Making Room Again
Shelby Olive

Galatians 2:15-21
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not gentile sinners, 16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Reflection:
Do you have a go-to facial expression? I do, and it’s not a pleasant one but a straight stare with just one eyebrow raised. A kinder person may call it inquisitive. But I know myself better than that, and while I may often be curious, a better word for this expression would l be skeptical, and if you caught me on a particularly bad day, it would reveal a great deal of cynicism. Yep. I am, much to my own chagrin, incredibly cynical. 

May you, like me, have gotten better about reining in the inner-cynic. As I’ve gotten older my heart and mind have softened a bit, and I’m more willing to suspend the “this-is-too-good-to-be-true” kind of thinking and embrace a more faithful posture. Praise God for that! But if I’m being totally honest, setting aside my deeply ingrained skepticism is hard work! How often do I find myself like in verse 18, “building up again the very things I once tore down”? How often do I rebuild walls between myself and others out of self-preservation? How often do I start immediately looking for a “catch” when someone extends me an act of mercy, even after time and time again I have seen first-hand how deeply, wonderfully good people can be? It seems that even when God has come into my life and restored that which is broken within me, there are still old patterns of being that have made themselves at home. 

Here is the beautiful thing about faith. It opens us up to far more than just believing in the impossible; it opens us up to Christ living in us. Brick by brick, Jesus breaks down those walls again—even the most stubborn ones that are reinforced by old wounds and old habits. And over time room is made for more. Room is made for meaningful connection. Room is made for leaning into the ways that God is continually renewing, redeeming, reconciling, healing. Room is made for Christ within us. 

Prayer:
Dear God, I don’t know why it’s so hard to break old patterns of being, but here I am, time after time, repeating the same mistakes. You have broken these barriers before, and I ask that you do it again. Help me to make room for the goodness you have in store for all creation. Amen.