“God forbid that I should boast save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14

This text and I have had a very strong connection for many years. I was only a boy when I was given a cross necklace with the letters “G a l” and the numbers “6 1 4” inscribed on it. It was a special friend who gave me the cross. I had memorised the verse and have never forgotten it.

It speaks so directly about who we are as Baptised children of God. As we are reminded also in Romans 6:“…all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death… For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

And though we are freed from sin because of the grace of the cross, with which Christ suffered, we continue to suffer on this earth as the world wills to crucify believers in Him. If not physically, then spiritually, mentally and emotionally. But as a Christian, by the power of the Spirit and through the love of God, I have learned to embrace this fate. For though the world would crucify me, I have seen the Spirit. Crucify my lust, destroy temptation and enlighten my life in ways that could not be without the light of the world, whom will ever remain a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son to suffer the fate we deserve, so that the crosses we bear will seem like joyful tasks, until we see You again, face to face. Amen.