Galatians 5:13-23 – My Patient Guide/My Patience Guide

Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³For brothers you were called upon freedom. Only [do not use] that freedom into an opportunity to the flesh, but be serving one another through the love; ¹⁴for all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But beware, if you are biting and devouring each other, lest you are consumed by one another.

¹⁶But, I say, be walking [in the] Spirit, and you absolutely will not fulfill the lust of [the] flesh, ¹⁷for the flesh is lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, so that you cannot be doing the things you might be wishing; ¹⁸but if you are being led [by the] Spirit, you are not under law.

…²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Hendriksen offers an insightful illustration of what it means to be Holy Spirit led. He says it is not like a guide who points to the mountain pass and says, “The road is through there.” Rather, the Holy Spirit is like the person leading the blind man to Jesus. The blind man had to want to get to Jesus. The blind man had to walk on his own feet; no one carried him. But he needed a sighted person to walk beside him. He couldn’t get there himself. He wanted to get there but he needed someone who could see the way and he needed that person to stay right beside him the entire way.

I like that. I think, prior to this study, I saw the Holy Spirit’s guidance like the mountain guide. Even though I believed in the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, still I think I saw myself as largely “on my own.” Through the Word He showed me the path, but the help was definitely a distant thing, something outside of myself. I think I was missing the point of the indwelling. When God says, “I am with you” He means it! He means right here with me. He means that although I must make the choices and although I have to do the walking, yet He is right here at my elbow guiding me by that gentle pressure. He can see the goal. He can see the right path. He can see the tripping hazards along the path. What I must do is walk with Him. I need to learn to yield to that gentle pressure at my elbow. He knows where He’s going. I don’t have to. I just need to trust Him.

This is so encouraging and makes so much sense. Of course I do a terrible job of trusting Him. I do a terrible job of yielding to that gentle pressure. Hmmmm. I’m not so sure I’m even very good at recognizing it. I think what I do is get it in my head, “I don’t want to go that way” and try to wander off. Of course I don’t know the way. Of course I don’t see the tripping hazards. But I’m a stubborn sinner and do it anyway. There’s something I want “over there,” or there’s something I fear. I think if I wander over this way, I’ll be safe. The whole adventure is of course ludicrous, but I literally can’t see it.

The awesomely good news is that my Guide never leaves me(!). All the time I am stubbornly stumbling around, He is still right there at my elbow. He still sees the goal. He still sees the path to get there, even from whatever wrong place I’ve wandered into. And, if I’ll only want to feel it, that gentle pressure is still there at my elbow, nudging me in the right direction.

I’m sitting here marveling at His patience. It has taken me a lifetime to cover a distance that should have taken only a few days. I have stubbornly wandered far and wide my whole life just to get to where I am today. Yet all that time He stayed with me. All that time He could see the path. All that time He knew where I needed to go. All that time He could see how foolishly I was wandering hither and yon. Yet, He has stayed with me; always there ready to lead me if only I would trust Him and let Him lead. Wow is that love. Wow is that patience.

How often have I wanted to “guide” someone, but the second they got stubborn, I would just wash my hands of them and give up. Where was the love? Where was the patience? Where was the Spirit? Wow have I got a lot to learn!

“…if you are being led [by the] Spirit, you are not under law …But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

No “law” could give me that kind of love, that kind of patience. That is what He means by, “…be serving one another through the love; for all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But even something that simple I cannot do on my own. I need my Guide. I need His power. I need His patience! I need His patience so I can learn patience!!

Hmmm. Once again, I find my heart wanting to sing, “I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it; when it’s all about You, it’s all about You. I’m coming back to the heart of worship; ‘cause it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.