Galatians – Week 8 – Day 1

READ 

Galatians 4:17-18 

17 Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. 18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you. 

Paul told the Galatians about the motives of the false teachers. They were jealous of Paul and did not want the Galatian readers to take him seriously. The false teachers would only do something good for the people when Paul was with them. A test would be to see if they would do good things for the people when Paul was absent. 

REFLECT 

Have you known of some who were especially nice to you when a particular person was around? If so, you have some idea of what the Galatians were experiencing. 

RESPOND 

On another level, talk with a friend about how some people only do their work well when the boss is around. See Ephesians 6:5-8 for what Paul told slaves. This is also applicable to employees today.