Continuing the July faith season, Dr. Nana Boadum lands on Galatians 5:6: the only thing that counts is faith working through love. Faith is the engine, love is the fuel — tongues, prophecy, and mountain-moving belief without love are nothing. And the danger to the race is rarely dramatic: a slight inclination to error, a little leaven, a little skipped Sunday — the small drifts that make Paul ask, "You were running so well; who hindered you?"
The seven movements
- Faith that can be seen, continued. Last week's four friends tore a roof open because faith shows itself in works. This week: that visible faith is "activated, energized, expressed, and working through love" (Mark 2:1-12; Galatians 5:6 AMPC).
- Prayer is relational. The midnight friend of Luke 11 came right after "teach us to pray": vertical relationship with God, horizontal love for others. A friend's need is a reason to pray — faith touches God along the lane of love (Luke 11:1-8).
- Without love, nothing. Tongues of men and angels — noise. Prophecy, mysteries, mountain-moving faith — "I am nothing." Love isn't the garnish on faith; it's the condition of its working (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
- "Who hindered you?" You were running well — and what interferes is never God. The persuasion that slows the race is an evil one, and freedom in Christ is the invitation back (Galatians 5:7-8).
- A slight inclination to error. Falls are never sudden: a little offense held, a little false doctrine tolerated, a little "just this once," one skipped gathering that becomes a drift into watching online, then not at all. A little leaven leavens the whole lump (Galatians 5:9; Proverbs 24:33-34).
- He began to sink. Peter walked on water until the wind got his attention — and the sinking was a process, not a plunge. The small shift of focus from Jesus to the storm is the same slight inclination; so is the slow contamination of faith by accumulated little compromises (Matthew 14:28-30).
- Faith in Christ, love for the saints. Colossians and Hebrews pair them: God will not forget your work and labor of love — because His love has already been poured into our hearts by the Spirit. The closing prayer from Acts 27: heed the prophetic word, escape every Euroclydon, no loss in the second half of the year (Colossians 1:4-5; Hebrews 6:10; Romans 5:5).
Walk away with this
Audit the little things: the offense you're nursing, the "just once" you're negotiating, the gatherings you're quietly skipping. Refuel on love — because faith without it stalls short of the finish — and stay on course from July to December: no deviation, no Euroclydon, no loss.