The Right Path

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

THE RIGHT PATH

2 Cor 6:3-10

3 We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

NIV

Well, we have never experienced anything of this which Paul endured, and it is highly unlikely that we ever will. What then should we do with this one long sentence enumerating all his troubles? There seem to be two truths we can grasp onto that might well serve us as guides to our lives in Christ. These are his first and last words. The first is regarding not being a stumbling block in anyone’s path. Of course, it also matters regarding our ministry not being discredited. This would apply to both our relationships within the community of faith as well as our witness outside in the world. Although, we would hope, but not without some reservations, that all our fellow believers would never judge us, or think poorly of us because of our imperfection. Still, we should always be cognizant of our attitude, words, and behaviors so as not to cause anyone to stumble, which would include being critical, judgmental, jealous, envious, prideful, or think too poorly or too highly of themselves on account of us. The point is that we should not cause anyone to falter in their relationship with Christ. Then there is the world and as we know, even the unbelievers know enough to see that we are or are not behaving in a manner that is befitting our profession of being a Christ-follower. This then behooves us to be watchful of both our attitudes, words, and behavior so as not to cause any of them to think poorly of us and thus of Christ, mainly thinking of us as being hypocritical. Second, we have the last words here of Paul’s regarding having nothing, and yet possessing everything. It is interesting, at least in our culture, that we surround ourselves with so many creature comforts. There are many influences that are exerted upon us, striving to make us want more and never being content with what we have. In our current culture, there is far more emphasis placed on securing our future than it seems it was in our youth unless the various modes of media communications have made those voices more readily available. Nevertheless, the world is more about the physical pleasures of life than anything else, such as the accumulation of as many material goods as possible. The world would want us to always want more, bigger, or better than what we have. But the point is that having Christ, having salvation, having eternal life is having it all. Everything in this life, including our bodies, is temporary, but being in Christ is eternal. Yes, God supplies our every need, and we have needs in this life, but they are not our life, Christ is. So then because we have Christ, we have it all, and therefore we are on the right path.