Day 4 – 2 Corinthians 3:1-8

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?^[1]

When someone has walked among you there is no need for letters of commendation because you have come to know them. This is a revelation of which I was reminded as I eulogized a member I had served for twenty years. The life this sister lived was grand and glorious but I was only privy to it because I knew her. As I spoke to the gathered mourners I reminded them that we were all her legacy because her memory would be eternally indelibly imprinted on our hearts and minds. Such as what happens in any familial relationship. People committed to the relationship get to know each other. Good friends separated by distance find themselves saying things the other would say. Siblings tend to hold certain mannerisms in common. It has even been said that married couples begin to look like one another after so much time spent together.

This is what the Apostle Paul was trying to impart to his readers. They knew him, his life, his witness, his testimony. He had walked among them, ministered to them, instructed them in the things of God. He was not an unknown figure to them. The things, then, that were being said about him could be written off and ignored because they should know that they are not true. One of the things I have discovered about ministry over the years is that people love to find fault. They love to find bad news and are prone to believe it except for those closest to you who know you best. Someone can say something that they know is not true because it is totally out of character of whom they know you to be. It is also true, sadly, that things can be said that those who know you best must admit are more than likely true because of the known flaws in your character. What kind of legacy do you wish to impart? What do you want people to know and say about you? Be very cautious how you walk among those with whom you come in contact for they will be your lasting legacy.

Dear gracious God, our Heavenly Father, we give you grateful praise for the rich legacy you have left to us in holy writ. We thank you for the words of Your servant Paul that reminds us of the importance of how we live and move in our spheres of influence. Enable us today to look introspectively into our very souls analyzing whom we really are. Help us to ask the hard questions of ourselves in order to ascertain what people see when they see and hear us. Then having discovered who we are assist us in making the necessary changes that will sharpen our character and integrity so much so that when people see us and hear us, they will see and hear You dwelling richly in us. This we ask in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Co 3:1–8.