Tear Down the Walls: Galatians Part 2
Yesterday we asked the Lord to prepare us to be confronted. Now, before I present some false gospels, let me remind you of something the Lord has spoken to our church over the last few years:
We choose KINDNESS over NICENESS. Here is what that means:
God is not NICE, he is KIND. Niceness obscures the truth for the sake of pleasantries, but kindness gives and receives truth in love. Truth is the stage upon which grace dances, and so we work diligently to build a stage of truth so grace can dance freely in us and among us.
So, this week (and always!), some truth telling with the intent to be kind in order to get to a place of grace.
Over the next couple of days, I will share some phrases I hear often that alert me to a false gospel worming its way into people’s hearts. Today’s:
“God wants me to be happy.”
The scriptures don’t say that God wants us to be happy. Rather, he wants us to be mature and complete, lacking nothing. And, it is often difficulty that brings us to maturity:
3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James 1:3–4 (NLT)
God does not want to simply ‘get you through this life’, but desires that we would be conformed to the image of his dear son:
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Romans 8:29 (NASB)
Often I hear this false gospel in the context of people making short sighted relationship decisions. Christians, following this false gospel, bail out of their marriage under the illusion that someone else will “make them happy.” Or, Christians will choose to live together before they are married. Each of these decisions is directly related to a common belief that “God just wants me happy!”
Conclude your devotion with prayer:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I admit that my culture tries to convince me that my happiness is the highest aim in life. I admit that you call me into maturity. I ask you to help me overcome the lies of my culture. I embrace challenges and trust you to be able to use all difficulties to help me grow into maturity. Amen.
