Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
This verse is part of a longer list the apostle Paul — a first-century missionary who wrote letters to early Christian communities — called 'the works of the flesh.' In his letter to believers in Galatia (a region in modern-day Turkey), Paul was warning them against letting selfish human instincts drive their behavior. This particular verse lists idolatry (giving ultimate devotion to anything other than God — money, status, comfort), witchcraft (seeking spiritual power outside of God), and a string of relational failures: hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, and factions. Paul wasn't describing criminals — he was describing ordinary community life gone wrong. These aren't exotic sins; they're the ones that quietly destroy friendships, families, and churches.
Father, it is easier to look at this list and see others than to see myself. Give me the courage to name what is actually driving me — the jealousy I have called concern, the ambition I have called vision, the discord I have called honesty. Replace it with something that actually builds. Amen.
Scroll through the list slowly: hatred, jealousy, selfish ambition, factions. Now think about the last tense conversation you had — the group chat that went cold, the coworker you've silently written off, the meeting where everyone jockeyed for credit. Paul wasn't writing about serial killers. He was writing about church people. People who showed up, sang songs, and then tore each other apart over doctrine and dinner parties. That's the uncomfortable thing about this list — it fits in recognizable places. Here's the harder question it raises: which one of these do you tend to excuse in yourself? Selfish ambition gets rebranded as 'drive.' Discord becomes 'I just speak my mind.' Factions feel like discernment. Paul's point isn't that you're a monster — it's that when the Spirit isn't leading, this is what naturally comes out of us. Not because we're uniquely broken, but because we're human. The invitation here isn't shame. It's honesty. You can't ask the Spirit to replace something you haven't named.
Why do you think Paul grouped spiritual practices like idolatry alongside relational failures like jealousy and discord — what connects them?
Which item on this list do you find easiest to rationalize or rename in your own life, and why?
Is it possible to be deeply religious — attending church, reading scripture — while still living out many of these behaviors? What does that tension reveal about the nature of faith?
How do behaviors like selfish ambition or factionalism damage a community over time, even when no single person intends harm?
What is one specific relationship or habit where you sense the Spirit asking you to be more honest about what is actually driving you?
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
James 1:19
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Galatians 5:24
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
1 Samuel 15:23
A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Titus 3:10
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 21:8
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Philippians 2:3
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 Peter 2:1
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luke 21:34
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies],
AMP
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
ESV
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
NASB
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
NIV
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
NKJV
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
NLT
trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits;
MSG