READING: 2 Corinthians 1-4
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: On some of my travels, I’ve had the opportunity to visit graveyards filled with history (I realize that’s a morbid thought, but I love history . . . ). Sometimes, the headstones are covered with Scripture verses. At other times, poems tell the story of the deceased. In still other cases, just a few words summarize a life, like: Daughter. Mother. Grandmother. Christian.
What matters to me today, though, is not so much what my headstone might read; it’s what others would say about me today. Indeed, how I live today will largely determine what my headstone will read. My prayer is that I could say about myself — and that others would say about me in turn — these words of Paul:
2 Cor. 1:12 “For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly wisdom but by God’s grace.”
The message is clear. I need to live in God-given sincerity and purity — both that can come only because God grants grace to live that way. None of us defaults into righteousness, and only by God’s power can we be sincere and pure. Further, I’m to live according to the leadership of the Spirit under God’s grace, not by my own earthly wisdom. My goal ought to be that my own heart and mind do not condemn me, and others recognize my walk with God.
ACTION STEPS: Evaluate your life today. Are you living in sincerity? In purity? By earthy wisdom? By God’s grace?
PRAYER: “Father, empower me to live today in sincerity and purity.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Corinthians 5-9
