Episode 91 - Clinging to Grace: Sojo members explore lessons from Galatians

Welcome back! For the last two weeks, Jen and AJ have been chatting about the Book of Galatians, and for today we thought it would be nice for you to hear what some of our Sojo Academy members have gotten out of their study of this amazing book of the Bible. 

This is only a very small portion of the call, but it'll give you a little taste and hopefully stir your heart to dig into God's Word for yourself. 

Galatians is a really meaty book. There's just so much there, even in the very first chapter! Today we are discussing some takeaways our members have had while working through the Sojo Bible Study. We love our coffee chats, because hearing from our members is so encouraging and listening to the way they understand things from God’s Word is very impactful.

I’m not perfect and I don’t need to be

“I have always been a perfectionist and ambitious, all the things. And the biggest takeaway from this study for me is I don't have to be perfect. In fact, I can't be perfect. The Law is there to tell me that I'm not perfect because Jesus is the perfect one. I can go to him and be saved and rest in his perfect work” - Ingrid

We can all relate to that at some point, right? When we think we have to do all the right things , perfectionism really sets in. Paul teaches the Galatians that the Law was a tutor to eventually bring us to Christ, it's there to show us that we can never be perfect. We can never attain that standard. BUT CHRIST DID. Realizing that offers such freedom. 

God uses anybody and can change anybody's heart

“The main thing that I took away from this study so far was the power of God. Just how his Holy Spirit is so powerful and could change Saul to Paul and Peter from a denier to one who saves many and builds his church. I am not a perfectionist. I'm a  slob. I've got stuff everywhere. The way Paul writes it makes me wanna be more organized, but not to the point of perfection. But it makes me wanna get my act together.” - Sherry

A lot of times, we can feel like when it comes to ourselves, we are never going to change. It seems like an impossible task, right? But it's not with God. 

God can do this. And when we really look at some of the people that he's given us in Scripture and we look at their lives and how they legitimately had a change of heart… only God could do that. It's amazing because it’s what He does every single day. He is changing hearts every day. There's nobody that is beyond his ability to change and no area in our own lives that's beyond his ability to change. That should give us great hope!

Be confident. “This is who I am”

“ I love that Paul didn't need anyone to reinforce or clarify his mission.” - Susan

A lot of times we tend to think that we need other people to acknowledge the gifting or the calling that we have, or confirm it or validate it in some way. But Paul didn't. His example is, “this is who I am and this is who sent me to do it”. And when we feel God's leading in our lives, we can do the same thing. We can be that confident. 

Continually cling to grace

“I was brought up to be seen and not heard.  I have memorize verses without ever understanding the meaning of the Bible.”- Dawn

We wanted to write this study on Galatians because the book of Galatians set us free from a lot of just “Churchianity”. This book really helped AJ understand grace and what it really means that we are free of the Law.  It is possible for us to understand the Gospel and really get a good grasp on it, and then start to turn back to that whole performance trap, or legalism, or keeping up the law, keeping up with that perfectionistic ideology. Understanding that tendency is part of the battle, and safeguarding our hearts will help us to continually cling to grace.

We are unique

“Reading the verse about pleasing God rather than man makes me think that God's opinion of me is so much more important than any man's opinion. God knows me fully, all my secrets, and yet he still chose me to fill with His Holy Spirit and to give me his work to do on earth.”- Sarah

God chooses us to do certain things, and he's shaped us each uniquely. He has given us our own sets of gifts, personality traits, experiences, families, and backgrounds in order to prepare us for our calling.

God's Word is rich, satisfying and impactful for our day-to-day lives. All of the lessons from the Book of Galatians we learn shape us and grow us in Christ likeness.  And for this we are grateful.  

Thank you to all the members that participated in this coffee chat. We feel very blessed to hear how God's Word is teaching them and how God is applying what we learn to our lives.  

See you guys next week!

For Further Study

We are doing a whole study on Galatians this month. Throughout this study, we will walk you through this beautiful book verse by verse, and after just a few weeks, you will know God more. 

If you want to go deeper, join us here sojoacademy.com.