Joshua Kennedy's Weekly Devotion

  There’s a moment at the end of Galatians where you can almost feel Paul lean in close—like a father grabbing his child by the shoulders and saying, “Listen to me. This matters.” He’s nearing the end of a letter written with fire in his bones because the gospel itself is on the line. And the final word he wants echoing in their hearts is this: Don’t boast in anything but the cross. Big Letters, Big Urgency (v. 11) Paul writes, “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.” Most likely, Paul had been dictating much of the letter, but now he takes the pen himself. The boldness of the “large letters” isn’t about style—it’s about emphasis. It’s like underlining the conclusion, writing it in all caps, or signing a warning at the bottom of an important document. This isn’t a casual closing. Paul is saying: What I’m about to say must be taken seriously, because your soul is at stake. The Trap of Religious Approval (vv. 12–13) Paul exposes the real motive behind the J...

The message of the cross does not just change our eternity — it transforms how we treat one another. When we say we are crucified with Christ, that confession must show up in community. The cross dismantles pride, crushes comparison, and births compassion. Galatians 6 reveals what a crucified life actually looks like in the body of Christ. 1. Restoration, Not Rejection (Gal. 6:1–3) A cross-shaped life does not kick people when they are down. It bends low and lifts them up. When a brother or sister falls into sin, the spiritual response is not exposure for humiliation but restoration for healing. We restore gently, remembering that we are made of the same dust. The one helping today could be the one needing help tomorrow. Pride is subtle. It whispers, “I would never do that.” But the cross silences that arrogance. Apart from grace, we are all capable of falling. The moment we believe we are above someone else, we have already stepped into dangerous territory. We are one body. If one mem...

 INTRODUCTION Paul has just finished declaring that Christ has set us free —free from the curse of the Law, free from religious bondage, and free from striving to earn righteousness (Gal. 5:1–15). But freedom is not the end goal; it is the doorway. Freedom without direction becomes chaos. Liberty without surrender becomes license. So Paul pivots. He moves from what we are free from to how we are now called to live . The question is no longer, “Am I saved?” but “What is shaping my daily life?” True freedom in Christ is not proven by what we claim, but by how we walk . And there are only two ways to walk: in the flesh or in the Spirit . There is no neutral ground. Galatians 5:16–18 THE BATTLE: FLESH VS. SPIRIT There are two operating systems for human life: the flesh and the Spirit . The flesh represents life governed by self—self-rule, self-protection, self-gratification. The Spirit represents life governed by God—submitted, surrendered, and empowered by His presence. These t...

  Freedom is not fragile because Christ failed—it’s fragile because we forget. Paul opens Galatians 5 with a thunderous declaration and an equally strong warning: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Christ has already done the work. The danger is not that we lose our salvation, but that we surrender our freedom. Christ Set You Free—So Stay Free (v. 1) Satan’s strategy changes when sin no longer owns you. If he can’t drag you back into sinful bondage, he’ll try to lure you into religious bondage. Instead of being slaves to sin, we become slaves to self-effort. We start measuring our righteousness by performance instead of the finished work of Christ. That’s the trap: trying to be right with God by what we do, rather than resting in what Christ has already done. Freedom doesn’t mean lawlessness—it means living as sons and daughters, not as hired servants trying to earn approval. You Don’t...