Restore That
Person Gently
For the entire law is
fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch
out or you will be destroyed by each other.
So
I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is
contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is
contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are
not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The
acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that
those who live like this will not inherit the
But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ
Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let
us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:14-26
Brothers
and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should
restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
Carry each other’s burdens, and
in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:1-2
We are to
bear the burdens of others, when they can no longer bear them. The fruit of the
Holy Spirit flows within us. The great freedom we have in Christ allows us to
serve each other in love.
A word of
encouragement to a hurting friend can come like a refreshing rain. When we continue
to care in tangible ways, it grows into a life-giving stream of healing and
love.
Compassion is the capacity to put Christ-like love into
action.
Our Daily Bread –