Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

In the early days of tape recordings there was a product called Memorex. It’s slogan was “Is it real or Memorex?” Here in this verse it might appear to some that Paul is saying it is Memorex.  “Yet not I” is a confusing phrase in this verse.

What would the purpose of conformance be if after surrendering our lives to Christ that we no longer existed and everything done thru us was Christ and not us? We are not puppets and God does not hold the strings causing us to dance to His music. We are still that not yet perfected human with one caveat, we are joined in the Spirit in our experience. While He is able to enact God’s will without our knowledge or cooperation that is not God’s design. God wants us to join Him in His activities. It is a shared experience.

The real key to the opening verse is living by faith.

Hebrews 11:6a But without faith it is impossible to please him:

I omitted the rest of the verse because I want to concentrate on the faith portion. A shared life is only possible by living a life of faith and that is pleasing to God. In any loving relationship no matter who the two parties might be, shared experiences are pleasing to both parties and help build a better and more stable relationship.

If we live our lives with this awareness of sharing this life with God perhaps then we might be more considerate of what He wants to do. He is kind and merciful and wants us to ask Him what it is He would like to do today, just like any relationship.

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Praise God when our children come to Christ out of love and not with great repentance. A tender heart shall not be broken. Which of them has known the hardship of guilt placed on the wicked?

Naiveté aside we all need to come to an understanding of the demands of being a servant of God and the opposition of our adversary Satan. We raise up tender hearts to love and we would have it that their hearts are never broken. We shy away from telling them of cost of obedience.

Matthew 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

The hedge of protection and the watchtower can only protect the vine as long as we remain vigilant but we will sooner or later turn them over to another husbandman. Whether it is a daughter to her husband or a disciple to another teacher their protection is in the relationship they have made with our God. Have we taught them everything they need to know to remain strong in the face of opposition or did we think our hedge and tower would last forever?

Sadly our children must grow and their innocence tested. Did we tell them the whole truth?

Hebrews 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Love of righteousness may come naturally but hatred of iniquity does not. Teach them.