Ab and Re – Solute
I love Paul’s attitude in today’s reading (2 Corinthians 6). He’s like, “It would be really easy to screw up our ministry, and to screw up other people in the process, and so we do whatever it takes to put up NO stumbling block, and to commend ourselves in EVERY way.”
That’s a paraphrase, but “no” and “every” are direct quotes. Paul was absolute and resolute. His ministry was too important, no, Jesus was too important to put up even in a little stumbling block or have even the smallest way where he didn’t commend himself by how he conducted himself.
Are we so absolute? Maybe there are some small issues where you allow compromise? Just some little things that maybe could bring someone down a little, or take away from your credibility a little? But you allow it, because it seems insignificant. It’s not. It’s bigger than you think, and can lead to worse. So we need to be absolute.
And are we so resolute? How easy is it for you to get discouraged? To let your guard down? To think about quitting? Look at all Paul went through, and yet continued on. The reason Paul could, and the reason we’ll be able to, is because of a deep vital connection to our God who gives strength and energy beyond ourselves. We can do that too. Let’s be resolute.