And Finally

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

AND FINALLY

2 Cor 13:11-14

11 Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints send their greetings. 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

NIV

Aim for perfection. It is certain that if we aim for a little lower than perfection we are sure to make less than that. It is also certain that if we do not aim at all there is no question we will never hit the mark. When we think about being perfect we have to know without a doubt that we will never hit that mark, but if we do not aim for it we are sure to be far less than anything close to perfection. Now we should not deceive ourselves either in that we can actually be perfect or attain perfection, for Christ is the one and only whoever was and is and will ever be worthy of being called perfect. Nevertheless we should aim for it, try our best, which is our goal, and our focus, we should set our sights on that target. When we look through the sight scope on our rifle all we can see it the target, we are not distracted by all else that is going on around in the fields, but only focus on the target. This is the same kind of aim we should take for perfection. But as far as being of one mind, that might require more effort than taking aim for perfection. Being of one mind requires interaction with others, agreeing on the basis of our faith. It seems the body of Christ with its hundreds of denominations, each with their own interpretation, using that to establish their own set of rules and regulations, their own statement of faith, their own doctrine, has a problem with being of one mind. This then lends to the disobedience of living in peace. How can a people who in a sense argue over the smallest points of scripture come together in their faith? Yet we are to live in peace which surely means living without dissention. That may well apply to those of us who attend the same church. Would living in peace mean we have no envy, no jealousy, no judgmental attitudes, no strife, no gossip and no dissensions? We might all well smile and shake hands, or even give hugs, but is there peace in our hearts and minds? It would seem if we want the God of peace to be with us, we better find a way to live in peace with each other, which of course, means greeting each other with a holy kiss. That holy part is what Implies the inner peace and pure love we have for each other. That love which comes from within which puts aside all the envy, jealousy, judgment and gossip. The love which comes from within puts aside the arrogance, the feeling better them attitude or the superiority complex. The holy kiss implies we are all equal in the sight of God, and that we are in fact aiming for perfection and living in peace with all men. That is final.