Galatians 6:12, 14 NIV “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…..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.” https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.6.12-14.NIV
God was clear when He lived among us as one of us: we cannot serve both God and money, but He might also have said we cannot serve both God and man. He said almost as much, and what Paul is also saying by way of the Holy Spirit in this letter, that anyone ashamed of Him in this world of him will God the Savior be ashamed when He returns to gather His loyal subjects. Paul explains why we are often man pleasers rather than God pleasers. We don’t want to suffer for identifying with Jesus. American suffering is really nothing. It is ridicule, loss of promotion, ostracism from the cool kids, but it is not stones, crucifixion, or imprisonment after beatings. These are the things Paul suffered for identifying with Jesus and which many to this day still suffer in much of the world where governments and religion are hostile to Christianity. What does it take to be a God pleaser rather than a man pleaser? Paul answers that question too by sharing his focus upon the cross of Christ, which has crucified him to the world. God in Jesus commands His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9.36). Identification with Jesus in the marketplace, in the government, at school begins with denying ourselves. We no longer put our wants above God’s will. We no longer make our way the way but rather seek God’s way that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and we are the instruments for doing His will. Death to self and the glory of Jesus first and most through our words and deeds is the means to loving God most and identifying with Him unashamedly in a world increasingly rebellious against Him and hostile toward those who love Him. This is what it means to be crucified with Christ: repeating Jesus’ life and words, not My will be done but Your will be done, Father.
RUN TODAY’S PLAY: Live boldly, speak truthfully, and let the cross define your life—not culture.
