Galatians 6:17 – From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen

I used to go to a church that had a very large sanctuary. There was an upper level and a lower level and on either side were shorter pews that filled out the sides along a staircase. Due to the seating, the stairs alternated between normal depth stairs and deeper ones to accommodate the pews. When I was old enough to know better, my friend and I thought it would be fun to run down the stairs and skip all of the small ones. It was a fairly long set of stairs and I picked up a little too much speed. When I reached the bottom, I smacked into the wall and slid down like I was in a cartoon. On the way down I cut my knee on the baseboard leaving a small scar that you can still see if my legs get tan. It was a dumb way to get injured however it’s a funny story to tell.

I’m sure we all have similar stories—one bad decision ends up leaving a lasting impression. Every scar has a story: some are funny, some are scary, and some are unbearably sad. Nevertheless, the marks we bear are evidence of our past.

Paul in his letter to the Galatians is calling people to accept the grace that has been given through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Many people had been coming through saying, “to be a true Christian you must first become a Jew.” These false teachers were putting extra work between people and the good news of the Gospel. When the truth is, if we come without a thing, we’ve come with all we need.

Paul was bruised and beaten for the sake of the Gospel. He had a rich and impressive history and the scars to show the results of his devotion. And he wants us to know that we don’t need to follow that same path. The grace of God is free and easy and available to everyone. We just need to accept that we are loved.