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Galatians 2:1-10
"Paul Accepted by the Apostles2 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my racein vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised,[a]just as Peter had been to the circumcised.[b] 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Cephas[c] and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along."
We judge and we get judged by others. We want what we deserve. Whatever we put in we expect to get the same amount out. When it comes to our relationship with God we often expect so much and give so little. We treat God like a genie who will grant our prayers and every wish, God answers all prayers but He answers them differently and in His timing. God tells us what pleases Him and we like to test God's rules to ultimately earn God's favor. What we dont realize is that God isn't like our other relationships - we have nothing to bring to the table, we are sinners, and yet... God still wants us.
In Galatians these Jews saw Jesus as a step towards salvation and started adding in their own laws saying that those will get you to heaven, you may think that's weird but honestly we do the very same thing today. We often dont try to be like God but we try to be a good person PSA a christian and a good person are not the same, although they should share similiar characteristics. No one should rely on good deeds to get to heaven, Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved. Titus knew that he didnt need Jesus and a bunch of added circumcised stuff, the old laws were meant for the old days and not life after Jesus's ressurection. Now we have God's grace bestowed upon us through His son dying on the cross, our salvation is free. Your salvation is assured because of Jesus and Jesus alone, it's not to be a checklist of things to do to get to heaven.
We sometimes think that we can improve how God views us by doing good deeds to improve our standing in His eyes, but we are to do these things to glorify God with all that is around us and not to get a gold sticker from God. We have the right behavior with the wrong belief. Our goal shouldnt be to improve our standing, we shouldnt desire to gain something, our goal should be to glorify God, share God, and bring others to God. God does not look at us like we are a performance review or an errand runner He looks at us with love, get real about your relationship with God and out of the business of just being a pleasing, good person. Let your actions be worth something and not just be an end goal to amount to something greater, that something greater has already been offered to you through salvation.
Hey everyone thanks for reading and being subscribed to my blog! This was a short post but nevertheless needs to be read! As always please share with friends, contact me for questions, and apply this to your everyday life! For those of you who have been wondering a blogger party for my one year anniversary may be in the works, stay tuned and ill keep you up to date!