Beware temptation

I've been thinking a lot about Galatians today.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.  (Gal. 5:19-26, ESV)

The works of the flesh have the usual suspects but also enmity, strife, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy.  It's easy for us to look at all those gross sins and think, I don't do that, I'm OK.  Yet how often do we get into fights or arguments over things that simply don't matter?  How often do we think of arguing and grudges with the same disgust we reserve for sorcery or idolatry?

The fruit of the Spirit is the opposite mostly of divisiveness: love, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  The fruit of the Spirit is a divine, miraculous, God-given unity of believers.  As Jesus said, that's how the world will know we are Christians, our love for each other.

A couple corollaries come to mind: When trying to discern dangers to the body of Christ, those who insist on dividing the body of Christ based on irrelevant opinions should set off just as many alarm bells as those who ask us to overlook or even affirm gross sin.  Perhaps just as important, when we find ourselves unfairly attacked by divisive Christians, we must not yield to the temptation to react in kind.  If there comes a time we must break fellowship (God forbid), it should not be because of our anger or strife or envy but theirs.  And that requires so much divine wisdom, I don't know how any of us can achieve it.  May God have mercy on us!  God help us all!

Let us be as careful of the sin of strife as we are of the more public and "obvious" sins.

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