequently unspoken, dictate individual choices – fashion, activities, music, movies, etc. As a young teenager, the placement of the part in your hair or the length of the cuff on your jeans can make or break your own sense of being “in” or “out”.

This is a normal part of adolescent development, but it is just that: adolescent. In healthy human development, we continue to grow and learn to appreciate our individual personalities, passions, and gifts. We recognize that the many unspoken “rules” of adolescence serve not to include but to exclude, and that releasing our grip on these rules allows us to flourish and grow into the persons we were meant to be.

The same is true of our faith. An immature faith leans heavily on religious rules, frequently unspoken, in an attempt to fit in with others or to earn the right to be with God. The Galatian Christians found themselves struggling with this kind of adolescent behavior. The issue of the day was circumcision, a practice that was mandated by the Jewish religious law. The clear teaching of the Church was that Jesus had fulfilled the Law, freeing us from its rules and regulations, including the mandate of circumcision.

That’s not to say that the Law was bad. On the contrary, the Law was originally given to the people of God as a means of grace, a way for them to remain in relationship with God even though sin kept them from the perfect communion that God had designed and created. But when Jesus came and fulfilled the requirements of the Law on our behalf, he freed us once and for all from the Law’s heavy burden.

Yet despite that freedom, there were some in the early Church who insisted that the religious practice of circumcision was still necessary. Why? Paul notes two reasons. In Galatians 6:12, he wrote, “Whoever wants to look good by human standards will try to get you to be circumcised.” In other words, some Christians were insisting upon circumcision because they believed that doing so would garner the admiration of others. It was a way to make themselves appear more devout.

The other reason is even more dangerous. In Galatians 5:4, Paul says, “You people who are trying to be made righteous by the Law have been estranged from Christ. You have fallen away from grace!” Paul was addressing those Christians who had heard the good news of Jesus, who knew that their righteousness was found in Jesus alone, and yet who still clung to the belief that their righteousness was dependent upon their own actions.

Can we see ourselves in either of these adolescent ways of thinking? Do we think that we will somehow impress others if we make a show of our “holiness”? Do we judge others by their adherence to unnecessary religious rules? Or, even more seriously, do we think that we can somehow earn God’s love and approval by what we do or what we don’t do?

The truth is so much better than either of these immature beliefs. The truth is that Jesus has set us free from the Law and that we are no longer bound by the rules that held us in perpetual adolescence. He has removed the weight of the Law from our shoulders and has given us the gift of his Spirit – a holy presence to guide us in all wisdom. 

And here’s the real beauty: when we are guided by the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves free to live as we were originally created – as image-bearers of God, unique in our expressions of worship and love. Religious rules create rigid uniformity, a black-and-white, monotone system of behavior that is devoid of love. In contrast, the Holy Spirit creates a rich and vibrant community of image-bearers, refracting the brilliant light of God into a million colors of hope and love.

In Ephesians 3:16-19, Paul wrote, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

The immensity of God’s love cannot be contained within the rigid boundaries of the Law. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can be rooted in his love, and in that way we will be filled with life and power, free to be completely who we were meant to be.