Compassion: Galatians 4:12-16

Love is a response to what God has already done in Christ.  When His Spirit comes to us and dwells within, we serve one another while putting aside our needs.  We give selflessly because He selflessly gave His life for us.

Having spoken about his understanding of the role of faith, Paul returns to the topic of the Galatians themselves.  Look at the glowing words Paul speaks about them.  They seemed to have been masters of hospitality.

Paul came to preach among them because he had an ailment.  Paul was on his first missionary journey, travelling through the land looking for interested people.  He came to the area and had some kind of physical need.  The Galatians were more than happy to help him.  They treated him with grace and love, listening to Paul as he preached in their midst.

Paul mentions his ailment was a trial to them.  Paul gives credit to the Galatians, though, because they did not treat him with misgivings.  The Galatians seemed pleased to help Paul.  They received him with open arms.

This is a great picture of how Christianity works.  Paul was drawn to the Galatians because of their graciousness, not their ability to uphold the Law.  Paul recognized compassion in the Galatians, not their perfection.  Paul felt love when he was living among the Galatians, and this love came as Paul recognized the spirit of the Galatians and not some mandate of the Law.

Paul knows what love feels like.  Love isn’t given to earn God’s favor; love comes because we are thankful that God has already redeemed us and called us into relationship with Him.  Love is a response to the grace of God we’ve already been given, not evoked because other people are so righteous they deserve to be loved.  We love one another because God first loved us, not because their life of obedience demands it.

This goes back to a proper understanding of the promise and the Law.  As heirs of Abraham, we are heirs to the promise.  God loves us because of the faithfulness of Christ; we love one another for the same reason.  We don’t love one another because they follow the Law, we love them because God loved us.  We aren’t compassionate only to those who obey the Law, we are compassionate to all because of God’s love.  As heirs of the promise, we reflect God’s love to others because of the same promise.

When Paul went to Galatia, he was looking for Gentiles to whom he could proclaim Christ.  What he found were people who received him in love and helped him when he needed it most.  The Galatians didn’t receive Paul because he was an exemplar in the Law.  The Galatians received him because they knew it was the right thing to do.  As they grew to know Paul, they served compassionately and grew in their faithfulness.  Love is a response to what God has already done in Christ.