Galatians 4:16
16 Am I [ginomai] therefore [hoste] become [ginomai] your [humon] enemy [echthros], because I
tell [aletheuo] you [humin] the truth [aletheuo]? KJV-Interlinear
16 Have I therefore become your
enemy by telling you the truth? NASB
The Galatians at one time, had declared undying
devotion and dedication to the truth which Paul had been teaching on his prior
visit, even to the point of their willingness to give up their own eyes, quite
literally, because of the phenomenal impact that the message of truth had, had
on their lives.
However, with the passage of time since Paul’s
visit and with the introduction of false teachers, bringing their message of
works, the Galatians early dedication to the truth was transformed into a
hatred of the truth, and a dedication to the false teachings that have been
brought to them.
Without regular and consistent teaching, and
attention paid to that teaching, then it is quite easy for false ideas to push
their way into one’s mind and squeeze out the truth.
And this is what happened to the Galatians.
When truth does not have a rich soil to plant
itself into, namely the positive attitude and objectivity of a person who
strongly desires the truth, then it is just like seed that falls into rocky
soil or into the weeds. It gets squeezed out. It has no place to set a
foundation, and no place to grow. And that all ties directly to the individual’s
attitude, and to the degree of their dedication, or lack of it, to learning
truth.
A daily study of the word of God, while in
fellowship, is the only way to properly cultivate and grow the knowledge and
understanding and wisdom and ultimate production of ones spiritual life.
Without the dedication of a consistent daily study,
it is easy for anyone to fall into the pattern of idle interest in truth and
fall away into the false ideas of life.
When a person pursues and embraces false concepts,
then they are easily misled, and they are easily deceived by the religious and
philosophical and even political traps of this world.
The many concepts of truth become ridiculed and
even hated, and the many false concepts of the world become convenient and are
easily compromised as they become popular within society.
Truth promotes integrity, honesty, patriotism,
courage and so forth.
That which is false, rejects all of these
attributes, and pursues a, me first, I can do things the way they want,
attitude.
