“The civil war within”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, February 3, 2023

Galatians 5:16-26 (Forward, p. 5) CEV p. 1219

Jesus once said that a house (or family) divided against itself (see Matthew 12:25) is bound to fall, and nowhere is that truer than in our own lives. Sadly, and rather unfortunately, we do have a kind of civil war, an internal war, happening within ourselves. It is between our ‘selfish desires’ (often called ‘the flesh’). Unfortunately, this latter term has often be subject to interpretations that narrow or restrict its meaning considerably and give rise to many errors. It has often been interpreted as referring principally to sins that have to do with our bodies, and most particularly as sins that are somehow sexual in nature. And while it certainly does include these, any perusal of the sins of ‘the flesh’ will show that it includes far more things than just these. Here is a list of the things that the apostle Paul explicitly mentions. (The items not in brackets is the list from the New Revised Standard Version—NRSV, while those in brackets are a combination of the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version—CEV):

-fornication (immoral ways)

-impurity (filthy thoughts)

-licentiousness (shameful or indecent deeds or actions)

-idolatry (worshipping idols)

-sorcery (practicing witchcraft)

-enmities (hatred of others or become enemies of each other)

-strife (are hard to get along with and begin to fight)

-jealousy (become jealous)

-anger (become angry)

-quarrels (become selfish or ambitious)

-dissensions (argumentative) (separate into parties or groups)

-factions (cause trouble) (separate into parties or groups)

-envy (are envious)

-drunkenness (get drunk)

-carousing (carry on at wild parties or orgies)

-and things like these (do other evil things as well).

So, while even a casual look at these items will most certainly identify certain sexual sins among them, the list has far more items that don’t connect with sexuality at all. And certainly, if this list is ‘supposed’ to deal with sins connected to our bodies, it has rather significant omissions. For instance, it does not mention gluttony or sloth, which certainly could be seen as ‘sins of the flesh.’

It is then quite noteworthy, in light of this, that the vast majority of ills mentioned here are social failings, personal traits that interfere with how we will get along with others. Just look at the list: enmity, argumentiveness, disagreeableness, antagonism, crankiness, ill-temper, irritableness, jealousy, selfishness, ambition, argumentativeness, and causing or fermenting division or dissension. Sadly, and unhappily, many of these are things that we find to be alive and well, resident, within ourselves. And equally sad, is that they wreak havoc upon and cause conflict within our inner selves and hurt our relationships with those around us. Indeed, I would suggest that they are a primary cause of problems within our marriages and family life, within the church and within the wider community as well.

However, all of this only goes to describe one of the two combatants that wage war for our souls. The other combatant is the Holy Spirit of God, and the wonderful thing is that He provides us with the gifts, with the resources, necessary to combat the above-mentioned ills. Indeed, I would suggest that these nine things, often called the ‘gifts or the fruit of the Spirit’, are meant as a kind of replacement strategy, as traits meant to replace the bad specimens:

-love

-joy

-peace

-patience

-kindness

-goodness/ generosity

-faithfulness

-humility/ gentleness

-self-control

Without going into ‘exquisite detail’, it can be readily seen how patience and self-control, for instance, defuse many argumentative or contentious or potentially factionious situations, or how humility will keep the self-importance that comes with selfishness and personal ambition down or in its proper place.

So, what, according to Paul, should be the remedy, our remedy, to this internal civil war? First, we are to be guided by the Holy Spirit and obedient to the self-same Spirit. Presumably, this means that His various gifts will find their place in our lives and begin to become operative. And secondly, we are to put to death those selfish desires and feelings, the so-called flesh. That will give the Spirit the space and the opportunity to do His redemptive and restorative work. That would go a long way to defusing the civil war within and allow us to be the free and whole persons we were meant to be. Amen.

Forward notes: “Gentleness and self-control. There is no law against such things” (verse 23)

“As Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians, I would have been fine if he had stopped at gentleness. We can all get behind love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness. Those make a lot of sense and, for me, are easier to practice. But self-control? That’s a challenge. Every day, I wake up and ask the Lord for self-control with my children and my students. Then I am gently reminded of the big question: Who is the only person I can control? Well, me.

“How I handle my day at home or at school plays a big role in determining how the day will go. I think of all the times I made things worse because I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, control my words. Even though I find self-control the hardest gift of the Spirit to embrace, it helps me to know that it is part of a pack—precious gifts of love and joy and peace. Thank goodness, the Spirit comes in all sorts of ways, as will, I pray, the gift of self-control.”

Moving Forward: “Which of the fruits of the Spirit are hardest for you to embrace? How can you work toward living into all of the fruits?”