Freedom and You

March 5

“And who is adequate for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:16b NASB)

We are the fragrance of Christ that smells like life to some and like death to others (2 Cor. 2:15-16a). We are NOT adequate for this task. We have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (Jn. 15:16). We are NOT capable of producing fruit. Nor, are we even able to bear fruit on our own. We must never think, “God will not ask me to do anything I can’t do.” Or, “God will never lay on me more than I can bear.”

The whole of the Christian life is a calling beyond our own capabilities. We are inadequate. God calls us beyond our own sufficiency, beyond our own ability or strength, beyond anything we can do without him. “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5).

But, in God’s strength, we can do all things (Phil. 4:13). When we recognize our inadequacy and choose to abide in Him, we find “confidence through Christ before God” (2 Cor. 3:5).

For, we discover that in complete dependence on Him in all things, we are competent, adequate, and equal for all that God calls us. We can claim along with the apostle, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Cor. 3:5 NIV).

© Paul R Downing

January 29

Matthew 7:5 NIV – You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

How do you deal with a hypocrite? Well, the place to start is with oneself. In other words, the best way to deal with a hypocrite is to not be one. Before we can take the speck of pretense out of other people’s eyes, we need to take the plank of duplicity out of our own eyes. Removing the planks from our eyes starts with a look in the mirror.

When you look into the mirror of God’s Word (Jms. 1:23), what do you see? Do you see the character of Christ reflected in your character, or do you see the reflection or worldliness (Jms. 4:1-4)? Do you see the Christ-like qualities of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Col. 3:12)? Or do you see anger, temper tantrums, malice, slander, and filthy language (Col. 3:8)?

The answers to those questions are important. The Christian life is not about living up to some code of conduct or abiding by a list of rules. The Pharisees did that and, according to Jesus, they were the epitome of hypocrisy. No, the Christian life is about being who you really are. It’s about being real and true to yourself.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, who you really are is a child of God (1 Jn. 3:1-3). God’s nature is in you (1 Jn. 3:9). You are a new creation in Christ – your old identity is gone – a new one has come (2 Cor. 5:17). So, the Christian life is embracing the new identity as a child of God, coming out of the darkness of worldly behavior, and living in the light of God’s Spirit and wisdom (Eph. 5:8-9).

When the light of God reveals something in our character that doesn’t look like Jesus, let’s remove it. Let’s get the plank out of our eye. Then, we will see clearly enough through the eyes of love to remove the speck of hypocrisy from our brother’s or sister’s eye. And when they look in the mirror, they, too, will see the character of Christ reflected in their character.

© Paul R Downing

Success is disguised as wealth, this is Success.