See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.

Think of someone you really love that you have helped to mentor, bring up, or at least cared about. If you were not going to see them for a while, and you only had a couple of sentences to tell them your best advice, what would it be? I have thought about this for my kids and have written them all letters if I were to pass away suddenly.

Paul here, wants to focus them on the most important thing in his letter. It seems that he may have had an eyesight problem, as he had to write in big letters. But even though he clearly had a scribe, he painstakingly wrote this part out himself. He wanted them to know that: 1) He really loved them like a father, and 2) this was the most important thing.

And this most important thing was to let go of the false teaching they had attached onto, in part it seems — circumcising Gentiles so they could be better Christians. And to hold onto the truth — the cross of Jesus is the only thing that saved them.

It is also the only action that has saved you and me. The other doctrines that try to claim they have saving power or life’s secrets to success fail and fall short when compared to the saving grace of Jesus who died on the cross for us. In this case it was circumcision. Today it might be self-actualization, environmental concerns, limited government, or different causes the world thinks we should take up. None of these seem bad by themselves, they may even be good, but they are not to take our focus or our primary attention away from Jesus.

In ‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭63‬, Jesus said this: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” And so we must dig in and study and digest the Word of God, understand the words and heart of Jesus, and stay filled with God’s Spirit in the midst of attacks from outside the church, and sadly, sometimes from within.

We die to the world through Jesus Christ and in order to love others unconditionally, and the world is dead to us in regard to sin and its hold over us. We are free in Christ Jesus to live a life of love by the power of God’s Spirit. So, my friends, let us LIVE LARGE IN CHRIST AND TRULY LIVE!

Lord, thank you for your servant Paul who cared so much for his children in the faith in Galatia that he called them out on sin and sought to reconcile them to Christ in this letter. And as he boils down the Christian life for us here, help me to live it out well! May I also invest in others as a mentor in the faith and watch over them.