I've been teaching from Galatians in my Bible class. The theme is life by faith through the Spirit as opposed to through following the law. I've really been enjoying it, and my students have been understanding it. That's something, anyway.
One of the verses that sticks out to me as I review is Galatians 5:14: "For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
The whole Law. Not just one chapter of Deuteronomy, not just a couple commandments, but all of it. Summed up in loving others. I thought of a section toward the end of The Friendly Persuasion as I read and re-read this: Jess, the main character, keeps trying to do what is good and get this little boy to do what is good for goodness' sake, and he realizes there's a problem with that, concluding that all he really is supposed to do is love his fellow man. The idea expressed is that love isn't just for ethereal goodness' sake, but for the sake of relational others and a relational God's. I makes sense, but trying to apply it is difficult.
Why would God make humans so complex, put us in such complex societies with complex lifestyles that include things like money and culture and education, if all we're supposed to do is love?
A love that fills every action in this life must be as labyrinthine and multi-faceted as God, for He is love.
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