Freedom

Well, good morning, church. It's good to see you all this morning. Would you turn with me to Galatians chapter 5, verses 1 through 15.

Galatians 5:1–15

! That's page 915 in the Pew Bible, if you want to follow along there. So today we've come to a new section of Galatians.

This book of Galatians roughly falls into three parts. The first two chapters, as you'll remember, were mostly Paul's autobiography.

The next two chapters, three and four, were mostly theology and biblical exegesis. And today we begin the last two chapters, chapters 5 and 6,

which are mostly about ethics, that is how to live. How do we live?

So let me pray as we come to God's Word, and then I'll read for us.

Father, our minds and our hearts are so often distracted and burdened by many things, cares of life, concerns of the weak.

God, thank you that you are present with us in each one of those cares and concerns.

We ask now that as we come to your Word, you would give us clear minds and hearts to hear from you.

Lord, help the words that you have inspired and that you continue to speak through, speak to our hearts today,

that we might see and know Christ and His grace more fully.

We pray this in His name. Amen.

All right, Galatians 5, 1 through 15.

For freedom Christ has set us free.

Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law.

You have fallen away from grace.

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything,

but only faith working through love.

You were running well.

Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

This persuasion is not from Him who calls you.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view,

and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?

In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed.

I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves.

For you were called to freedom, brothers.

Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,

but through love serve one another.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But if you bite and devour one another,

watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

All right.

So what Paul wants to drive home in this passage

is that Christianity, a life in Christ,

is above all a life of freedom.

For freedom, Christ has set us free.

And what is that freedom?

Well, that's what Paul's been arguing for really the whole book up until this point.

And it's the greatest freedom of all,

freedom of acceptance with God

and of access to God through Christ by grace.

It's freedom from the tyranny of the law.

That is, freedom from the dreadful struggle to keep the law

as a way to win the favor of God.

In other words, it's the freedom of grace.

And in many ways, chapter 5, verse 1,

is sort of the rhetorical climax of the whole letter.

Galatians is the letter of Christian freedom.

There's no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We no longer need to look to the law

or at our efforts at keeping the law

as the ground of our standing before God.

Now, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Though we are still sinners, yes,

we are now completely justified.

That is, God counts us as perfectly righteous in His sight,

in Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

So, we ask ourselves this morning,

do we, do you know this freedom?

Well, if you are in Christ,

then you do know it.

You are a partaker of this grace.

Your sins are forgiven.

You're righteous in God's eyes,

and He has adopted you

and made you an heir of His kingdom.

You are His beloved.

And the journey of the Christian life, then,

is now a journey to live

in the freedom of this grace.

To live as those who are no longer

under the condemnation of the law.

To live as those who have been justified

in the Son of God,

who loved us and gave Himself for us.

But,

there are two pitfalls

that Paul needs to address

as he begins to unfold

what living this life of freedom means.

It's as if we've been carried up by grace

to the ridge of a high mountain.

And along that ridge

is the path of freedom,

the path of God's grace in Christ.

And to walk along that ridge

is to take in all the beauty

and the joy that comes from being high up

and seeing the landscape spread before you

in all directions.

The sun rising to the east,

the ocean waves crashing in the distance,

the stars just beginning to fade

in the morning light,

the fresh air in your lungs,

the firm ground beneath your feet.

This is the path of freedom.

freedom.

But just like a mountain ridge

has two slopes

that fall away on either side,

so the life of Christian freedom

has two opposite pitfalls

on either side.

As we walk along the path

of God's liberating grace,

there are two equal and opposite ways

that we can slide or fall off.

And that's what these verses

that we just read

describe for us.

On the one hand, Paul says,

stand firm in the freedom of Christ

and don't lose it.

And on the other side, Paul says,

stand firm in the freedom of Christ

and don't abuse it.

Two sides, two pitfalls

along the path of Christian freedom.

We can lose it by falling back

into the legalism

and works righteousness.

And we can abuse it

by giving way to license

and our old sinful nature.

And in light of both,

we must stand firm.

So let's look at these two pitfalls

so that we can stand firm

in the freedom

for which Christ has set us free.

First, Paul says,

don't lose your freedom

by giving way to legalism.

Paul argues this in verses 2 through 12.

And in many ways,

this has been the argument

pretty much of the whole book

of Galatians so far, hasn't it?

But notice that these two paragraphs

in verses 2 through 12,

notice that these two paragraphs

show us that there are

kind of two ways

that we can be tempted

or two reasons why

we can be tempted

to kind of go back

to that old mentality

of works righteousness.

The first one is this.

We're tempted to go back

into legalism

because it promises

something that we can see

and control

here and now.

Now, as Paul begins

in verses 2 through 6,

he begins by saying

that you kind of can't

have it both ways.

You can't go to the law

or to law-keeping

as your means of acceptance

with God

because then you inevitably

go away from Christ.

And it's not just the Old Testament law.

It could really be anything.

Anything you put your trust in

other than Christ,

whether it's moral living

or whether it's justice work

or whether it's family values

or your culture

or your upbringing,

it's no different.

The further you move toward

trusting your own ability

and achievements

as your identity,

as your righteousness,

the further you move away

from Christ.

It's sort of like taking

a cross-country road trip, right?

The closer you get to L.A.,

the further away

you get from Boston, right?

Unless you're starting in Maine,

then you actually

have to go through both.

But that's, you know,

you get the illustration, right?

There's no way

you can drive towards both.

That's why Paul says

that the more and more

you start relying

on your own doings,

the more and more

you've fallen away

from this freedom of grace.

Grace and works are opposite.

Grace is God giving

freely to you something

that you don't deserve

out of His own mercy.

But if you try to earn

God's favor by your performance,

then by definition

it's not grace.

You're not trusting

Christ to save you,

you're trusting in yourself

to save you.

But why?

Why is it so easy

to fall off

on this side of the ridge?

Why is it so easy

to go back to trusting

in our own selves

and our own works

and thinking that

those are the things

that we have to keep up

and maintain

in order to stay

in a right standing

with God?

I think one reason

is because

those things

that we usually

cling to or hold on to

are very easy to see.

They're tangible.

You know,

I can count how often

I had a quiet time

this week.

I can see how much money

I gave to charity.

I can sort of,

I can say who I voted for

or what causes I support.

But what's more,

those things

aren't just tangible.

people,

we can control them.

They're in our grasp.

We can be the ones

who do it.

You see,

it's not about

whether you are circumcised

and it's not about

whether you are uncircumcised.

It's not about

your religious pedigree

and performance,

you see.

You see,

your religious pedigree

and performance

or your lack

of religious pedigree

or performance,

they count for nothing.

There's only one thing

that counts,

faith in Christ,

faith that is energized

in love.

And at its heart,

faith isn't about

controlling something.

It's about trusting something

or rather trusting someone.

It's about actually giving

over control of your life

to another.

And that sort of faith,

when placed in Christ Jesus,

will begin expressing itself

in love,

Paul says.

Now,

why is that?

Well,

because this faith

looks ahead

to the future

with eager expectation.

That's what verse 5

is all about.

You know,

the legalistic mindset,

our works,

righteousness mindset

says,

look at yourself

and look at what you've done

or not done.

And then maybe,

just maybe,

you'll be okay

in the future.

But faith in Christ says,

I know that my Redeemer lives

and I will stand with Him

on that day.

I eagerly wait

for the hope

of righteousness.

It's not a scale

that might tip

one way or the other,

but it's assurance.

Now,

what is this hope

of righteousness?

Well,

this hope of righteousness

is the righteous verdict

of God

that awaits those

who are in Christ

through faith.

God's declaration

that in Christ

we are righteous

and approved,

a righteous verdict

that overturns

and undoes

all the ravages

of sin in the fall.

And this hope

of righteousness

is the time

when God's righteousness

prevails.

When those in Christ

will be given

resurrection bodies

and death will be no more.

When the creation

will be liberated

from its bondage

to decay

and all things

will be made new

and will be glorified

in the presence

of God forever.

Don't you look

at the broken world

and at times

your own broken self

and wonder,

is it ever going

to be made right?

Will all that's sad

ever eventually

come untrue?

And the answer

is yes.

the God of the Bible,

the Creator and Redeemer

has promised His people

great hope,

the hope of His righteousness

that all things

will be put right.

And for those

who are in Christ,

you can have the assurance

where you will stand

when God's righteousness

judges sin and evil

and makes all things new.

You can have the assurance

that you will be counted

righteous on that day

even though

in our own sins

that's not what we deserve.

And why can we have

that assurance?

Why can we eagerly wait

for the hope of righteousness

not anxiously wonder

how things are going

to turn out?

How can we have

that assurance?

Because we've done

something good or moral

or just with our lives?

Because we've obeyed

and worked and labored

and kept God's law?

No!

Because Christ did.

And our trust is Him,

not ourselves.

We've actually given up

trusting in our own record

and trust only in His.

So legalism can be tempting

because it feels like

something we can control.

Oh, but the freedom

of grace is so much better.

It's entrusting ourselves

to another,

giving control to another,

and that brings

great assurance,

the hope of righteousness.

But you know,

there's a second reason

why legalism can be

so tempting,

so easy to fall back into,

even for Christians.

And we see this

in verses 7 through 12.

Not only is legalism

tempting because it offers

us something we can see

and control for ourselves,

but legalism is tempting

because it removes

the scandal.

It removes the offense

of the cross.

Now, in this paragraph,

Paul is kind of calling out

the false teachers

in Galatia.

You know, he's not afraid

to say that what they

are teaching is not

from God.

This persuasion is not

from Him who calls you,

he says to the Galatians.

That is, it's not

from God the Father

who's called you

by His grace

to Himself

through the gospel.

These false teachers,

he says,

you were running well.

They've cut in on you,

he says,

and they've kept you

from obeying the truth.

And their teaching

is like leaven

in a dump of dough,

in a lump of dough.

It's just going to spread

and leak into everything.

You know,

have you considered,

friends,

that you can't have

just like a little bit

of legalism, right?

It's not just like

you can have like

a plate full of grace

and then like a garnish

of legalism, right?

And just be happy

with it there.

No, it starts to spread,

right?

It starts to spread

through everything

because suddenly,

if it's not Christ

that makes you right

with God,

but something you have

to add to it,

right?

Then when does it stop?

Suddenly, it's not just Christ,

but it's also how often

you pray.

It's also how many people

you've served.

It's also how faithful

you've been.

It's all the things

that you refrain from doing.

It's not about how faithful

Christ has been.

And Paul is so passionate

to protect the churches

and the Christians

that he loves

from this freedom-killing

false teaching

that he even says

in verse 12,

I wish those who unsettle you

would emasculate themselves.

Now, how many of you

thought you'd find

a verse like that

in the Bible, right?

Now, at first,

that seems like a pretty

crude thing to say, right?

I mean,

I mean,

has Paul just kind of

lost it here?

Like, has he lost his temper?

Did his sort of rhetoric

just go a little too far?

I mean, what is going on

in this verse, right?

Well, I think it's helpful

to consider

that in the ancient world,

the priests of pagan temples

would often be eunuchs.

And Paul in this letter

has often said

that their breed,

this brand of legalism,

is actually no better

than paganism.

In fact,

they're kind of at root

the same thing.

Whether you're super,

super, super religious

and you think

that makes you right with God

or you're totally irreligious

and you don't know

up from down,

they're both slavery,

Paul says.

So, Paul has said often

in this letter

that legalism

is no better

than paganism.

So, perhaps here,

Paul isn't just sort of

spiting his opponents.

Perhaps he's saying,

I wish those people

who say

that they're teaching

God's law

would just show themselves

for what they truly are,

proponents of a false religion

altogether,

just like the priests

at the pagan temples.

Now, of course,

Paul's using deep

verbal irony

and wordplay,

isn't he?

It's risky, isn't it?

It's a bit of tension grabbing,

no doubt.

But I don't think

he's making a personal jab

or a crude put-down.

I think he's actually

making a theological point.

If you make law-keeping

your salvation,

you're worshiping

a false God,

not the God revealed

in Jesus Christ.

Because what does this God say

is the way of salvation?

The true God,

the God revealed in Jesus.

What does God say

is the way of salvation?

Not human achievement,

but the humiliation

of Christ

on a Roman cross.

Look again at verse 11.

He says,

but if I, brothers,

still preach circumcision,

why am I still being persecuted?

In that case,

the offense of the cross

has been removed.

Apparently,

some people accused Paul

of being a people-pleaser,

and they claimed

that he would adjust

his message

according to the audience

so that, you know,

if he was in a place

where circumcision

was offensive,

well, he would just

leave that out.

But then,

when he was in other contexts,

he would kind of

teach the whole thing.

So Paul was perhaps

accused of doing,

but Paul here

just completely rejects

this accusation completely.

Paul didn't preach

circumcision

as a means of salvation

ever.

He preached

the cross of Christ.

And in light

of the cross,

circumcision

was rendered meaningless.

In fact,

all human achievements,

all human works,

all human contributions

to put ourselves

in the right with God

are shown by the cross

to be utterly

insufficient to save.

nothing a human being

can do,

not even their most

earnest efforts

at keeping the very law

of God

can save them.

That is the scandal.

That is the offense.

That is the stumbling block

of the cross.

In other words,

your sins

are so great

that the Son of God

had to die

in your place,

even if you are

the most upright,

moral,

religious person

in the world.

Do you want to know

how great

your righteousness is,

Paul tells us?

Look at the cross

and see the crucifixion

of your so-called

righteousness

and see the crucifixion

of your pride.

You see,

legalism appeals

to our pride,

doesn't it?

It says,

look,

you can elevate yourself

to God.

You can do it.

But the gospel

necessarily

makes us humble.

It doesn't say

you can elevate yourself

to God.

It says,

God had to come down

and suffer

and die

to cover

our great sins

in order to turn away

the great wrath

that we justly deserved.

See,

legalism is very tempting

because it removes

that offense

of the cross.

But when we embrace

the offense

of the cross,

you see,

when we come

to embrace

the scandal

of it,

when we see

that our pride

and our self-made

righteousness

actually is nailed

to the cross,

something else happens.

We aren't just

brought low,

we're brought near.

For the cross

tells us

not just

that our sins

were so great

that God had

to die for us,

but the cross

also tells us

that we are

so loved

by God

that He was

willing

and glad

to die for us.

We live

by faith

in the crucified

and risen Son of God,

as Paul says,

who loved me

and gave Himself

for me.

You see,

when you trade

legalism for grace,

when you kneel

before the cross

and trust in the crucified,

you aren't just

humbled out of your pride,

but you're loved,

you're filled

with a new kind

of boldness

and confidence.

You aren't just

brought low,

you're brought near

into an embrace

that will never

let you go.

So stand firm,

Paul says to us.

Stand firm

in this freedom

and don't submit

to a yoke of slavery,

this heavy burden

of thinking

you have to add something

to what Christ

has already done

for your salvation.

Stand firm

by fixing

your eyes

on the cross.

Now,

how do we do that?

Well,

we do that

through regular practices

of prayerful reading

and hearing

of Scripture,

through celebrating

the Lord's Supper,

receiving the broken bread

and the cup.

We do so

when we hear

God's Word preached.

We do so

through prayer.

We have all

these channels

to be able

to continue

to fix our eyes

on the grace

of Christ

displayed on the cross.

But we also

stand firm

by eagerly

looking ahead

to the hope

of righteousness.

Christ is risen

from the dead.

Christian hope

is not wishful thinking

but confident expectation.

So we meditate

and we sing

and we pray

and we reflect

and we remember

that God will complete

the good work

that He began

and He'll make

all things new.

That Christ's resurrection

was the first fruits

of the renewal

to come.

The guarantee

that He will conquer

sin and death

once for all

and all those

who belong to Him

will be raised with Him.

That one day

the verdict

that was enacted

in Jesus'

own resurrection

proclaiming

that He was righteous

will one day

be granted

to us as well

if we are in Him

and God will say

on the last day

this is my beloved son

this is my beloved daughter

you

in whom I'm well pleased.

So that's all one side

of the ridge

right?

We can lose sight

of our freedom

in the pitfall

of legalism

legalism that promises

control

and puffs up our pride.

But there's an opposite

side as well

there's the equal danger

that we can abuse

our freedom

in the pitfall

of license.

When we stumble

off this edge

we allow the freedom

of grace

to become an excuse

for sin.

Listen again

to how Paul puts it

in verses 13-15

he says

for you were called

to freedom brothers

only do not use

your freedom

as an opportunity

for the flesh

but through love

serve one another

for the whole law

is fulfilled in one word

you shall love

your neighbor

as yourself

but if you bite

and devour one another

watch out

that you're not

consumed by one another.

You see the freedom

of God's grace

doesn't mean

that we're no

long

doesn't mean

that we no longer

care about

living holy lives

in obedience

to God's word.

It's actually

just the opposite.

God's grace

empowers us

to live holy lives

in a way

that the law

never could.

Why?

Because the law

just says

do this

and don't do this

it doesn't give you

any power

to actually

follow through

but those

who are in Christ

through faith

are indwelt

by the Holy Spirit.

The third person

of the Trinity

very God himself

lives within believers

and enables them

in a way

we could never before

to now love God

and enjoy God

and obey God

in a way

the law

never could

prompt us to do.

But this freedom

of grace

it can be misused,

right?

Paul says

don't use your freedom

as an opportunity

for the flesh.

Now the flesh

is sort of a technical

word for Paul.

It doesn't mean

your physical body

like your flesh

and bones

as we say.

No,

when Paul says

your flesh

he's referring

to our old

sinful human nature

that we inherited

from Adam.

This old sinful nature

that still exists

in believers

even though

we've been regenerated

even though

we've been given

new life

by the Spirit

through the gospel.

You see

in Christ

you are a new person

a new birth

has occurred

your true self

in Christ

is now alive

but

in this age

your old self

your flesh

still dwells in you

and as we'll see

next week

the desires

of the Spirit

in us

and the desires

of the flesh

in us

are constantly

opposed to one another

constantly in conflict

in this life.

This is why

believers often feel

a battle

with sinful desires

because our old self

is still hanging on

in this fallen world

but the Spirit

in us

is finally

putting up a fight

with this old nature

that loves sin

right?

This is why

when some people

become Christians

they finally realize

that there's this huge

turmoil going on.

Why?

Because before

they didn't care

if they sinned

it was just

what they did

now the Spirit's

in them

and they're like

holy moly

what's going on

inside of me?

Well the desires

of the Spirit

are opposed

to the desires

of your flesh

so if you're feeling

conviction over sin

that's a good thing

that's the Spirit

in you

at work

but Paul's point here

is that this

freedom of grace

this freedom

that you've been

loved

accepted

justified

in Christ

holy by grace

apart from your works

it doesn't mean

that we should

give our old sinful

natures an opportunity

to go on sinning.

That word opportunity

is actually kind of

like a military word

it means something

like a foothold

or a base of operations

you know

like a beachhead.

In other words

Paul's saying

that the freedom

of grace

doesn't mean

we should

allow

our old

sinful habits

and patterns

to set up

a camp

in the middle

of our lives.

We shouldn't say

because I'm

saved by grace

I can now

indulge my sinful

habits.

No that's not

what Christ

set us free

for.

He set us free

not

for the flesh

he set us free

for love.

Through the Spirit

we can actually

say no

to sinful desires.

We can say no

to sinful desires

that really

just want to

use other people

right?

And instead

we can use

this freedom

we have

of grace

to now serve

other people

through love.

We don't need

to use other people

we can serve

them in love.

And here's

the wonderful

thing.

When by the Spirit

and the freedom

of grace

we serve

one another

through love

we actually

fulfill

the law.

Verse 14

for the whole law

is fulfilled

in one word

you should love

your neighbors

yourself.

Here's the

beautiful thing

when we stop

trying to earn

our salvation

by keeping

the law

and when we

trust in Christ

alone for our

righteous standing

before God

then we're

actually freed up

to begin

fulfilling the

law in love.

Now do those

acts of love

contribute to our

justification

in some way?

No!

Christ's righteousness

doesn't need

any supplement

from you.

Right?

It's not like

you eat a big

plate of Jesus

and then you need

a multivitamin

to fill it out.

Right?

No!

His righteousness

is complete

and whole

and it's yours

through faith.

But you see

this is just

the thing.

The law

was never

meant to be

a tool

for saving

ourselves.

The false

teachers at

Galatia

weren't just

confused about

what time

they were at

in redemptive

history.

Now that Christ

had come

the law

had passed.

They didn't

really understand

the law

at all

in the first

place.

The law

was never

meant to be

a tool

for saving

ourselves.

It was

meant to be

a pointer

to Christ

and through

Christ

it was meant

to then

show us

the path

of how

to truly

love

and freedom.

Through the

freedom of

grace

we actually

run

in the

path

of God's

commands

not out

of fear

that God

might reject

us

but out

of grateful

love for

the God

who has

accepted us

by His

grace

and whose

commands

now show

us how

life was

always meant

to be

lived.

The life

of love

lived according

to God's

commands

is the

truly good

life.

Your

holiness

and your

happiness

are the

same

thing.

And the

Spirit

in us

not only

helps us

to see

and understand

those

commands

as good

but He

also

continues

to make

the love

of Christ

real in

our hearts.

The Spirit

testifies to

our spirit

that we

are God's

children.

We call

out

Abba

Father.

We enjoy

God's

embrace

and love

and then

in the

communion

of His

love

we go

forth

into the

world

as people

of love.

Christians

should be

the last

people in

the world

to love

sin.

How could

we love

the very

thing

that sent

Christ the

lover of

our souls

to the

cross?

How could

we give

any foothold

to the

old nature

that steals

our life

and joy?

As Paul

says at the

end of our

passage,

if you bite

and devour

one another,

watch out

that you're

not consumed

by one

another.

You see,

the opposite

of true

holiness

is not

fun and

happiness.

The opposite

of real

holiness in

Christ,

fueled by

the joy

and love

of Christ,

the opposite

of that

isn't fun

and happiness.

It's

cannibalism.

It's

death.

Sin wants

us to use

each other

for our

own pleasure,

to bite

and devour,

but in

the end,

that's

the path

of sorrow.

We are

consumed.

So,

Christian,

stand

firm.

Christ

has set

you free,

not so

that you

can indulge

your flesh,

but so

that you

can walk

in love,

not so

you can

reject God's

commands,

but so

that you

can finally

fulfill

them.

In

Christ,

we've

been set

free.

how will

we live

in this

freedom?

Brothers

and sisters,

let's stay

on that

high mountain

ridge.

Let's walk

and stand

firm in the

path of the

grace of

God.

This is the

way,

not of

legalism,

not of

license and

indulging the

flesh,

it's the

way of

love.

love

demonstrated

above all

by Christ.

This is

why you've

been set

free,

to live a

life of

love to

the glory

of Christ,

where it's

not circumcision

that matters,

it's not

uncircumcision

that matters,

but faith in

the Son of

God that

matters,

faith expressing

itself in

love,

and where

with eager

expectation

and with

certain hope

we look

ahead to

where this

path ultimately

leads,

the hope

of

righteousness,

when the

glory of

God covers

the earth

like the

waters cover

the sea,

when we

rise with

Christ in

the new

heavens and

new earth,

where there's

no more

sickness or

sorrow,

there's no

more sin

and no

more death,

a world

where there's

only love,

a love

that goes

on for

eternity

and gets

richer and

richer,

wave upon

wave,

world without

end.

Friends,

AI is not

the future.

Love is

the future,

the love

of Christ.

That's what

you've been

set free

for,

so stand

firm.

Let's

pray.

pray.

Holy Spirit,

through you,

by the

gift of

faith that

you've

given us,

we,

whom you've

caused to

be born

again,

we,

whom you've

united to

Christ,

oh,

how we

eagerly look

forward to

this hope

of righteousness.

Thank you,

Father,

that we,

as your

children,

can be

people of

hope and

therefore people

of love.

love.

Lord,

renew in us

a conviction

that walking

in the paths

of holy love

really is our

deepest joy,

because it is

the place

where you are.

So,

God,

keep us,

keep us from

the mindset

that would

tell us,

those voices

that would

whisper in our

ear telling us

we're not good

enough.

love.

Oh,

Lord,

help us to

turn our

eyes to

the crucified

Christ and

see the

great love

that you've

loved us.

And,

Lord,

when the old

nature would

whisper in our

ears and

promise us

life along

its paths

of death,

help us to

say,

no,

we belong

to another

now.

We are

people of

the Spirit.

Move among

us,

Spirit.

In Jesus'

name we

pray.

Amen.