Quiet Time in Galatians 6

EXPAND TO READ: GALATIANS 6 (HCSB)

Carry One Another’s Burdens

1 Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. 2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. 5 For each person will have to carry his own load.

6 The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher. 7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

Concluding Exhortation

11 Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting. 12 Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised—but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves; however, they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh. 14 But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world. 15 For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation. 16 May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy to the Israel of God!

17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body scars for the cause of Jesus. 18 Brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

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PERSONAL JOURNAL:

SIN (verses 1-2): The last chapter of Galatians and I see You are coming at me right in the beginning. These two verses hit me in my heart for a couple of reasons. The first is concerning “you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit.” Although I have tried to help others and restore them, I have not done it with a gentle spirit many times as You want me to do. Oftentimes I even look to help others with the expectation of a return of some kind. Then You tell us to carry one another’s burdens, but far too often in my life I have given into the worldly view of “not my problem.” This is now how You’ve called us to live. We can carry a lot more weight on our shoulders with You and other Godly men by our side, so why do I struggle so much with being there for others? Please forgive me for my weaknesses here, Father. This is not how You expect me to act in this life as a Christ follower and I need to be better.

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PROMISE (verse 7): Quite a simple promise to live in, but also quite a difficult one to truly embrace for me personally. You promise us that we will reap what we sow, so we should not give into the deception of the enemy and the flesh. I have had a lot of hardships in this life. Although not all of them are the fault of me directly, there are many times where my hardships were self-inflicted due to what I decided to sow in the moment. Far too often since coming to faith, You have had to remind me that I reap what I sow. For some reason I keep forgetting this and I give into temptations. Help me to be better at accepting this promise in my life and living in it, Father, so that what I do reap are good things because I have sown good things for Your kingdom, glory, and praise.

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ATTITUDE (verse 1): There’s really only one part of this verse that I’d like to focus on for my attitude application today. You tell us to do so “with a gentle spirit.” I have FAR too often lacked a gentle spirit in this life in general—towards my wife, kids, friends, coworkers, spiritual brothers and sisters, and even strangers at times. I don’t know why I struggle so much most of the time with truly embracing a gentle spirit, but I do. I have gotten better as of late big time, all thanks to You, Father, but I do still struggle at times. I ask that You continue to work in me to soften my heart, Father; continue to show me Your ways of living this life; continue to pour into me Your peace, joy, and happiness so that when I walk in this broken world amongst other sinners like myself all of those qualities can overflow out of me to others and You are glorified through it all.

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COMMAND (verse 1b, 7a): In the second part of the first verse, You tell us to also watch out for ourselves so that we also won’t be tempted when we’re helping to restore others. In the start of verse 7, You tell us “don’t be deceived.” You’re repeating yourself to me, again, so I must assume this is a direct command. I have fallen into this trap MANY times in my life, especially since coming to faith. The battle within myself is a big one between my flesh and my spirit. It seems that I cannot fully let go of my broken habits and pain of my past in order to truly allow the spirit and new identity You’ve given me to take over inside of me. I am getting better, so I guess some progress is better than no progress, but I do still feel weak in this respect. Please continue to bless me with Your strength in my daily walk, Father. Please continue to teach me how to truly let go of my broken habits, past hurts, past struggles, and current weaknesses, so that all I am and all that I do is through You and the new identity You’ve blessed me with.

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EXAMPLE (verses 7b-10): There is so much to learn from this example that starts out with “for whatever a man sows he will also reap.” You continue on with telling us that if we sow from the flesh, then we will reap from the flesh; if we sow from the spirit, however, then we will reap from the spirit. I have experienced this so many times in my life since coming to faith. When I put my efforts and works into the spirit-led things in this life, I reap so many great things in return. When I put my efforts and works into the flesh-led things in this life, however, I tend to make huge mistakes that hurt not only myself but also those around me. Continue to work in me, Father, so that I can discern when the flesh is driving me to do something versus the spirit. Continue to shed light on Your ways for me to live instead of my own broken thoughts behind what I should be doing.

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*DAILY NOTE: The book of Galatians is an extremely short book overall, but WOW is there so much amazing content in here! You have spoken many times to what our new, born-again identity is throughout the book of Galatians and I am so grateful for these lessons. I have struggled with actually knowing and living in my new, born-again identity in Christ, unfortunately. Slowly but surely, I am beginning to know what this actually means and the book of Galatians has been a tremendous help. It’s amazing that a letter Paul wrote to Galatia almost 2,000 years ago is still so relevant and applicable to me personally today in 2022! Thank You for giving us Your word and Your truth in a way that makes it always relevant, no matter the year, Father. I am always amazed by how applicable the Bible is even after 2,000 years even though I shouldn’t be because Your sense of time is not the same as our own, so when You were inspiring these authors, You made sure Your word would carry on for an endless number of generations until Christ’s return! Thank You, Father!

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EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES

I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.