2 Corinthians 6:4-10
"But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God; in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
How confident are you that your life is rightly lived for the glory of Christ? Can you say with any certainty that you've fought the good fight for the Lord and are ready to receive a crown of righteousness? How have you done with the Spiritual gifts the Lord has given you for his glory in the kingdom?
Most of us aren't so confident in assessing ourselves, but Paul must have been fairly certain, since he commends his own life to the church at Corinth as an example of one living rightly in the faith.
In this rather long list of how his life was lived for Christ, Paul points to the Holy Spirit, almost in passing. But he understood that in the midst of all we may do for out of love for our Savior, being filled with the Spirit is a primary concern. For it only by the Spirit's touch that we are empowered for the life the Lord lays out for every believer.
While you may not feel worthy of being lifted up as an example to any other, every believer has this one thing that people need. We have the Spirit living within us. As such, we need to be a people who call others to look to the Spirit, for in the Spirit, we find our salvation and power for living.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for your Spirit in my life. May I faithfully lift up your presence to a lost and dying world. Amen.
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