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27 July 2008
Word on the Web
2 Corinthians 10:12-17
We do not dare to compare ourselves with those who think they are very important. They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This shows that they know nothing. But we will not brag about things outside the work that was given us to do. We will limit our bragging to the work that God gave us, and this includes our work with you. We are not bragging too much, as we would be if we had not already come to you. But we have come to you with the Good News of Christ. We limit our bragging to the work that is ours, not what others have done. We hope that as your faith continues to grow, you will help our work to grow much larger. We want to tell the Good News in the areas beyond your city. We do not want to brag about work that has already been done in another person's area. But, "If people want to brag, they should brag only about the Lord."
We live in a world where everything seems measurable. A world of constant comparisons. A world where, there is seemingly limitless grading and sub-grading. From the minute we're born we are measured - "does he look like his dad or his mum?" As children we sit exams at a younger and younger age. We're 'setted' after we've taken these exams. After we finish school we're compared on how much we earn. The world, it seems, is just one giant league table. How do we fit in, how many people are we worse than? How many are we better than? Enter Paul ...
In today's verses Paul says a totally counter-cultural phrase "We do not compare ourselves with those who think they are important ... " Imagine in the middle of an exam, instead of writing down a well thought through and well structured answer, you just wrote "I do not compare myself with what you think is important." And then left? Paul says that those who compare themselves with their own works "show that they know nothing." Instead Paul says that the limit to his bragging - what he measures himself by - is God made, not man made. Ephesians 3:20 says "With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine". This verse and the ones above, tell us two things. It is God who works in us and because of that there is no comparison. He is the limit of everything and that limit is more than anything we as mere humans can achieve. Therefore as Christians there is no competition. No league table. No grading. God works in each one of us and that means we're not even playing the same game as the world, never mind playing by the same rules. God is a limitless God. He does amazing works, for some reason, through us, and so our boasting is not about us, it's about Him.
Lord God, you are an amazing God who is limitless and boundless and yet you choose to do you infinite work through us. Thank you that with you there is no comparison. You are beyond anything we can imagine or ask for. Help me to remember that you are the standard and you are the reason for my boasting.
Written by Nancy Howell
Word on the Web
2 Corinthians 10:12-17
We do not dare to compare ourselves with those who think they are very important. They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This shows that they know nothing. But we will not brag about things outside the work that was given us to do. We will limit our bragging to the work that God gave us, and this includes our work with you. We are not bragging too much, as we would be if we had not already come to you. But we have come to you with the Good News of Christ. We limit our bragging to the work that is ours, not what others have done. We hope that as your faith continues to grow, you will help our work to grow much larger. We want to tell the Good News in the areas beyond your city. We do not want to brag about work that has already been done in another person's area. But, "If people want to brag, they should brag only about the Lord."
We live in a world where everything seems measurable. A world of constant comparisons. A world where, there is seemingly limitless grading and sub-grading. From the minute we're born we are measured - "does he look like his dad or his mum?" As children we sit exams at a younger and younger age. We're 'setted' after we've taken these exams. After we finish school we're compared on how much we earn. The world, it seems, is just one giant league table. How do we fit in, how many people are we worse than? How many are we better than? Enter Paul ...
In today's verses Paul says a totally counter-cultural phrase "We do not compare ourselves with those who think they are important ... " Imagine in the middle of an exam, instead of writing down a well thought through and well structured answer, you just wrote "I do not compare myself with what you think is important." And then left? Paul says that those who compare themselves with their own works "show that they know nothing." Instead Paul says that the limit to his bragging - what he measures himself by - is God made, not man made. Ephesians 3:20 says "With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine". This verse and the ones above, tell us two things. It is God who works in us and because of that there is no comparison. He is the limit of everything and that limit is more than anything we as mere humans can achieve. Therefore as Christians there is no competition. No league table. No grading. God works in each one of us and that means we're not even playing the same game as the world, never mind playing by the same rules. God is a limitless God. He does amazing works, for some reason, through us, and so our boasting is not about us, it's about Him.
Lord God, you are an amazing God who is limitless and boundless and yet you choose to do you infinite work through us. Thank you that with you there is no comparison. You are beyond anything we can imagine or ask for. Help me to remember that you are the standard and you are the reason for my boasting.
Written by Nancy Howell
