Works Of The Flesh

Brothers and sisters: If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. (Galatians 5:18-25)

We are so very far from the Kingdom of God!  As it stands, the Kingdom will not be our inheritance.  We are a little over two weeks from the Presidential Election, and the works of the flesh are quite obvious.  They are glaring and overwhelming!  

Contentious politics have brewed and boiled over with immorality, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, and factions.  Elections always reveal divisions, but 2020 campaigning has been blistering and chasmic.  Filling the Supreme Court’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg seat has been no better, perhaps worse.

Jesus might say the fruit of the Spirit has been rotting on the vine, much to his great dismay.  We have had a shortage of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Of course, the coronavirus has played an important role, somewhat like insects spoiling our fruit. 

Let’s remember we belong to Christ Jesus, and he will not abandon us.  We simply must not abandon him.  We must crucify our works of flesh, such as outbursts of fury and acts of selfishness.  Otherwise, we symbolically crucify Jesus again and again.  We leave him high on the cross instead of following his Spirit leading us to the Kingdom of God.

Deacon David Pierce