The Filtnib's Progress

Went to a new church today and was really inspired by the teaching, which was on Galatians, a book of which I am woefully ignorant. It's so great to discover bits of the Bible that immediately sound their truth and speak so eloquently what one has felt instinctively but not been able to fully define:
"You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace... For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
...You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbour as yourself."
... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
I think the reference to circumcision can be taken to stand for the irrelevance of arbitrary rules, regulations and ritualistic gestures, which in and of themselves do not bring one closer to God in the least; the only thing that does is love, both the practising and receiving of it. I love the simplicity of Paul's message: "The entire law is summed up in a single command". This is what I have always felt to be at the heart of the Christian faith, the primacy of love as the only rule we must live by. If only we Christians were able to keep to it more consistently, both in our individual lives and in the life of our established churches/denominations.