2 Corinthians 4:1-6

2 Corinthians 4:1-6

And while having this service just as we were being shown mercy, we do not become discouraged.  Rather we put aside the secret ways of defiant behavior while neither living in evil cunning nor distorting the words of God but while commending ourselves to the full disclosure of truth to every conscience of mankind in the presence of God.  And even if our good news is having been covered with a veil, it is having been veiled in the ones who are being destroyed – in whom the god of this age made the minds of the unbelieving ones unable to understand in order to not see the truth of the good news of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ the Lord – ourselves as your servants through Jesus.  Because the God, who said “A light will shine out of darkness,” shone in our hearts for the truth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Discouraged.  It’s a word with which most human beings are familiar.  The reality is that most if not all of us have brilliant ideas – and I mean that seriously.  But when ideas meet reality things often do not go as planned.  It is common for us to honestly try and have things not go quite as planned.  Discouragement is a common issue with humanity.  But Paul tells us that we do not become discouraged.  We do not become discouraged because we know mercy.  We know God and we know we have received from God more than we already deserve.  So when we try to follow God’s will and the world discourages us, we don’t have to be discouraged because we already have gotten more than we deserve.  So we are already ahead of the game, even if things don’t go as well as we intend when we follow God.

Do you ever get discouraged?  When are you prone to discouragement?  How does remembering the mercy shown to us by God help us overcome that discouragement?

Second Thought:

Paul then tells us that rather than becoming discouraged we commend ourselves to God.  How do we commend ourselves to God?  We stop doing evil behind the scenes.  We stop being manipulative behind people’s backs.  We stop defying authority.  We submit to God.  We focus on being humble before Him.  This actually makes a lot of sense.  When we submit to God, we admit that it is not up to us to determine success.  When we submit to God, we give control to God.  God is powerful enough to take our best effort and the world’s resistance and turn it into His glory.  When God is in control and we submit to Him, we don’t have to worry about discouragement.

How good are you at submitting?  How good are you at submitting and then letting go of discouragement when things don’t go well?

Third Thought:

Once more Paul reminds the Corinthians about the focus of ministry and of life.  We do not preach ourselves, we preach Jesus Christ.  Christ is the focus.  God’s grace is the focus.  It is not about us, our victories, our greatness, or anything else about us.  It is about God, God’s greatness, and where God is working in the world.  We preach Christ, not ourselves.

Why do you think Paul makes the point again and again that it is about Christ and not Him or us?  Is this something about which you need to be reminded often?

Passage for Tomorrow: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12