Peace that Subdues: Fruit of the Spirit
One of my favorite bible study apps launched a daily study of Deuteronomy last year. Admittedly, I had never read Deuteronomy in its entirety, so I saw this as a perfect opportunity to dig a little deeper into a book I had only read bits and pieces of.
At first, my deep dive into Deuteronomy was, believe it or not, pretty interesting. As a fan of what God can do in the wilderness, I was intrigued by the Israelites' struggles, Moses’s frustration, and God’s responses to the wandering I’ve heard about and read pieces of throughout my life.
Then, though, I arrived at the last several chapters of my journey through Deuteronomy, and I’ve got to tell you, I was perplexed, frustrated, confused, and a little heartbroken for the Israelites.
If you’ve never read Deuteronomy, let me just give you a content warning that the end of the book is a list of rules and regulations handed to the Israelites before they can enter the Promised Land after being enslaved, escaping slavery, failing repeatedly, and consequently wandering around in the wilderness for forty years instead of reaching their destination that should have only taken them 11 days.
Here’s the thing–I know context is everything. I understand that God has reasons for giving the Israelites all of these laws and commands, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like them!
Then, when I try to wrap my head around what it must have been like to attempt to abide by all of these laws and keep all of these commands, I struggle to see how it could have even been possible.
When I try to think about putting myself in their shoes, it causes me immediate anxiety.
Did they ever have any peace?
Or, were they constantly trying to keep all the rules, laws, and commands straight?
But, then, when I think about it that way, it reminds me that isn’t so different than the church I grew up in.
The rules might have looked differently, but they were still there.
The checklists might have had different boxes, but they were still there.
The commands might have come from other humans, but they were still there.
It’s then that I’m reminded of the message Paul was trying to convey to the Galatians and how that message is still applicable to us today:
At last we have freedom, for Christ has set us free! We must always cherish this truth and firmly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past. Galatians 5:1 (TPT)
We have freedom from laws, commands, rules and checklists because Christ has set us free.
With that freedom and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we should be able to experience this peace Paul talks about in Galatians 5:22 when he talks about a peace that subues (TPT).
Freedom that Brings Peace:
I’m a big-picture person.
I do best when I can see the big picture first, and then I can break it down and focus on the individual and specific parts.
For example, when I write, I think about a series first, and then I think about the individual articles in that series. I need to be able to see the whole before I see the parts.
Not everyone thinks this way.
I would encourage you to stop right now and think about your own thought processes but also your different relationships and communities.
Maybe you have a boss who knit-picks the minute details without ever focusing on the end goal.
Maybe you have a partner who lives in the now and never thinks about tomorrow.
Maybe you have an instructor who can’t make connections from one lesson to the next.
Maybe you have a church that focuses on traditions, checklists, and rules instead of who God calls you to be.
When we focus on the details without seeing the big picture, we run the dangerous risk of missing the point altogether.
I can’t help but think that was the problem in the church in Galatia, and I’m sadly confident it’s the case in way too many churches and homes today.
Paul was attempting to remind the Galatians that Christ came to bring them freedom from the law, that God gave them the Holy Spirit to guide them, and that the fruit of a life lived in the Spirit is love in action, in all its forms:
joy that overflows,
peace that subdues,
patience that endures,
kindness in action,
a life full of virtue,
faith that prevails,
gentleness of heart, and
strength of spirit.
Galatians 5:23 (TPT)
Over the last few weeks, we’ve talked about how a life lived by the Spirit is one that is governed by love and where joy is overflowing because of the freedom we have in Christ. Just as we have joy because of that freedom, a Spirit-filled existence is also one where we are at peace spiritually.
This peace is a spiritual peace.
It’s the calm and assurance that comes with grace.
It’s the rest and stillness that comes with Christ.
It’s the freedom from laws, rules, and checklists that allows you to breathe again–or maybe for the first time.
Peace that Eliminates Fear
I was a full-blown adult before I truly quit fearing I was going to screw up, fail to ask forgiveness for a specific sin, and manage to land myself in hell.
There are still times when I find myself falling back into the rules, regulations, and checklists that dominated so many years of my life.
I wrote a piece about financial freedom earlier this year. I published it on a Wednesday, and my husband lost his job that Friday.
This is real.
I can’t make this stuff up.
We were absolutely fine financially, but I still found myself paralyzed with fear.
It’s in those times of fear that I find my old religious self rearing its ugly head.
I began to question what we were doing that was making God keep my husband from getting hired:
Were we not tithing enough?
Were we not serving enough?
Was my quiet time not long enough?
Did I need to read my bible more?
If I’m not careful, I can easily find myself traveling all the way through these unproductive and destructive rabbit holes that are the furthest thing from the peace and freedom I should have in Christ.
God does not reward us based on how well we perform.
My husband’s job situation was not a result of how well either one of us was performing as Christians.
It’s easy for us to sit here today and judge the Galatians for their inability to walk away from the laws, rules, and regulations they were familiar with or the faulty theology they were influenced by, but if I’m being honest, I can easily find myself falling into those same pitfalls.
The peace that Paul speaks about here in Galatians 5, though, is a peace that subdues those fears. It’s a peace that should remind me that God isn’t rewarding me with salvation, restoration, or redemption based on how many items I can check off a list or how many hours I spend in quiet time with Him daily.
This is the peace that comes with knowing Christ’s sacrifice was and will continue to be enough.
This is the peace that comes with living a Spirit-filled life instead of a rule-abiding life.
Peace, Love, and Obedience
One of the biggest struggles I hear in the church is the struggle between freedom in Christ and obedience.
That’s fair.
Just like most other things, though, this all points back to the big picture.
Paul talked about living a life led by the Spirit and how we can’t live by both the Spirit and the flesh.
As Paul mentioned at the beginning of Galatians 5, freedom in Christ is not a license to do whatever we want. That’s an important distinction here. We have freedom from the law, but we don’t have freedom to do whatever the heck we want–that won’t bring peace!
As cliche as this sounds, these truths are all rooted in our legitimate relationship with God as opposed to our commitment to following rules.
I know this is a long chunk of scripture, but Paul sums all of this up beautifully in Ephesians 4:
So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth. And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power.
Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.
Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!
Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.
Ephesians 3: 14-20 TPT
When we live in faith and allow the Spirit to guide our lives, we can discover the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. We can rest in the assurance that God will achieve infinitely more than our greatest requests, our most unbelievable dreams, and our wildest imaginations.
That is a peace that subdues.
That’s my prayer for you today, friend, that you will trade in your rules and regulations for a relationship that allows the Spirit to fill you and allows you to experience the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. It’s only then that you can truly experience this peace that subdues all your spiritual fears and anxieties.
Reflections:
When do you find yourself struggling the most with rules and regulations?
What is the biggest obstacle to peace in your life?
