Walking in the Spirit

Church should be a place of worship, growth, truth, love, and service.
Yet even among believers, jealousy, competition, misunderstanding,
gossip, hurt, and struggles over positions can arise. When they do, the
questions can become painful: Should I stay quiet? Should I confront the
problem? Should I forgive and remain? Is it time to separate? Am I
responding from emotion, or am I following the Holy Spirit?
Galatians 5 gives us a clear place to begin. It teaches us about freedom in
Christ, the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, the works of the
flesh, and the beautiful fruit the Holy Spirit desires to produce in us.
This book is not written to teach believers to run from every
disagreement. Healthy churches are made of imperfect people, and
disagreements can sometimes become opportunities for repentance,
understanding, and growth. Neither is this book written to tell people to
remain indefinitely in situations that are destructive, abusive, unsafe, or
persistently divisive.