This passage from Galatians 5:1,13-25 is perfect for the kind of person who loves lists. Paul, writing to a new faith community in what is now Turkey, starts his first list by naming the juicy stories that fill the shows we binge watch on TV and Netflix. We could, if we wanted, spend hours talking about each vice listed. We could share personal stories about how these vices have impacted us. And we could remind ourselves of the million different ways we've failed to love our neighbor as ourselves. Personally, I don't have much experience with sorcery. But envy, anger and jealousy are ones I know a little bit more about. If each of us wrote down a book detailing what each of these vices meant to us, we would share with the world a library of stories. This library would be filled with the experiences that have shaped us into who we are today. And we would cringe constantly as we recall what we wish could be forgotten. Paul's list of vices is a list that takes up all the space in the room because it's a list of how we've failed. It's easier, sometimes, to remember all the ways we've screwed up rather than those times when we've been exactly who God wants us to be.

I think Paul is hinting at this reality because he ended his list with a very general phrase. Instead of naming a specific vice, he wrote "and things like these." Paul's list is less about the specifics he named. Instead, he was trying to create a mood. We're supposed to react to his words. But instead of looking at the people around us and thinking about all the ways they've lived out these vices, we're supposed to look inside our own story, and realize that we often fail to be who God knows we can be. Paul brings us down so that, in a moment, he can remind us who we are.

We are, through our baptism and through the gift of faith, beloved children of God. That means we are led not by our own concerns, desires or feelings. Instead, we are led by the Spirit. The Spirit is our connection to the God who is always with us. And, this God is guiding us into a new way of life. This new life isn't about denying our list of vices. Rather, it's about living into a new reality. We don't need to let envy and jealousy (or the fight against those feelings) be what defines us. We can let patience and generosity be exactly who we are. Our connection to the Spirit lets us tell a different kind of story that isn't defined by what went wrong. We can be rooted in what's right when we cling to Jesus Christ. Jesus went through the wrong of the Cross and came out with a new story that changed everything, including what came before and what came after.