Discerning God’s Love

Paul discovered that after all he had accomplished in Galatia years before, there were newcomers in the church who introduced ideas that were contrary to the freedom offered by Christ. Rather than being set free, the folks of this congregation were being enslaved once again by strict rules that controlled them. As we can see from these passages, Paul was not impressed.

This led our group into a discussion on how we might discern just what is true good news and what isn’t. We came up with a few questions to help answer that. Does a movement just give people what they want to hear or are they getting fed what they need? How are funds raised? How are they spent? Is there any intimidation involved? Is God’s love just being shown inside a group or to all, regardless of background? Are people excluded from the good news?

We are reminded today that the Christian church is not an elite social club, but rather a part of the body of Christ that exercises the freedom to reach out to all, showing God’s love. It is in this way we, too, become a part of God’s good news.

Loving God, you reach your hand out to all peoples. Give us the courage and confidence to do the same and show your love to the world. Amen. — LGR