fully alive

I was reading in my one year Bible this morning a passage from 2 Corinthians 6 that really struck my heart. Paul blows me away with his honestly in this passage, and the faith and trust in Christ that is evident with every word. He is bold in his proclamations of what is going on, and yet still present with his words is a sense of humility and genuine love for Christ, the One for whose glory he chooses to live his life. Verses 4-10 say:

“4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 7 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. 8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. 9 We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. 10 Our hearts ache, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”


In EVERYTHING…not just in papers, or projects – seminars or in classrooms – not just in chapel or Sunday mornings looking all spiffy – NO, in EVERYTHING they do, they show that they are TRUE ministers of God. They patiently endure what comes their way and prove themselves not by proclaiming weakness, or whining, and complaining and scheming. NO! They prove themselves by their purity, understanding, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit at work in their hearts, and their sincere love.

Romans 12: 9-10 tell us, “Don’t just pretend to love others – really love them – Love each other with genuine affection…” Paul and his friends offered a sincere love. I think this speaks volumes as to why their favor of God rested upon them – how they could be beaten, ignored, hungry, sleepless, exhausted and still praise, honor, and serve Christ. I believe the sincere love they offered in everything – proving they are true ministers of God flowed from the tank of their sincere, overflowing, devoted, recklessly abandoned love for the Father and believe in His purposes for their lives.

From their love we see evidence of the devotion: “We serve God whether people honor us or despise us – slander us or praise us.” The next statement tugs at my heart as I struggle to wrap the intensity of the concept around my finite mind: “We live close to death, but we are still alive – our hearts ache, but we give spiritual riches to others – We own NOTHING and yet we have EVERYTHING!”

Life in Christ = everything we need.
He’s our supply.
We can be close to death by the world’s standards, but FULLY ALIVE in CHRIST!
Who in their right mind, has an aching heart (in our world) and doesn’t first turn to tend to it ‘before’ they ‘give’ to others? The concept of owning nothing and having everything in Christ blows me away – that’s my heart cry – that’s my desire. I want to live a life of simplicity and hunger after Christ that will break me and fashion me more into His image. I want to give even when it aches, and then – to keep giving – to serve Christ whether people honor or despise me – whatever the consequences may be. To enter far off lands for the sake of sharing Jesus with those who have never heard – though their country, government, officials and law may despise me, that I would march forward, though I may draw close to death, that I would run forward, fully alive in Christ.