Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.
Galatians 6:1-5
During 2026, Peachtree Church is inviting everyone into Cultivate, a churchwide discipleship plan centered on the fruit of the Spirit and the kind of life God longs to grow in us. Throughout the year, we’ll explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control take shape in everyday life through the Spirit’s work. Cultivate brings together worship, Scripture, group guides, and meaningful practices designed to meet you where you are and support growth in ways that fit your season. These twice-weekly devotionals are one way to stay connected, offering reflection and grounding for daily life with God. Whether you engage in many ways or just one, you’re invited to be part of this shared journey of becoming more rooted in who God has created and called you to be.
Devotional
A number of years ago, I purchased a book entitled, Yes Lord, I Have Sinned: But I Have Several Excellent Excuses. Rather than judging the book by its cover, I judged it by its title and was not disappointed. It examined the culture which we live in, where people are more than ready to admit to their sin without looking to change. The book posited the idea that we do not seek to truly address our sins because we have grown used to offering justifications for them. Change occurs only when we can see where we are failing, admit that we wish to change, and then undertake the often-arduous process of working towards restoration.
In the early church, when a person was seen as a noted sinner, they were removed from active participation in the life of the church until they showed they were willing to change their ways. Paul details what this removal would look like in a particularly arduous case in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5. In this week’s passage, we see what should happen when they are brought back into the fold of the church.
“You who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently” (Galatians 6:1). The process of bringing someone back to the church should recognize the sacrifice required to make amends for our sin; it is a demanding process that must be met with gentleness. For many of us who have sought restoration, one challenge is that, as we work to change our way of life, we can become overly focused on our sin and lose sight of God’s continuous offer of grace. When moments like these occur, if we are not met with gentleness, the possibility of falling back into our old ways increases.
Yet when we are offered gentleness, we see a sign of God’s grace in the actions of others. Because restoration to the church is a human action in response to God’s forgiveness, we who offer that restoration need to do so with the understanding that we are called to show the grace we have all been offered. Within that call is a reminder that grace always comes at a cost: the blood of Christ, our desire to work toward restoration, and the work that must go into seeking change.
For Reflection
- When have you needed to seek restoration with God in your life? What was that process like?
- How have you experienced gentleness when you have sought restoration with someone else?
Prayer
Lord God, help us to seek the healing that you desire, to find the restoration of our bodies, minds, souls, and the brokenness that all too many of us know in relationships. Help us to see the grace that you offer to us, so that we might live as children of grace in all things. Amen.
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Devotionals