Galatians 4:12-20 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Galatians 4:12-20. Let’s go!
Galatians 4:12-20 (NIV)
12 I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.
13 As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
14 Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.
15 What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.
16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
17 Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you [from us], so that you may be zealous for them.
18 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.
19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
On verses 12-20: In Galatians 4:12-20 we see an emotional and passionate Paul writing to the churches he helped to build in Galatia. Using very emotional language, Paul describes the roller coaster of emotions he experienced with his churches in Galatia:
– the joy and comfort Paul felt at first when, because of an illness, Paul got to preach the gospel to them and was taken care of by them (v12-15);
– the heartbreak Paul felt when these same Christians scorned him and distanced themselves from him because they became infatuated with another group who convinced them that Paul’s gospel was wrong and that their circumcision-based “gospel” was correct (v16-17);
– the frustration Paul felt when his churches would be zealous for Christ sometimes but not at other times, how their passion for Christ would get replaced by a passion for other things that didn’t matter (v18);
– the love he felt for his churches, calling them “My dear children” (v19);
– the perplexing agony Paul experienced because he so longed to see his churches mature spiritually (v19-20), a pain which he compares to a mother going through childbirth (v19).
What can we learn from all this? Galatians 4:12-20 is a good look inside the heart of a shepherd. Great shepherds — and I believe all great pastors, parents, coaches, leaders, and small group leaders as well — feel tremendously for the ones they lead. There is tremendous joy and excitement when you see them coming to Christ, growing and becoming a blessing to others. There is also tremendous pain and frustration when you see them not growing, living foolishly or acting selfishly. That’s why being a shepherd is not for the faint of heart.
Also, from this passage I’m reminded that spiritually mature people express their emotions in healthy ways. Beware thinking incorrectly that spiritually mature people should not be emotional, that they should be so self-controlled that they never show any feelings at all — they never get angry, they never cry, they never laugh, they never shout and they never get excited. That’s the wrong picture of a spiritually mature person. While we don’t want to worship our feelings, we don’t want to deny them either.
God made us to be emotional beings. To not have any emotions is to be dead. A spiritually mature person is someone who has emotions and who perceives, releases and controls those emotions in healthy ways that benefit them and those around them.
That’s why when you read the Gospels you won’t see Jesus as some stoic, cold shell of a man who doesn’t show any feelings at all. Rather, Jesus wept, got angry, expressed his sorrow, was moved by compassion, and yet He was also full of self control.
I pray that you and I would be emotionally healthy disciples of Jesus.
Father, I pray that I would be an emotionally healthy person. Please help me to recognize, release and control my emotions in ways that benefit me and others. Thank You for the ways that my emotions can lead me to You and result in positive change when I channel them in a wise way. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
