Verse: 2 Corinthians 1:15-22
Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?
But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy —was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Devotion:
I had a conversation with a teenager I know today. He said to me, that it’s hypocritical when adults say instructional things to teenagers and then do the very thing they are saying not to do. And I said, of course. It’s part of the human condition to be a hypocrite – we simply don’t get it right all the time. But there’s a difference between a slip-up that you acknowledge and ask forgiveness for, and a constant flagrant disregard for the rules that you insist others live by.
I also said to him that when it comes to your character, we, as teachers or parents, can say all the right things and back it up with actions, but the Holy Spirit is the one who can change us. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work (In a Christian school I can say things like that). These verses speak to the hypocrisy that is in us, but also to the guarantee we are given, that the Holy Spirit is within us. From the moment we said yes to God, we are His, and he has promised that he will complete the work he started in us. This is a great comfort to me – that I’m still in progress, not expected to be perfect.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, I need you to continue to change me. Show me where I need to adjust, and help me to be the person you want me to be. Amen.
Author: Emily Costa
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