“So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.” Galatians 4:31
There’s a catchy, popular phrase that I hear from time to time, and it’s usually shared among guys who are “really tight” and mutually considered close friends. The phrase, “Hey, this is my brother from another mother,” is said by one or the other in a fun, slang way, again as a gesture of close friendship.
One day a friend told me that I was his “brother from the same mother,” to which I responded with a half smiling, confused look. I asked, “What do you mean?” Then my friend told me that we were “brothers from the same mother” because we were both born from the “mother of grace.”
He then went on to explain to me what Paul meant in Galatians 4 when Paul himself made a pretty identical statement, minus the slang. My friend explained that as Christians and believers in Jesus Christ, we were born of the same Heavenly Father. But the next question was, “Who’s your mother?” As Paul explained it, the believers who are focused on the law, various religious regulations, and do’s and don’ts in an effort to seek approval from the Father are from their mother Hagar, who represents the Law of God given at Mount Sinai. But those believers who walk in the truth that they have already been accepted by the Father because of the finished works of Jesus, are from their mother Sarah. Sarah represents grace, and those doing things unto the Lord through His grace and power are children of the free women, Sarah, and are also children of the promised blessing.
So, the question for us today is, “Who’s your mother?” If your focus is on God’s grace and supply, and what God has done for you and will do through you, then we are brothers (and sisters) from the same mother.