2 Corinthians 8
Rebecca Lightfoot
2Corintians8:7-8 says,”But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you see that you excel in this act of grace also.I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.”At the time Paul is writing this to the church people n Corinth,there are many that have learned all the “right words to say” and the “right prayers” to pray...,the right groups to attend,the right issues to voice support of,etc.But these things they were DOING was not defining them to be the faithful believers all of the above things would indicate. A message of these verses is that it is how we truly think and how we live our everyday lives that defines us,and none of these other things that we may regularly do at isolated times during the week.Sure,these other things can be all good & well for us to be a part of,but when we trust THEM to define who & what we are, and we do not have our hearts/minds/lives transformed by the Gospel of Christ & the Word of God...we are fooling ourselves into a false religious belief system that is deceptive to ourselves,& to those around us.The way we think & live through our every day lives is what truly defines WHO & WHAT we are! And not what few hours a week we spend going to Church,Sunday School,Bible Studies....,not even the time we spend n personal Bible Study and Prayer!If these “things” are not having life changing impact in our lives that transform our hearts/minds/lives to be more like hearts/minds/lives that honor our Creator&Savior,then we are just like the “Churchy/Religious people n Corinth.Just as their lives continued to look just like the lives of the world around them,our lives are not significantly different from the world around us....with the exception of what we do on Sunday’s,what we read/study,and what some our “social events” may be during the week.Unless our lives are being transformed by all the “good things” we do,we are really not much different because of Christ being our Savior...and we may continue to make the same mistakes we have always made...& we may personally have many of the same doubts about about our faith & about the trustworthiness of God. Romans 12:2 addresses this-“Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”Unless our lives are being transformed by the “good things” we participate in,we are tragically missing the blessings that only The Creator God,our Father in Heaven,& our Lord &Savior Jesus Christ can offer.But,as the way we “think”&”live” is being transformed away from the way the world “thinks”&”lives”,& toward the way The Lord “thinks”&”LIVES”, only then are our lives are transformed toward “redefining” us to be true followers of Christ,and not the followers of the world that we used to be.Dear Lord,my life is so much like the “churchy” people that Paul writes to n Corinth.Forgive me...and make me more and more aware of this...and may my life get on the path of transformation that Your Great Love/Grace/Mercy so desires for me...so my heart/mind/life would become increasingly more like Yours every moment of ever day.