The Grace Conflict

I do not like conflict, of any sort. I avoid it like a plague, in sometimes completely unhealthy ways. When I was in nursing school, there were other women who openly addressed problems they had with each other, and the minute voices began to rise, I wished I could crawl under the table and escape. I love level conversations, where both voices are heard, and a solution is met with ease. In reality, I love the idea of a perfect world, where everyone is always calm, cool, and collected. My husband and stepson like to call me Kate from ‘Horton Hears and Who.’ For those of you who get that reference, let me just say that I like to believe it’s the Holy Spirit in me that constantly desires what this world will never fulfill. At the very least, that is what I tell myself.

In crew this week, part of the discussion involved the fact that Grace sometimes includes conflict. Conflict as a verb is defined as incompatible. This makes sense because from the beginning, there has been grace, and since the beginning sin and God have been incompatible. Paul says in today's verses that ‘17 … the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.’ Galatians 5:17 NLT.

Some of you may say, well the Pastor just brought up the quote of ‘love God and do what you want,’ by St. Augustine. At surface value, these two statements are in conflict, or are they?

In another verse Paul says ‘The entire law is kept in this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Most of us know, this is the second commandment, following ‘love God above all else.’

There is a chain here. A carefully and beautifully dependent chain. To love God, is to understand your magnificent creation and design. It is to accept the Holy Spirit for guidance and accountability. It is to vow to try at minimum, to follow Christ, and His ways above all else. To understand that you “are fearfully and wonderfully made,” allows you to love others fully. To love others requires grace, and faith. In verse 25, Paul says, “Since [Jesus resurrection, and crucifiction] we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit.” Galatians 5:25 NLT

In truth, grace is sometimes uncomfortable, as is freedom. In true freedom, your decisions are your responsibility. The Holy Spirit is there to convict, constantly sending small nudges of the right paths to take, but it will never force you. The decision is ultimately yours, and you are accountable for the decisions you make. That is true freedom, and it is a wonderful gift. In freedom we will reside in a constant conflict, of flesh vs spirit. But grace allows this freedom to have a guidebook, a secret map on how to navigate, a constant presence to tell when to turn left or right, to yes or no, a loving Father to always help. Because freedom in conflict, where accountability is high, is terrifying without grace.

Freedom to get a divorce, when you don’t feel like love is enough anymore, is terrifying without grace.

Let me reword this with the definition of grace.

Freedom to leave my husband/wife, because my feelings just aren’t the same, is terrifying when I made vows to honor God's constant presence in my life.

Freedom to use drugs, when the enemy is whispering in my ear, is terrifying without upholding honor and credit to God's presence over my life.

Freedom to gossip about my coworker, when I am sitting in a meeting when everyone else is contributing, is terrifying when I am called to honor God's presence beside me always.

Grace as a verb is defined to do honor or give credit to someone or something, by one’s presence. Therefore, to “do” grace, I am to always give credit and honor God's presence, in every minute of every day. God is loving, God is kind, God is patient, God keeps no record of wrongs, God's love is never failing for us. If we love God, then we are loving, we are kind, we are patient, and we keep no record of wrongs, and our love is never keeping record of faults for God, ourselves, or for others. In that, we have freedom to act as we want when we believe.