Monday, September 2, 2013 [Faithfulness]
2 Corinthians 6:1-10
6:1 As God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and then ignore it.6:6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.6:10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.
Faithfulness. I see this in the Apostle Paul very clearly. He and his colleagues were men on a mission – they were so faithful that they were seemingly unstoppable. Under the power of God's Spirit, they are responsible for the single, most influential missionary effort the world has ever seen – an effort which has given rise to global Christianity. When I have read what these women and men endured, especially this summary from Paul, I have asked myself if I have what it takes to make this kind of impact. So many times I have responded, "I could never do this…I'm simply not good enough to make it happen." This is what I call my "all or nothing" way of thinking. It's terrible – absolutely paralyzing! The "all or nothing" way of thinking says that if I can't do it nearly perfectly (or as big and grand as I'd like to) then I don't want to do it all. I have to fight this more often than I'd like to admit.
Here's how Paul crushes my "all or nothing" thinking – simply think "faithfulness."
1. Please, don't accept this marvelous gift (salvation and a new life in Christ) and then ignore it (6:1).Being faithful has nothing to do with being perfect or doing BIG things for God. Being faithful begins each day when we decide that we simply can't afford to ignore how marvelous a gift God has given us in Christ. This is a choice, day-by-day and moment-by-moment.
2. Purity, patience, understanding, kindness, the Holy Spirit within us, sincere love (6:6). These all sound very familiar to me. These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5. Paul says that if we (from our hearts) choose to submit to and follow the Holy Spirit then these traits will flow out of us. Another choice.
3. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others (6:10). Jesus was one of the poorest dudes that I've ever heard of. And yet, He was always giving to people. He gave of Himself and of the Spirit of God within Him. At the end of His life, He had dramatically influenced the lives of 11 men and several women, who then influenced the entire world.
Definition: faithful |ˈfāTHfəl| (adjective)1 LOYAL, constant, and steadfast.2 having a STRONG BELIEF in a particular religion.3 TRUE TO THE facts or the ORIGINAL.
It wasn't the magnitude of what they did that made the heroes and heroines of our faith so amazing. It was the fact that they made amazing choices each and every day to lead lives that were loyal to God; to act on what they strongly believed in every way they could; and, to remain true to the Original, Jesus the Christ, doing the things that He did – giving themselves away.
We can do this. With God all things are possible.
---------------------"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' (Matthew 25:23)
But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke." (2 Corinthians 4:13)
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2 Corinthians 6:1-10
6:1 As God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and then ignore it.6:6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.6:10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.
Faithfulness. I see this in the Apostle Paul very clearly. He and his colleagues were men on a mission – they were so faithful that they were seemingly unstoppable. Under the power of God's Spirit, they are responsible for the single, most influential missionary effort the world has ever seen – an effort which has given rise to global Christianity. When I have read what these women and men endured, especially this summary from Paul, I have asked myself if I have what it takes to make this kind of impact. So many times I have responded, "I could never do this…I'm simply not good enough to make it happen." This is what I call my "all or nothing" way of thinking. It's terrible – absolutely paralyzing! The "all or nothing" way of thinking says that if I can't do it nearly perfectly (or as big and grand as I'd like to) then I don't want to do it all. I have to fight this more often than I'd like to admit.
Here's how Paul crushes my "all or nothing" thinking – simply think "faithfulness."
1. Please, don't accept this marvelous gift (salvation and a new life in Christ) and then ignore it (6:1).Being faithful has nothing to do with being perfect or doing BIG things for God. Being faithful begins each day when we decide that we simply can't afford to ignore how marvelous a gift God has given us in Christ. This is a choice, day-by-day and moment-by-moment.
2. Purity, patience, understanding, kindness, the Holy Spirit within us, sincere love (6:6). These all sound very familiar to me. These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5. Paul says that if we (from our hearts) choose to submit to and follow the Holy Spirit then these traits will flow out of us. Another choice.
3. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others (6:10). Jesus was one of the poorest dudes that I've ever heard of. And yet, He was always giving to people. He gave of Himself and of the Spirit of God within Him. At the end of His life, He had dramatically influenced the lives of 11 men and several women, who then influenced the entire world.
Definition: faithful |ˈfāTHfəl| (adjective)1 LOYAL, constant, and steadfast.2 having a STRONG BELIEF in a particular religion.3 TRUE TO THE facts or the ORIGINAL.
It wasn't the magnitude of what they did that made the heroes and heroines of our faith so amazing. It was the fact that they made amazing choices each and every day to lead lives that were loyal to God; to act on what they strongly believed in every way they could; and, to remain true to the Original, Jesus the Christ, doing the things that He did – giving themselves away.
We can do this. With God all things are possible.
---------------------"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' (Matthew 25:23)
But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke." (2 Corinthians 4:13)
"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)
Kenny Sullivan
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