The Real "Bella Vita"

So first things first, I apologize to all those who have been grateful enough to follow my blog which I have unfortunately abandoned for the past month and a half....there's a number of things from this past semester that I have yet to blog about....we'll see how many I actually get to.

Now that I'm not living in Italy anymore, I'm changing my blog name to "Bella Vita" which still totally applies to this next semester, and to my life. I have the life of Christ living in me and through me, and He has set me free. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." That is a beautiful life.

Anyways, the point of this post is to share a little bit from a college conference I attended over New Years. Basically for 3 days straight, about 150 college aged students came together to study and enjoy the book of Galatians. The schedule was rigorous (4 meetings and 4 small group studies a day), but I can absolutely say the concepts of my Christian life have been completely changed forever.

So the rest of this post is something that I shared with my 216 girls--a broad stroke of what really touched me during this conference. I encourage you to read it, but if not, know that more pictures and stories will be posted soon about this past semester. ALSO, I LEAVE FOR LONDON IN 10 DAYS.


"Empower was so encouraging for me, and kind of shattered a lot of my concepts of my Christian life. I've never had Galatians opened up to me like that before, and I think a lot of brothers and sisters felt their concepts of the Christian life challenged.

The first thing that really impressed me is how Christ gave everything for us and did everything for us to the point where we literally don’t have to do ANYTHING. He gave Himself for our sins (1:4) , set us apart before we were born, called us by His grace, revealed Himself to us (1:15-16), and redeemed us from the curse of the law (3:13). This last point really touched me a lot. In Galatians, Paul talks a lot about the law and admonishes the Galatians again and again for trying to follow the law. Why? Because Jesus Christ Himself was crucified so that we no longer have to live by the law but by the Spirit. We have this incredible freedom that I don’t think we realize or even come close to appreciating! Basically, before Jesus Christ, everyone lived in the realm of the law. And within this realm was a constant striving and trying harder to fulfill the law and measure up to God. But after Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the law, we NOW live in this totally new realm of faith. And within this Realm of Faith, we are given grace and the Spirit and are made righteous before God WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING. 

This is what boggles my mind. 

Christ took care of everything! And I think as Christians, especially those of us who have grown up second generation, we are caught in a mindset of “trying harder.” Trying harder to gain more of the Lord, trying harder to make it to more meetings, trying harder to serve the saints, trying harder to love people, trying harder to get more Spirit, etc. But you don’t get more Spirit by trying harder! Actually, what you get is more curse (because as soon as we start “trying harder”, we are brought into the realm of the law which ultimately results in the curse). All Abraham did was believe, and He was called righteous. How ridiculous is that?! I am SO convicted and guilty of a “try harder” attitude. I think it’s great in our human lives and in our schooling and such, but when it comes to the Lord and the realm of faith, there is nothing to “try harder” for. I have been made righteous, I have been redeemed from the curse of the law, and even more so, I have been adopted as a son and heir of God (4:5), so I already have the inheritance! CRAZINESS. We get the promise because God gives it to us without us working for it. He GIVES it to us.

One brother used the picture of us being in Christ as a branch that has been grafted in (Romans 11:17-18). A branch gets everything it needs without having to do anything because all the nourishment comes up through the trunk. This is absolutely what our Christian life is like. If we can  realize this and live in this realm of faith and stop “trying harder”, our Christian lives will be so restful and peaceful. I think we all are guilty of wanting the things that we do to be an aide to us, I am so guilty of this. This whole idea of being in the realm of faith and not needing to do anything but RECEIVE has completely shattered my concept of the Christian life.

But this is only the first half of Galatians….

What Galatians makes clear is that it pleases God for us to live our lives and remain in the inheritance He has freely given to us. Galatians 5 begins “For freedom, Christ has set you free.” What does that even mean?! Everything that Christ did essentially set us SO free that we might chose to live a life serving one another in love. The Greek word for “serving one another” is the same word as to be a slave. We were set SO free that we would put ourselves in the position of a slave for one another. THAT is freedom. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Gal. 5:13

Galatians 5 continues with how we must “walk by the Spirit.” And the Greek word for “walk” in this case infers a “walking around.” Paul charges the Galatians to explore this realm of faith in the Spirit. The Galatians were born of the Spirit, but they were trying to be perfected by the law. But Paul says, NO! If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law! (5:18).

It’s really interesting because Paul uses the phrase “walk by the Spirit” again at the end of the chapter, but that Greek word for walk means “a marching forward.” So we need to live by the Spirit and march forward by the Spirit. It makes sense then to ask, march forward to what?

At the end of chapter 6, Paul talks about this walking according to “the rule of the new creation.” (6:15-16). What does that even mean? Paul says that we satisfy the Lord by walking by the new creation. Whenever we see the creative work of God, THAT’s where we walk and invest our time. And where do we find the creative work of God? We look for the people that God is moving in. This brings so much purpose to our lives, because if we walk by the rule of the new creation, the gospel begins to go out, and the Lord can keep building what He’s after….the Israel of God (6:16). Why am I on this earth? Why am I in the church? Why am I in the school that I’m in? Why do I have the friends that I have? It’s ALL for the Israel of God. "