Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Philippians 2:1-2
A Unity Only Jesus Can Bring
There is a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” This quip is traditionally linked to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The United States had banded together under the common cause of liberty and if we were going to be an independent nation, we were going to have to stick together. If the people couldn’t unite, the newly formed nation would crumble, and all her leaders would be tried for treason and hanged.
Unity. Don’t you crave it? Don’t you want unity in your country, with your neighbor, with your family? Isn’t it great when there is unity in our relationships? Of course! Unity brings harmony and peace. But unity doesn’t always come easy. Politics divide a nation. Petty squabbles irritate the neighbor next door. Families hold onto grudges over unkind things done and said at Thanksgiving ten years ago. Even amongst Christians there are fights and feuds.
But the author of today’s Bible reading makes an appeal to you. He says that, as a Christian, you know the sacrifice that Jesus has made for you. You know that selfless act of your Savior, Jesus, who gave up his life and died so that all your wrongdoings and faults would be forgiven. Friend, remember that sacrifice of Jesus! It is his sacrifice that puts everything in perspective. When I remember the lengths to which Jesus went to save me, that causes me to look at everyone else in my life on my side. We all deserve death because of our failures. But we all have been forgiven because of Christ. And that forgiveness causes me to love and forgive and be united with everyone.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you have united us to yourself and to one another. Fill us with your Spirit so that our lives reflect the oneness you have already given us. Make our joy complete as we live in the same love and mind that is ours in you. Amen.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross. Philippians 2:8
Nothing More Needs To Be Said
Imagine it’s about thirty years after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Imagine you are a career military man, recently retired from the Roman army. Like many other retired soldiers, you decide to live in a town called Philippi. You like it there because so many of your neighbors are just like you—people who know what military life is all about.
Then it happens: The apostle Paul comes to your town with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. You become a follower of Jesus. You help form a Christian congregation. You begin sharing the message of Christ with others.
But then life gets difficult. Because of your Christian faith, some of your old friends want nothing to do with you. Some in your church family are even facing open hostility because of what they believe. You have moments when you wonder how much the Lord Jesus really loves you.
Then, a Godsend—a letter from Paul! As you read it, there is one sentence that hits you hard. Paul is describing what Jesus was willing to do for you. He says, “He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.”
Nothing more needs to be said. You see, as a soldier, you know what death on a cross is. The sight of gasping, writhing victims, the sound of their sobs, the smell, the flies—all have seared themselves into your memory long ago. And the Son of God willingly did that for you.
Does Jesus love you? There he was on the cross. There he bore your sins in your place.
Nothing more needs to be said.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you went to the cross in my place to take my every sin away. You love me. For that I love you. And I thank you. Amen.
Jonah wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.” But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” Jonah 4:8-11
The Creator and Preserver
Jonah was very angry because God turned from his threat to punish the people of Nineveh. God worked to bring Jonah to repentance. He caused a vine to spring up overnight, and the next day its large leaves gave Jonah relief from the intense heat of the sun. But the cold heart of Jonah was not melted by the mercy that God showed him. The next night, God provided a worm that killed the vine. When the sun blazed the next day, Jonah was left without shade. He was so distressed about the loss of the vine that he told God, “I am angry enough to die.”
God used that vine to teach Jonah an important lesson. Jonah merely had self-interest in the vine. His only concern for the vine was the protection and comfort it brought him.
God wanted Jonah to think about the vine from the viewpoint of the one who caused it to grow and cared for it—a perspective quite different than Jonah’s attitude. The grower and the gardener demonstrate a deep concern for the well-being of the vine. Then the Lord applied the lesson. He is the creator and preserver of all people, including those people in Nineveh. And there were many of them, many people whom God loved and wanted to save from destruction.
God is deeply interested in every person—no one is excluded from his love. His greatest desire is for people to live with him. That’s why he came into this world and was born a true human being. His complete focus was on our welfare, not on his own. He came to save us from death and give us eternal life.
Prayer:
Lord, teach me the extent of your great love. Give me courage to open my mouth to tell others about your salvation. Amen.
Staff ministers explore how to become all things to all people “Every minister of the gospel needs encouragement,” says Kevin Walker, director of staff ministry at Martin Luther College (MLC), New Ulm, Minn. “So a once-a-year conference provides the opportunity for […]
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Video update: Missionaries begin work in Senegal In late August, Daniel Kroll and Stephen Gerling and their families arrived in Dakar, Senegal. They are the first WELS missionaries to serve in this area. As WELS works to […]
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They do not walk alone Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God has entrusted the young people of our synod to the spiritual care of Christian parents, pastors, teachers, youth leaders, and fellow believers. At […]
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WELS President Karl R. Gurgel home in heaven Karl R. Gurgel, the tenth man to serve as president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, was called home to heaven on September 13, surrounded by his wife, Barbara, (pictured […]
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Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary – September 2026 update Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wis., is investing in a building project for blessings now that have impacts into eternity. Earle Treptow, seminary president, describes why this is the moment […]
Eighth Address to a Son:
Wisdom Avoids Entanglements
Proverbs 6
1 My son, if you have guaranteed your neighbor’s debts, if you have shaken hands for a stranger, 2 you are trapped by the promises from your mouth; you are captured by the promises from your mouth. 3 Because you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands, go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor. 4 Do not allow your eyes to sleep, or your eyelids to slumber. 5 Save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of a hunter, or like a bird from the hand of a trapper.
Wisdom Warns Against Laziness
6 Go to the ant, you slacker! [1] Observe its ways and become wise. 7 Although it has no overseer, officer, or ruler, 8 it stores its food in summer. It gathers its provisions at harvest time. 9 How long will you lie there, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of your hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come on you like a prowler, and scarcity will come on you like a warrior.
Dishonesty Leads to Disaster
12 A worthless, wicked scoundrel, who goes around with a corrupt mouth, 13 who winks with his eye, signals with his foot, and gestures with his fingers, 14 who plots evil with a deceitful heart— he always spreads conflict. 15 Therefore his disaster will come upon him suddenly. All at once he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
Things That Are Disgusting to the Lord
16 These are six things the Lord hates, seven things that really disgust him: 17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run quickly to do evil, 19 a false witness who breathes lies, and a person who spreads conflict between brothers.
Ninth Address to a Son:
Avoid Sexual Immorality
20 My son, keep your father’s commands, and do not forsake your mother’s teachings. 21 Fasten them permanently to your heart, and tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk around, they will lead you. When you lie down, they will stand guard over you. When you wake up, they will converse with you, 23 because a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and the warnings given by discipline are a road to life. 24 They guard you from an evil woman, from the smooth tongue of a woman who is not your wife. 25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart. Do not let her captivate you with her eyes. 26 A prostitute costs you a loaf of bread, but a married woman stalks your precious life. 27 Can a man place fire on his lap without burning his clothes? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? 29 So it is with the man who goes to his neighbor’s wife. No one who touches her will be forgiven. 30 No one despises a thief when he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving, 31 but when he is caught, he will have to repay seven times as much. He will have to give up all the wealth of his house. 32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks sense. He who does it destroys himself. 33 He will find disease and dishonor, and his disgrace will never be wiped out, 34 because jealousy ignites a husband’s anger, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 35 He will not accept any amount as a payment. He will not relent, even if you increase your offer.
Tenth Address to a Son:
Wisdom Protects You From Adultery and Death
Proverbs 7
1 My son, guard what I say. Keep my commands with you. 2 Obey my commands so that you may live. Protect my teachings like the pupil of your eye. 3 Tie them to your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call Understanding your relative. [2] 5 She will keep you safe from an immoral woman, from an unfaithful woman and her seductive words.
Wisdom’s Warning
6 At a window of my house, I looked out through the lattice. 7 I was watching the gullible [3] people. Among the young men I noticed a youth without sense. 8 He was crossing the street near her corner, strolling along the road to her house, 9 in the twilight, in the evening of the day, when the darkness of the night was coming. [4] 10 Suddenly a woman meets him. She is dressed like a prostitute with a scheming heart! 11 She is loud and rebellious. Her feet will not stay home. 12 One moment she is in the street. The next moment she is in the public square. She is on the prowl near every corner. 13 She grabs him and kisses him. With a brazen face she says, 14 “I have food from fellowship offerings. Today I fulfilled my vows. 15 That is why I came out to meet you. I came eagerly to seek you, and now I have found you! 16 I have covered my couch with a bedspread, with colored cloth made of Egyptian yarn. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love [5] until morning. Let’s enjoy making love. 19 Look, my husband isn’t home. He has gone on a long trip. 20 He took a bag of silver with him. He will not come home till the next full moon.” 21 She deceives him with enticing words. With smooth lips she seduces him. 22 He follows right after her, like a steer going to slaughter, like a deer prancing into a noose, [6] 23 until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird darting into a trap. He does not realize this will cost him his life. 24 Now, you sons, listen to me. Pay attention to the words from my mouth. 25 Do not let your heart turn in her direction. Do not wander on her pathways, 26 because she has brought down many victims. Those she has killed are countless. 27 Her house is on the road to the grave. [7] It goes down to the chambers of death.
Footnotes
Proverbs 6:6 Or you loafer or you lazybones
Proverbs 7:4 Or close friend
Proverbs 7:7 Or naïve
Proverbs 7:9 Literally in the pupil of the night and darkness
Proverbs 7:18 The Hebrew word refers to physical expressions of love.
Proverbs 7:22 The ancient versions support the translation. The Hebrew text reads like an anklet to the discipline of a fool. Reading the word for fool as the very similar word for deer leads to the translation above. The context seems to require the trapping of an animal.
Proverbs 7:27 Or on the highway to hell. The Hebrew word is sheol.
1 Listen, you sons, to a father’s discipline. Pay attention so that you will gain discernment, 2 because I have given you good instruction. Do not abandon my teaching. 3 When I was a son living with my father, a tender and only child with my mother, 4 he used to instruct me and say to me, “Cling to my words with all your heart. Obey my commands so that you may live. 5 Acquire wisdom. Acquire understanding. Do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not abandon it, and it will watch over you. Love it and it will guard you.”
7 The beginning of wisdom is to obtain Wisdom. Give up everything you have, in order to gain Understanding. 8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you. She will honor you when you embrace her. 9 She will set a garland of grace on your head. She will present you with a beautiful crown.
Fifth Address to a Son:
The Difference Between the Wicked and the Righteous
10 Listen, my son, and accept my words, so that the years of your life will be many. 11 I have instructed you in the way of wisdom. I have led you along straight paths. [1] 12 When you walk, your stride will not be hindered. Even if you run, you will not stumble. 13 Hold on to discipline. Do not let go. Guard it, because it is your life. 14 Do not travel on the path of the wicked. Do not walk in the way of evil people. 15 Avoid it! Do not travel on it! Turn away from it. Pass it by. 16 For they cannot sleep unless they have been doing wrong, and they are robbed of sleep unless they are making someone stumble, 17 because wickedness is the food they eat, and violence is the wine they drink. 18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until it is day. 19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness. They never know where they will stumble.
Sixth Address to a Son:
Advice for a Righteous Life
20 My son, pay attention to my words. Open your ears to what I say. 21 Do not let them escape from your sight. Keep them deep in your heart, 22 because they are life for those who find them and healing for the entire body. [2] 23 Above all else, guard your heart carefully, because your life flows from it. 24 Turn your mouth away from perverted speech, and keep devious lips far away from you. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead. Let your gaze [3] be directly in front of you. 26 Make a level pathway for your feet, and all your ways will be secure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or the left. Turn your feet away from evil.
Seventh Address to a Son:
Wisdom Teaches You to Avoid Adultery
Proverbs 5
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Open your ears to my understanding, 2 so that you may hold on to insight, so your lips may guard knowledge, 3 because the lips of an immoral woman drip with honey, and her words are [4] as smooth as olive oil, 4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood [5] and as sharp as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead to hell. [6] 6 She gives no thought to the path of life. [7] Her ways wander, but she doesn’t realize it. 7 Now, you sons, listen to me. Do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 8 Keep your way far from her. Do not go near the doorway of her house. 9 If you do, you will give your wealth to others and your years to a cruel person. 10 If you do, your work will satisfy strangers, and the results of your labor will end up in another man’s house. 11 You will groan when your end comes, when your body and flesh are consumed. 12 Then you will say, “Oh, how I hated discipline, and my heart despised warnings! 13 I did not listen to my teachers’ voices, and I did not open my ears to hear my instructors. 14 I soon [8] reached total ruin in the midst of the assembly of the community.”
Encouragement to Faithfulness in Marriage
15 Drink water from your own cistern. Drink running water from your own well. 16 Why should the water from your springs flow out into the street, your streams of water into the public squares? 17 They should be yours, yours alone. They are not for strangers to share with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed. Obtain your joy from the wife you married in your youth, 19 who is a loving doe and a graceful deer. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Always be intoxicated with her love. 20 Why should you be led astray, my son, by an immoral woman? Why embrace a woman who is not your wife? 21 For the ways of a man are in front of the eyes of the Lord, and he weighs all of his paths. 22 The evil deeds of the wicked man will capture him, and he will be bound by the ropes of his sin. 23 He will die for lack of discipline, and he will go astray because of his great stupidity.
Footnotes
Proverbs 4:11 Or on the right track
Proverbs 4:22 Literally all of his flesh
Proverbs 4:25 Literally your eyelids
Proverbs 5:3 Literally her palate is
Proverbs 5:4 Wormwood is a toxic, bitter-tasting drink (absinthe).
Proverbs 5:5 Or the grave. The Hebrew word is sheol.
Proverbs 5:6 Or she does not make the paths of life level
Second Address to a Son: Wisdom Provides Protection
Proverbs 2
1 My son, if you accept my words, if you store up my commands within you, 2 by paying attention [1] to wisdom with your ear, by reaching out for understanding with your heart, 3 if indeed you call out for intelligence, if you raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you search for it like silver, if you hunt for it like hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord, then you will find the knowledge of God, 6 because the Lord gives wisdom. Knowledge and understanding come from his mouth. 7 He stores up sound judgment for upright people. He is a shield for those who walk in integrity. 8 He protects those who walk on paths of justice. He guards the way of his favored ones. [2] 9 Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and fairness—every good path, 10 because wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant for your soul. 11 Foresight will stand guard over you. Understanding will protect you. 12 It will save you from the evil way, from the man who speaks perverse things, 13 from those who abandon upright paths in order to walk in the ways of darkness. 14 It will save you from those who enjoy doing evil, from those who celebrate the twisted ways of evil, 15 from those whose paths are crooked, and from those whose ways are devious.
Wisdom Protects You From the Adulterous Woman
16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, [3] from the unfaithful woman [4] with her seductive words, 17 who abandons the husband of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. 18 So she sinks down to death, which becomes her house. [5] Her way of life leads down to the spirits of the dead. 19 All who enter her house never return. They never reach the paths of life.
Admonition to Live Righteously
20 This is how to walk in the way of good people, how to stay on the paths of the righteous. 21 Yes, the upright will live in the land, and people with integrity will remain in it, 22 but wicked people will be cut off from the land, and treacherous people will be torn out of it.
Third Address to a Son:
Wisdom Leads to the Lord’s Blessing
Proverbs 3
1 My son, do not forget my teaching. Let your heart keep my commands, 2 because they will add long days and many years to your life, and peace and prosperity [6] will come to you. 3 Do not allow mercy and truth to leave you. Fasten them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will find favor and approval [7] in the eyes of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not consider yourself wise. Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 Then your body [8] will be healed, and your bones will be refreshed.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits from your entire harvest. 10 Then your barns will be filled to capacity, and your wine vats will overflow with fresh wine. 11 Do not reject the Lord’s discipline, my son, and do not despise his warning, 12 because the Lord warns [9] the one he loves as a father warns a son with whom he is pleased. 13 How blessed is the person who finds wisdom, [10] the person who acquires understanding, 14 because the profit it gives is better than the profit from silver, and its yield is better than gold! 15 It is more valuable than gems, [11] and nothing you desire can equal it. 16 In its right hand are the days of a long life. In its left hand are riches and honor. 17 Its ways are pleasant ways, and all its paths are peace. 18 It is a tree of life for those who hold on to it. Those who cling to it are blessed. 19 The Lord founded the earth by wisdom. He established the heavens by understanding. 20 By his knowledge the deep waters were divided, and the clouds drip dew.
21 My son, do not take your eyes off these things. Guard sound judgment and insight. 22 They will be life for your soul and grace to adorn your neck. 23 Then you will walk safely on your way, and your foot will not stumble. 24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be pleasant. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of the destruction of the wicked when it comes, 26 because the Lord will be your confidence. He will keep your foot from being caught.
Fourth Address to a Son:
Practice Wisdom Toward Your Neighbor
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is within your power to give it. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back some other time. I will give something to you tomorrow,” when in fact it is already with you right now. 29 Do not plan harm against your neighbor when he is living with you peacefully. 30 Do not quarrel with a person for no good reason when he has done nothing to harm you. 31 Do not envy a violent person. Do not choose any of his ways, 32 because a crooked person is an abomination [12] to the Lord, but God’s friendly guidance leads [13] the upright. 33 The Lord’s curse rests on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. 34 Although he scorns the scornful, he gives grace to the humble. 35 Wise people inherit honor, but proud fools receive disgrace.
Footnotes
Proverbs 2:2 Or so you can pay attention
Proverbs 2:8 Or those who are merciful or those who have received his mercy
Proverbs 2:16 Literally from the strange woman, that is, one who is married to another man
Proverbs 2:16 Literally from the foreign woman, that is, one who is married to another man
Proverbs 2:18 The line is difficult and the translation is uncertain.
Proverbs 3:2 The Hebrew word shalom here contains both meanings.
Proverbs 3:4 Literally good understanding
Proverbs 3:8 Literally navel
Proverbs 3:12 Or disciplines
Proverbs 3:13 Or Wisdom. An issue throughout Proverbs 1-9 is when wisdom should be capitalized as the personal name of Lady Wisdom and when it is the common noun. Most translations do not capitalize wisdom in verses like verse 13 because of the parallelism with understanding. This decision also determines whether the English pronouns should be she or it. In Hebrew the noun for wisdom is feminine, so the pronouns in Hebrew are always feminine.
Proverbs 3:15 The meaning of this word is uncertain. It may refer to a specific gemstone, such as rubies or red coral.
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.
The Purpose of Proverbs
2 To learn wisdom and discipline, to understand sayings [1] that give insight, [2] 3 to acquire discipline to act sensibly, to acquire righteousness, justice, and fairness, 4 to give good judgment [3] to the inexperienced, to give a young man knowledge and foresight.
5 A wise person should listen, and he will increase learning. A person with understanding should obtain guidance 6 so he will understand proverbs, puzzling statements, [4] and the thought-provoking words of the wise. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of [5] knowledge, but stubborn fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Solomon’s Speeches About Wisdom
First Address to a Son:
Avoid the Company of Sinners
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s discipline, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching, 9 because they are a garland of grace for your head. They are jewelry for your neck. 10 My son, if sinners lure you, do not go along with them. 11 If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lie in wait to shed blood. Let’s hide and ambush an innocent person for no reason. 12 We will swallow them alive like the grave. We will swallow them whole like those who go down to the pit. 13 We will find all kinds of wealth and treasure. We will fill our houses with loot. 14 Cast your lot with us. We will all share one bag of money.” 15 My son, do not walk along the road with them. Do not set foot on their path, 16 because their feet run to do evil, and they hurry to shed blood. 17 How useless to spread a net in the sight of any bird! 18 Yet they set up an ambush for their own blood. They hide in ambush to take their own lives. 19 This is where the path leads for everyone who is greedy for stolen property: It takes away the life of those who possess it.
First Poem About Wisdom: Wisdom Calls but Many Refuse
20 Wisdom calls out loudly in the street. In the public squares she raises her voice. 21 At the noisy street corners she calls out. At the entrances to the city gates she speaks her words: 22 “How long will you gullible [6] people love being gullible? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing? How long will fools hate knowledge? 23 If you respond to my warning, I will pour out my spirit for you. I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I called, but you refused to listen, because I stretched out my hand, but no one paid attention, 25 because you ignored all my advice, and you did not accept my warning, 26 therefore I will laugh at your calamity. I will jeer when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a violent storm, when calamity strikes you like a windstorm, when trouble and distress come upon you. 28 Then they will call to me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me, 29 because they hated knowledge, and they did not choose the fear of the Lord. 30 They would not accept my advice, and they despised all my warnings. 31 So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and they will be stuffed with their own schemes. 32 Therefore the wandering ways [7] of the gullible kill them, and the complacency of fools destroys them. 33 But whoever listens to me will live in safety. He will be secure, without fear of evil.”
Footnotes
Proverbs 1:2 Or axioms
Proverbs 1:2 Or discernment
Proverbs 1:4 Or prudence
Proverbs 1:6 Or enigmas
Proverbs 1:7 Or prerequisite for or most important part of
25 If we live by the spirit, let us also walk in step with it. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.
Bear One Another’s Burdens
Galatians 6
1 Brothers, if a person is caught in some trespass, you who are spiritual should restore such a person in a spirit of humility, carefully watching yourself so that you are not also tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill [1] the law of Christ. 3 For if someone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Let each person test his own work, and then he will take pride in regard to himself and not his neighbor. 5 For each man will bear his own burden.
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with his teacher.
7 Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. To be sure, whatever a man sows, he will also reap. 8 Indeed, the one who sows for his own sinful flesh will reap destruction from the sinful flesh. But the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. 9 Let us not become weary of doing good, because at the appointed time we will reap, if we do not give up. [2]10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.
What Matters: A New Creation, Not Circumcision
11 See what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 Those who want to look good in the flesh are the ones who are trying to compel you to be circumcised. Their only reason is so that they are not persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 As a matter of fact, those who are circumcised do not keep the law themselves. But they want to have you circumcised, so that they can boast about your flesh.
14 But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. 15 In fact, in Christ Jesus [3] circumcision or uncircumcision does not matter. What matters is being a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy on those who follow this rule, namely, on the Israel of God.
17 Finally, let no one cause me any trouble, because I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus on my body.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Footnotes
Galatians 6:2 Some witnesses to the text read in this way you will fulfill.
Galatians 6:9 Or reap without ever getting tired, or reap without ceasing
Galatians 6:15 Some witnesses to the text omit in Christ Jesus.
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“Every minister of the gospel needs encouragement,” says Kevin Walker, director of staff ministry at Martin Luther College (MLC), New Ulm, Minn. “So a once-a-year conference provides the opportunity for […]
In late August, Daniel Kroll and Stephen Gerling and their families arrived in Dakar, Senegal. They are the first WELS missionaries to serve in this area. As WELS works to […]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God has entrusted the young people of our synod to the spiritual care of Christian parents, pastors, teachers, youth leaders, and fellow believers. At […]
Karl R. Gurgel, the tenth man to serve as president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, was called home to heaven on September 13, surrounded by his wife, Barbara, (pictured […]
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wis., is investing in a building project for blessings now that have impacts into eternity. Earle Treptow, seminary president, describes why this is the moment […]