Galatians 4:15-20: a reflection

15What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. 16So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them. 18But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you. 19My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you— 20but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Paul, writing to the Galatians who had begun to drift from the gospel, expresses the deep longing of his heart for them in a striking image: My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you. He longs, as with the pains of childbirth, for one thing above all: that Christ be formed in them, that Christ take shape within them, that their lives be conformed to him. This, for Paul, was the goal of all his labor for them: not merely that they hold right ideas, but that Christ himself be formed in their very lives.

Notice the goal Paul labored for: that Christ be formed in them. He was not content that they merely believe the right things, or belong to the right group; he longed that Christ himself take shape within them, that their inner lives and characters be conformed to Christ, that Christ be formed in them as a child is formed in the womb. This was the deep aim of his labor, worth the pains of travail: the formation of Christ in his people, Christ taking shape in their very lives, not merely their ideas.

That goal, Christ formed in us, is worth taking to heart, for it is the true aim of the Christian life. We can settle for less: for holding right beliefs, belonging to the right group, keeping certain outward practices, while Christ is not truly formed within us; but Paul longed for Christ to be formed in his people, their very lives conformed to him. The goal is not merely right belief or outward practice, but Christ himself taking shape within you, your inner life and character conformed to him. Let the true aim of your Christian life be that Christ be formed in you, not merely that you hold right ideas or keep outward forms; long, as Paul longed, for Christ to take shape within you, conforming your very life to him. Seek not merely to believe rightly, but to have Christ formed in you, your character and life shaped into his likeness, as Paul labored in travail until Christ should be formed in his people.

Lord, Paul, writing to the Galatians who had begun to drift from the gospel, expresses the deep longing of his heart for them in a striking image: my little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you. He longs, as with the pains of childbirth, for one thing above all: that Christ be formed in them, that Christ take shape within them, that their lives be conformed to him. This, for Paul, was the goal of all his labor: not merely that they hold right ideas, but that Christ himself be formed in their very lives. Show me the goal Paul labored for: that Christ be formed in them. He was not content that they merely believe the right things, or belong to the right group; he longed that Christ himself take shape within them, that their characters be conformed to Christ. This was the deep aim of his labor: the formation of Christ in his people, not merely their ideas. Take that goal to my heart, for it is the true aim of the Christian life. I can settle for less: for holding right beliefs, belonging to the right group, keeping certain outward practices, while Christ is not truly formed within me; but Paul longed for Christ to be formed in his people. The goal is not merely right belief or outward practice, but Christ himself taking shape within me. Let the true aim of my life be that Christ be formed in me, Lord, not merely that I hold right ideas or keep outward forms; help me long, as Paul longed, for Christ to take shape within me, conforming my very life to him.