What Laws Can’t Grow

Galatians 5:22-23 (CEB) 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,  faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this.

Have you ever thought about how strange it would be for someone to call the police because a  neighbor was too patient or too kind? Yes, people complain about anything, but imagine a  phone call like this: “Officer, come quick—she’s showing way too much gentleness!” Such a call wouldn’t elicit sirens. But Paul’s line, “There is no law against things like this,” almost invites that kind of absurd image. Laws are written to restrain what harms, not to regulate what heals. 

Think about a typical homeowners’ association. They churn out pages of rules—don’t park here,  don’t paint that, keep your grass at exactly 3 inches—all in an attempt to create  “neighborliness.” But rules can’t make people love one another. At best, they can keep things  neat; at worst, they breed resentment and loophole-seeking. 

I grew up in a small town that didn’t need HOAs. People looked out for each other because  that’s simply what you did. Someone’s fence fell? Neighbors just showed up with hammers.  Nobody wrote that down. It was lived. 

When I read these verses, I always think of Mickey Berney, a member of Lincoln Park United  Methodist Church in Knoxville for over 85 years. She wasn’t perfect—none of us are—but she  spent 100 years and 3 weeks leaning into these Spirit-born qualities, nurturing them in herself and encouraging them in her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great grandchildren. She often requested sermons on those verses. Mickey didn’t try to force fruit; she cultivated it. 

That’s the key: the Spirit grows what rules never can. Laws can only say Don’t do this. The Spirit  whispers, become this. 

Prayer: 

Thank you, Father, for your Holy Spirit. Grow your fruit in me. Let love, joy, peace, patience,  kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control become so real in me that no law  could ever be needed. In Jesus name, Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Donn King.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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