Who Bewitched You? The Quiet Way Christians Lose Their Fire (Galatians 3)

There are passages in Scripture that feel like comfort. And then there are passages that feel like an alarm clock you cannot snooze. Galatians 3 opens with one of those moments, when Paul does not ease into the topic, he confronts it head on: “Who has bewitched you?” It is a question that cuts through the fog because it assumes something most people do not want to admit. You did not just get tired. You did not just get busy. You did not just “lose your passion.” Something influenced you, slowly, steadily, quietly, until your convictions got softer and your obedience got delayed.

The word bewitched is not cute language. It is not a dramatic Bible word meant for stained glass windows. It points to deception that works like a slow drip, the kind that rewires you without you noticing. It is the gradual pull that moves you from clarity into confusion, from boldness into hesitation, from spiritual discipline into spiritual negotiation. It is the kind of drift where you still love God, still believe in Jesus, still attend church or listen to sermons, but you are no longer walking in power and joy. You are surviving, not thriving. You are informed, not transformed.

A lot of men do not realize this drift is happening because it does not show up like rebellion. It shows up like “normal.” It shows up like stress. It shows up like disappointment. It shows up like feeling overwhelmed. But the fruit is the same. The fire dims. The appetite for the Word gets weaker. The appetite for entertainment gets stronger. Prayer becomes occasional. Repentance becomes delayed. Forgiveness becomes complicated. And then one day you look up and you are still saved, but you feel stuck.

Here is what bewitching often looks like in real life.

• You used to obey quickly, now you negotiate

• You used to pray with faith, now you pray with doubt

• You used to feel conviction, now you feel annoyance

• You used to read the Bible, now you scroll for “inspiration”

• You used to forgive, now you keep receipts

Paul’s confrontation to the Galatians was about more than a theological debate. They started in the Spirit, but were being pulled into something else. That is what deception does. It does not always convince you to reject God. It convinces you to replace God’s way with a different way that feels reasonable. It convinces you that effort is the solution, or that time will fix it, or that you can delay obedience until you feel ready. And that is how men end up living spiritually exhausted. Not because God is not faithful, but because the foundation got shifted.

This is where the episode’s core truth lands with weight. Faith is not just a church word. Everyone uses a form of faith every day, often without realizing it. You trust labels. You trust systems. You trust prescriptions. You trust that something will work because someone said it will. That is natural faith. But the faith that brings the Kingdom into your everyday life is different. God’s faith is built on God’s Word. It is not built on emotions, not built on vibes, not built on tradition, and not built on what you grew up hearing. It is built by hearing the Word, believing it, speaking it, and obeying it.

Here are the places many men get bewitched without even noticing.

• When they treat the Bible like an accessory instead of oxygen

• When they replace daily Scripture with occasional sermons

• When they start calling conviction “too intense”

• When they start calling holiness “legalism”

• When they start calling obedience “pressure”

• When they start calling compromise “balance”

If you want the antidote, it is not more hype. It is not another playlist. It is not a new system. The antidote is returning to the Word with seriousness. Faith is built through hearing, and hearing through the Word of God. That means you do not just read it like information. You receive it like authority. You let it correct you. You let it sharpen you. You let it confront what is comfortable, and heal what is broken.

This episode also steps right on a topic men avoid until it poisons them. Forgiveness. Forgiveness is not soft. Forgiveness is warfare. Unforgiveness turns into a spiritual leash. It keeps you reactive. It keeps you heavy. It keeps you tied to what happened. Forgiveness does not say what they did was okay. Forgiveness says what they did will not own you anymore. And many men stay bound not because they lack intelligence or potential, but because they keep carrying bitterness like it is wisdom.

If you want to come out of bewitching, you have to do what Proverbs 4 teaches, because it gives you the blueprint for staying clear headed and spiritually strong. It tells you to give attention to the Word, incline your ear, keep it before your eyes, store it in your heart, and guard your heart with diligence. Not casually. Not when convenient. With diligence. Because your heart is a gate, and whatever gets through that gate will eventually shape your words, your reactions, your relationships, and your future.

Here are practical steps you can take today to break the drift and rebuild the fire.

• Ask the Lord plainly, Who has been influencing my thinking away from Your Word

• Read Galatians 3 slowly, out loud if you can, and pay attention to what convicts you

• Choose one verse and speak it daily for seven days so you build faith through hearing

• Identify one resentment you keep revisiting and decide to forgive, even if your feelings lag behind

• Commit to daily Bible time, not as a religious chore, but as training for spiritual strength

If you are the man who used to burn hot and now feels numb, this is not your moment to spiral into shame. It is your moment to wake up. God is not looking to crush you. He is looking to restore you. But restoration usually begins with one honest realization.

Something shifted. Something got in. Something bewitched you. And the moment you see it, you can come back to truth, come back to discipline, come back to faith that works, and come back to the kind of life that actually looks like the Bible is true.

If this hit you in the chest, do not ignore it. Start here. Listen to Episode 1, “Who Bewitched You?” and share it with a man who is ready to stop surviving and start living like a Kingdom son.

Produced by Boundless Online Churchwww.boundlessonlinechurch.org