Today’s reading is Galatians 2.
Barnabas had a bad day. I don’t mean Barnabas had a day in which a bunch of bad things happened to him. I mean, Barnabas had a day when he got sucked into error and hypocrisy. This is so shocking because he had been labeled the “son of encouragement” by the apostles (Acts 4:36).
However, along comes Peter, who also had a bad day. When some influential brethren from Jerusalem showed up at Antioch, Peter snubbed the Gentiles Christians, refusing to eat with them. He didn’t want to look bad in front of the Jewish Christians. This is really a shocking turn of events. After all, Peter was the first one to teach Gentiles and go into a Gentile home. Now, Peter is struggling with discrimination. His influence is so strong, he leads the son of encouragement to do something very discouraging.
Paul sets them straight. And in the context of Galatians, this is part of Paul’s argument that Jerusalem apostles had not changed his teaching, rather he had defended his teaching even when Jerusalem apostles weren’t being consistent.
However, the reason I’m bringing this up is not about all of that. I just want us to see Barnabas had a bad day. He messed up. He sinned. So did Peter (and he was an apostle). No doubt, this is not permission for us to go about sinning. However, I hope it helps us turn back to the Lord without beating ourselves up endlessly with guilt and shame. I hope this will help us realize when we mess up, we are walking the discipleship journey with the best of them. We don’t need to give up. We just need to get back up, dust ourselves off, turn to the Lord for forgiveness, and keep walking the road with the Jesus.
Yes, you’ll have bad days. We all do. Sometimes, you may even have to be rebuked by someone in order to get called back from your bad days. Don’t hang your head in shame. Don’t isolate yourself in embarrassment. Admit your sin. Confess your wrongdoing. Then put your hand back in Jesus’s and keep on keeping on.
Praise the Lord! You get to do that.
PODCAST!!!
Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family
- What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
- What causes Christians to struggle, stumble, and fall into sin?
- Why do Christians sometimes just linger there, embarrassed to turn back to the Lord?
- What advice and encouragement would you give to Christians who have struggled and stumbled in embarrassing ways to come back to the Lord?
- What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?
Read the Bible 