Galatians 5:13-23 You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers, and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.  For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So, I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

THREE WORDS

• PURPOSE: the reason something is made, used or done.
• COMPROMISE: settling differences by mutual concessions.
• CONVICTION: a fixed or firm belief.

WE FIND PURPOSE IS FOLLOWING JESUS
Galatians 5:13-15 You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”  But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29

Our calling us to become like Jesus. A gradual, lifelong process that will only be completed when we get to heaven. 1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. To be worthy of being like Jesus we need to have a desire to do the right thing in every area of our lives. Joyce Myer says, “I am not yet where I ought to be but thank God I am not where I used to be.” Our lives are a process of continual spiritual progress. Which means we need to be continually seeking to find and do God’s will in us.

COMPROMISE LIMITS OUR ABILITY TO DO THE RIGHT THING

Galatians 5:16-18 I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.  But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

To pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned Him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. Mark 15:15

When we are under the influence of our own selfish will and desires it can be very self-destructive. When things don’t work out the way we want them to, or think they should it can be too easy for us to say, “This is too hard, I don’t think I’ll bother.” Or it can be easier to just go long with the crowd than do what God wants.

Jesus was innocent according to Roman law, Pilate caved into political pressure. He paid more attention to the crowd than he did to what he knew was right. When we ignore God’s will in our lives and make decisions based on the preferences of others we compromise our faith and our relationship with God. Life is about making God happy not making others happy.

CONVICTION MEANS STANDING ALONE WHEN IT’s NECESSARY

Galatians 5:19-21 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Daniel 1:8

The world wants to squeeze us all into a mold, to get us to compromise our beliefs and values. In the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, it says, “We tried to find an easier, softer way.” It can be like that when it comes to living up to our convictions in our lives.  It takes courage in our lives to set boundaries and hold to the no matter what.

That’s what Daniel did. He made a commitment to stand on his convictions. We rad in Leviticus 11 God gave specific instructions to Moses and Aaron about wat people could eat and what foods were forbidden. By eating the king’s food Daniel made a decision to live by his convictions, stick to his lifelong commitment to do the right thing and not give in to peer pressure.

Sometimes we have to show the same commitment in our lives when we are pressured by others to go down a path we know is wrong and God does not approve of.

CONVICTION REQUIRES HUMILITY!

Galatians 5:22-23 The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers—the moon and the stars You set in place—what are mere mortals that You should think about them, human beings that You should care for them?  Psalms 8:3-4

Many of our problems are rooted in our own lack of self-esteem. Things in our past that haven’t worked out the way we have hoped they would have left us more sensitive to the opinions of others than we probably should be. We see in this verse above how much God cares about us. The Creator of the stars, the moon and the night sky has made us fantastic beings of great honour and authority.  Based on what He thinks of us, none of us should ever feel we are not up to the tasks God puts before us.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.  I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

Sometimes we allow minor disagreements, issues, beliefs or traditions to stop us doing what God wants us to do. Like Paul, we need to remain firm in our convictions but sometimes not be too afraid to compromise the unimportant things for the sake of following Jesus.