January 9, 2026; Galatians 5

Daily Dose of Hope

January 9, 2026

 

Scripture: Galatians 5

 

Today, we will start with the Holy Spirit prayer by Saint Augustine, who lived in the fourth century.  I find it incredibly powerful and I hope you do as well:

 

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, That my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, That my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, That I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, To defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, That I always may be holy.

 

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are almost done with the first week of our new reading plan, Journey into the Letters of Paul, during which we will walk through Paul’s letters chronologically.  With a few exceptions, many of these letters are kind of short, with 5-6 chapters.  What you will find is that we will go through these fairly quickly and it’s possible they might run together for you.  I would suggest you keep some notes.  What are you learning from each letter?  What are the main themes and what are your big takeaways from the reading?  Since we are just in Galatians, Paul’s first letter, this is a good time to think about this.

 

Okay, so today we read Galatians 5.  Here we see the theme of freedom from the law once again.  Paul is emphasizing that in Christ, we have freedom. Under the law, we live in bondage.  He is imploring the Galatians to live as free people, true heirs of God, experiencing the fullness of life that comes knowing you belong to Jesus Christ.

 

There is a lot of focus on circumcision here.  That may seem odd to us, as circumcision just isn’t that big a deal in our world.  Individual parents make a decision based on a lot of different factors whether to circumcise their boys.  Paul has some harsh words for the Galatians about circumcision, and it almost seems like he is condemning it.  Verses 2-3 are harsh, Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.  Let’s dig a little deeper.

 

Jesus himself was circumcised.  Paul had Timothy circumcised before taking him on a missionary journey to make it easier to witness to the Jews.  So what is up with this?  I’m thinking motive and intention is the answer.  Let me explain.

 

Before Jesus, circumcision was the sign of the covenant that the Jewish people had with God.  It functioned sort of like a key that granted entry into the household of God.  But after Jesus came, the house of God is entered through Jesus Christ himself. Those who follow him no longer need the old key. The Jews may still hold onto the key physically, but it is no longer the means of entry.  The sign of the new covenant is baptism.  But even baptism isn’t a requirement for salvation, only belief in Jesus.

 

Some of us may have chosen to circumcise our children.  But what was our motive or intention?  When I had my boys circumcised as babies, it had nothing to do with their salvation.  I wasn’t thinking about following Jewish law.  Rather, I was thinking more about health issues or going with the recommendation of my pediatrician.  But if I had done it because I thought it would make my child or myself more acceptable to God or somehow make me more righteous, then that would be a terribly wrong motive.  Furthermore, if I thought that my boys could only associate with other circumcised boys because they are more acceptable in God’s eyes, then I would really be wrong.  I think you get the point and I believe that is what Paul is saying too.  Christ has freed us from these laws that separate us from others.  It’s our heart that God cares about and as we move further into Paul’s letters, we will find he begins to speak of a circumcision of the heart.  That’s what we need!

 

Paul speaks to how easy it is to slip back into a life of bondage.  Others use their freedom to engage in sin.  Paul is stating that neither is acceptable.  True Christian freedom manifests itself in obedience, self-control, and love.  Just as Christ sets us free, Paul says that it is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that sanctifies us, allows us to better reflect Jesus.  When the Holy Spirit comes and makes a home within us, it begins to transform us from the inside out.  We cannot stay the same people once the Spirit of the Living God is within us.  There should be fruit that demonstrates our new nature.  That fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

 

Reflect on the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  How well do you exemplify these attributes in your own life?  Are some easier than others for you?  Something I find interesting about these is that they are "fruit" of the Spirit, not "fruits."  God intends for us to live out each of these, not just some of them.  If we are very kind people but we lack self-control, then we need to spend time in prayer and ask God to help us with our self-control and then be intentional about working on that trait.  If we struggle with patience, then we do the same thing.  Friends, we have the Spirit of God living within us and that is powerful and transformative.  Spend some time today praying about the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

 

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki