Read Galatians 4:19–31
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth
until Christ is formed in you …
Galatians 4:19
We parents never seem to outgrow our children. The saying goes,
“When they’re little, they’re a handful; but when they’re grown, they’re
a heart full!” I remember hearing my mother say, “When they’re little,
they step on your toes; but when they’re grown, they step on your
heart.” That is what Paul was experiencing as he tried to help the
Galatian believers with their confused spiritual lives. When he had
first come to them with the gospel, he had travailed spiritually to see
them turn to the Lord. But after all, the Lord Jesus had suffered on the
cross to make possible their salvation (Isa. 53:11), and Paul’s travail
was nothing in comparison.
But now the Galatian Christians were falling back into legalism
and a “second childhood” experience, and Paul had to labor over them
again. He longed to see Christ formed in them, just as we parents long
to see our children mature in the will of God.
Something to Ponder
Are you clinging to childhood in your faith, through legalism or in
other ways? If so, how can you grow out of that state?