Wednesday, September 21 – Galatians 3:14

in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Have you ever hosted a dinner guest only to realize they did not share the same table habits as your family? Maybe they didn’t say please or thank you, or maybe they made a mess with their food or ate noisily. In sharing a meal with others, we realize the unspoken rules that have been established in our family are not standard for every person or every family. As followers of Jesus in the United States in 2022, not many of us can trace our family line back to Abraham. Not all of us come from Jewish heritage. Many of us are the Gentiles Paul spoke of in today’s passage. We are people brought into the blessing of Abraham who are not from the bloodline of Abraham. The common bloodline the church shares today is the blood of Jesus.

Through Christ, we have all received the same Spirit and have been brought into the blessing of Abraham, though we had no right to it on our own. When you see another follower of Jesus do something different than what you view as the social norm, do you discount them or distance yourself from them? Through Jesus, followers of Christ from many different places, cultures, and backgrounds are united. We will eat differently, parent differently, and lead differently. These differences may create obstacles, but we must fight for unity in Christ, regardless of our differences.

• Are there some unspoken expectations you have for other followers of Jesus? How can you be gracious through Christ when those expectations are not met?
• How should recognizing the grace you have received change the way you extend grace to others?
• Pray and thank God for bringing you into the family of God and being gracious to you despite your shortcomings and sin.