We have spent some time this month looking at what lament is, how we lament, and how our pain meets hope. We’re going to look today at the destination of our laments. Praise should be the result. Praise in the midst of pain is probably one the most difficult things we are called upon to do as Christians.

Is it possible to praise God even in the midst of pain? Yes!

In this life that we live, we experience pain, loss, grief and despair.

Paul began the fifth chapter of Galatians with the command to stand firm in the liberty Christ gave us. We stand on God’s grace, and we depend on His strength, not ours.

The liberty and the freedom of the Gospel was under attack. The false teachers were saying that to live a life of grace you would be doing what ever you wanted to do. To live that way would produce all kinds of law breaking. As we looked at last week, Paul argues that to live in liberty it’s not a license to do whatever you want to do.

As Christians, we are free, but we should use this freedom to reflect God’s love. Our text this morning Paul is going to show us that one of the things we encounter when we try to live for God is a conflict. It’s a conflict within. It’s a conflict between the flesh and the Spirit.