Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Al Campbell:
2 Corinthians 10:1-5,17 (NIV)
Paul’s Defense of His Ministry
10 By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
This week we looked at the idea of “testing the spirits” to see whether something is from God. Paul highlights in this passage that our standards for judging and “waging war” are different than what we see in “the world.” He is explaining that the world around us uses a different measuring stick to determine what is good, right, and appropriate for life than God. We, God’s children, look to the teaching, the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus as our standard. In Jesus we see most clearly who God is and what God desires for those who live in His kingdom. And how did Jesus “fight” against the world? Love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, gentleness, self-control, sacrifice, etc. As we judge the spirits of this world do they line up with the cross? Are the helping us live as members of God’s Kingdom? Or are they asking us to live by the standards of the world? Ask Jesus to help you better understand the standards of the Kingdom so that you can “fight” the world with the truth and grace of salvation through faith in Jesus.
Would you like each day’s devotion emailed to your inbox? Subscribe to the devotional “blog” here: https://www.shepherd-hills.com/grow/devotions/