Job 31:1-33:33
2 Corinthians 3:1-18
Psalm 43:1-5
Proverbs 22:8-9
"You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry…"
I am not a missionary like Paul was. I am a father, a husband, a son and a brother, a colleague, a manager and a subordinate. What, then, is my letter to God? And if Paul wrote his by preaching to the Corinthians (and the Romans and the Galatians and so many others), how do I write mine?
Paul's letter to God is the story of the lives he touched. What people forget, though, is that while he appears to have touched the Corinthians with grace, there were many he touched with pain and suffering, many who were hurt because of his touch, especially before God called him on the road to Damascus.
The same is true with us. For me, my Corinthians, the characters in my letter to God are my children, my spouse, my parents and siblings and their families, my in-laws, my friends and colleagues. Like Paul, my letter has its ups and downs. There are many times my touch was my temper, and my raised voice hurt my children, or taught them the wrong way to handle adversity. There are times - even today, more than 50 years since I was born - that my touch was my disobedience to my parents. Thankfully there have been many times when my touch has been a blessing as well.
Despite my imperfection, I would like very much for my children - indeed all those around me - to come to know, or come closer to knowing Christ through our interactions. How then to aspire to that in my sinfulness? Thankfully Paul answers us again, in his admission: "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God."
Father, I'd like my letter to be one that brings You joy than sadness, smiles instead of tears. I can't be that person to my children, my wife, my parents and all I love on my own, though. Like Paul, please give me the competence to write that letter.
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