Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 9TH​

Nothing But The Truth​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-4

Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
2 Corinthians 4:1

All through this passage Paul has repeated this theme: We do not get discouraged; We do not feel like quitting; We are confident; We are encouraged. I meet many Christians who are discouraged today. A pastor who came from a church in a different locality said that a few years ago he assessed his ministry. He looked about him at what was regarded as a successful church. He had a good attendance, the financial situation was clear, and yet he said that every morning he felt a severe sense of failure and emptiness in what he was doing. Increasingly he felt that he was going through religious motions, that he was accomplishing nothing of any real and lasting value.

I find many Christians who are ready to quit, feeling that they are not achieving anything. But when you talk with them, you discover that they do not see themselves as Paul did, as being the instrument of God at work. They are focusing on what they are doing for God, or, as they feel at the moment, what they are not doing for God. They do not seem to understand the basis for this ministry that Paul speaks of that he calls the new covenant, the new arrangement for living, which God has provided in Christ.

In these verses, the apostle gives us two great reasons the new covenant does not allow for discouragement. Here is his first reason, found in the first half of verse 2: We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's Word. He says, We have turned our backs on the ways and practices that bring discouragement. That is why he did not get discouraged. I am always amazed at how up-to-date the Scriptures are. You would think that Paul had just been listening to some Christian radio broadcasts or television programs when he wrote this. Evidently there were people in his day preaching in churches and evangelizing who were practicing disgraceful, underhanded ways. They were relying on cunning approaches and even tampering with the Word of God. Paul says, I have given all that up (if he were ever even guilty of this).

He tells us what he does instead: By setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God (2 Corinthians 4:2b). That is why Paul does not get discouraged. He does not have to think through some new gimmick that will get people out to hear the good news. He knows that truth is the most exciting and attractive thing in the world. He knows that when you come to people with the truth about themselves, about their lives, and about the world in which they live, when you strip off all the veils of illusion and the delusions by which people in any generation live and reveal the basic reality of what is there, then you get instant attention.

Lord, thank You that I do not have to be discouraged You are at work, using the simple truth of Your Word, to expose the hearts of those around me. Help me to trust in You.

Life Application​

Where and how can we strip off all the veils of illusions and delusions to see the truth about ourselves, about our lives, and about the world in which we live?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 10TH​

From Darkness To Light​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:5-6

For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ
2 Corinthians 4:6

A Christian man came to me with concerns about a contact he had made with a brilliant engineer with a tremendous mind, but a declared agnostic. The engineer showed no openness at all to the gospel. After a while this engineer fell into a severe depression that was so intense and prolonged that eventually he was fired from his job. This Christian friend of his asked him if he would at least consent to come and talk with me.
So he told me his story. He was so depressed it was difficult for him to talk. I asked him the usual questions about what he believed, but he did not believe anything. After trying to help him for an hour or two, I said to him, I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do to help you. But I don't want to abandon you. If you will come here every week, I will meet with you, and I will do two things for you. One, I'll read the Bible to you, and, two, I'll pray for you. I don't know what will happen; that is all I can do. To my amazement, he consented. He kept coming week after week. I would read a portion of Scripture, and I would say to him, Does that mean anything to you? But he would say no. Then I would pray for him.

At least eight months went by, and we did that every week without fail. One day I said to him, Isn't there anything I have read to you that means anything to you?

He replied, Well, this morning I was thinking about it. You read these words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, 'Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.' That suddenly meant something to me. But I said, If that meant something to you, then let me ask you to do this: pray that prayer over and over again. Whenever you sense you need some help, when you are despairing, or whenever you think of it, pray that prayer.
So a few more weeks went by. Then one day I read something, and he said, Oh, yes. That's good, isn't it? I asked him to memorize it and say it over. Then a couple of weeks later he found something else, and gradually there came a dawning light into his heart.

We prayed weekly, and as this light began to dawn, it came on stronger. More of Scripture began to reach him, until he openly acknowledged that Jesus was Lord of his life, and he surrendered to His will. Then he began to blossom and grow. He devoured the Word of God; he read it endlessly. That was years ago, and he has nothing but praise and thanksgiving for the living God, who took away the darkness by a creative word: Let there be light.
That is what God is saying to us in these words. Where do you find the light of the glory of God? In the face of Jesus Christ. And where do you find the face of Jesus? In the Scriptures. As you read them and let the Spirit of God interpret them, the face of Christ comes clearer. That is how light comes into a darkened heart.

Lord, I thank You for the light that has come into my darkness through Your Word.

​

Life Application​

When we read the written Word of God, are we expecting to see the Person who is the Living Word? Where do we find the light of the glory of God?


Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 11TH​

The Life Of Jesus In Mortal Bodies​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-15

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
2 Corinthians 4:11

What we want, of course, is to be like Him. But the power of God is the miracle of others seeing in us, in the midst of our pressures and trials, the character and the life of Jesus. I have always been amused and challenged by the verse in Colossians 1, where Paul prays that his friends in Colosse may be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might (Colossians 1:11a). What are they going to use all this power for? It sounds as though Paul ought to say, So that you can go about doing great miracles; so that you can astonish people with the tremendous magnetism of your preaching and teaching and be followed by great crowds. But that is not what he says. He says, I pray that you may be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience (Colossians 1:11). That is what takes power; that is where the life and the power of God is manifest. That is the life of Jesus.

As you read through the gospels, the Spirit of God brings to your mind's eye a far more beautiful and wonderful picture, perhaps, of Jesus' character and life. You see His compassion of heart, His moral beauty that attracted people everywhere He went. You see the serenity of His spirit, how He moves through every scene of anger and unrest with calmness and quietness. You see His disciplined will and His obvious joy in living. That is the life of Jesus, and that is what we want, isn't it?

How do you get it? The secret, Paul says, is our consent to share in the dying of Jesus. What does he mean by the dying of Jesus? You know he does not mean that we have to get ourselves nailed to a cross. But that cross is a symbol of something very real in our experience. What was Jesus like on the cross? He was not powerful and impressive and significant; He was not being applauded by the multitudes that listened to His every word. No. The cross was a place of physical weakness, of rejection by the proud and arrogant world around Him. It was a place of obscurity, a place where He was willing to lose everything He had built and to trust God to bring it back and make it significant.

Have you been in those circumstances recently, where no matter what you do you cannot seem to get any glory or credit for yourself? That is exactly where God wants you, because out of those times of inordinate pressure, times of hurt and despair and heartache and a sense of being wasted and not used, God is working His will. Others, perhaps, are being given life because of the death you are going through.

Lord, there are times when I go through trials. How my heart longs to cry out to You to deliver me from them. May I rather learn instead, Lord, that wonderful attitude of the Lord Jesus, if it be possible, may this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.

Life Application​

Are we being so changed by our relationship with Christ that others who are in our lives see the glory of His character? How can we share in the dying of Jesus?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 12TH​

Beyond The End​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-5:5

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Corinthians 5:1

What marvelous words! It is obvious that here is a description of the present body of flesh and bones we live in contrasted with the same body, risen and glorified by the activity of the Spirit of God. When you compare these words with those in 1 Corinthians 15, you can see that Paul is talking here about the resurrected body, that body we shall receive in which he says mortality will be swallowed up in immortality. He uses the same terminology here. It is the body, he says, that we shall enter in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed and this new body will be given to us (1 Corinthians 15:52). Here he is contrasting the two. The present body, he says, is like a tent. We are living a temporary experience, as people do when they live in a tent.

I sometimes feel uncomfortable in this tent of my earthly body. I am sure you do, too. A tent is not very satisfying. The stakes begin to loosen, the poles begin to sag, the tent itself sags in various spots, the cold penetrates, and it is not very comfortable. Some of us feel that way as we grow older. But we are looking forward to the resurrection body, the permanent building, that which God had in mind when He made us in the beginning, the permanent dwelling place designed by God without any human help, a house not made with hands. Nothing human produces it or adds to it; nothing that the undertaker does while our body is being prepared for the grave adds a single thing to what God will do that will produce the body of glory that is to come. The point Paul makes is that it is already ours in eternity. We have, he says. Notice the present tense: not We will have. We have an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands already there, waiting for us to put on.

The apostle says that this new body, the resurrected body, is an experience of not being disembodied but being further embodied. He changes the idiom from the building to the body and says it is like being further clothed, so that it is more than we have at the moment. If you feel like you are clothed by being in a body, then in that body you will feel even more clothed, further clothed. No one wants to float around in a bodiless existence. Paul says your actual experience will be this: You will be further clothed upon death as believers. You will have a new body. That is a weight of glory beyond all description, and it will come instantly, for the one who has prepared us for this very thing is God.

I thank You, Lord, that when that moment of glory breaks upon my startled heart, I shall at last see Him whom I have long loved and served.

​

Life Application​

Have we forgotten the expectation and hope of our glorious future, for body, soul and spirit?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 13TH​

What's There To Live For?​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-17

For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 RSV

Here again is the great motive in the life of the apostle--the love of Christ controls us. Actually, controls is a word that means constrains us, drives us out, motivates us, and then guides us after we get there, that sets the limits to what we should and should not do. That motive, he says, comes from the sense that Christ loves us.

I do not know anything greater and more powerful as a motivating factor than that. I get terrified sometimes at what God can do to me if I do not behave. That motivates me sometimes. It is a low motivation, but it is there. But the thing that will get to me, when nothing else will, is the continuing experience of the love of Christ for me, a refreshment of spirit that I gain from the awareness that He loves me, He is for me, He stands beside me, He delights in me. Knowing that will move me like nothing else. That is what Paul is experiencing here--the awareness that God loves him. There is nothing like it. It gives him a sense of security, a sense of self-worth, and a good self-image. If you suffer from a bad image of yourself, then start thinking about what God says about you, how He loves you, and how Christ loves you and has given Himself to you, and that will change everything.

He also says he has learned that the death of Christ freed him from the need to live for himself. I do not know anything more relevant to the current day than that statement. Everywhere I turn I hear people talking about what they have to do to meet their needs. Whatever they do or wherever they go is determined by how well their needs are met. You need to understand this important truth: Jesus Christ died to set you free from that syndrome. You do not need your needs met; He has already met them. You must learn that He has met your needs, because they will never be met by any other source. No one else is able to meet them. If you have that expectation of other people, you will find yourself suffering rejection at others' hands because they know they cannot meet your needs.

One has died for all, and that means, all have died in order that they might understand that they live no longer for themselves. After Christ has met your needs, you discover that the secret to life as it ought to be lived is that you then turn and try to meet the needs of others. That is what Paul is saying here. He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves, no longer with their needs at the center of their life, trying to build everything around them, but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Lord, reveal more and more of Your great love to me. Let Your love meet all of my needs, and set me free to live not for myself but for You.

​

Life Application​

Is the love of Christ the controlling motivation of our lives? Are we experiencing the self-liberating control of His love?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 14TH​

The Word For The Hour​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 5:18-6:2

That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19

This is the message above all else, that the world needs to know. The problem with people everywhere is they have no security, no sense of acceptance, and no sense of worth. Most people have a poor self-image--even the blustering people who try to portray that they are self-sufficient. Deep inside they know their actions are a cover-up; they know they do not really feel as confident as they would lead others to believe. They are often scared and frustrated. They have to pretend that they are able to handle everything, but at the end of the day they know they did not.

The reason people lack security is because they feel an alienation, an estrangement, from God. They live in a universe they obviously know does not belong to them. They did not make it; they do not run it. This whole world was functioning long before you and I showed up on it. People know that; therefore, they feel uneasy. Estrangement and alienation are the supreme problems of our day.

This message addresses the concern that we are lost, we are alienated, and we are cut off from the God who runs everything. This is a message, therefore, that strikes home to human hearts everywhere. It does not make any difference what color your skin is, what your background is, or how you grew up. You can say this to a businessperson on Wall Street; you can say it to a craftsperson, a plumber, a doctor, a lawyer, or to a member of any occupation. They all need this universal word of reconciliation sent to the world.

A characteristic of this message is that it does not talk about the judgment of God over sin. When I graduated from seminary, I came to my occupation as a preacher with the idea that my job was to make people aware of their sin and to tell them of the judgment of God upon evil. I was brought up in a theological generation that was taught that you have to scare people before they will become Christians--to make them believe they are going to hell, so that when they see the flames burning beneath them, when they feel the singeing of their hair, then they will repent of their evil.

Then I began to learn from verses like this. I saw from the approaches of the apostles and the Lord Himself that that is not the message. (Ultimately you may have to warn people of coming judgment if they refuse this message of grace, but that is not where you start.) This is a message where God is saying, We do not need to talk about judgment. I've taken care of that.

I learned after a few years that all I need to do is go to people, taking for granted that they are hurting inside from their sins, just as I was hurting from my sins, and talk about a God who understands that, who wants to relieve them from that hurt and has done something about it. Therefore, He was not ready to throw me into hell; He was opening His arms and inviting me to come to a loving Father and be restored. That is the message.

Lord, thank You that You have entrusted me with this message of reconciliation. Make me sensitive to Your Spirit that I might share it with those whom You have prepared.

​

Life Application​

What is God's message of reconciliation to our deep-seated sense of alienation and estrangement from Him? Are we carriers of that message?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 15TH​

Sensible Fanaticism​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-10

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
2 Corinthians 6:8b-10 RSV

As the apostle Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire, we learn from Scripture that he was frequently accused of being crazy. People heard his testimony of his remarkable experience on the Damascus road. They saw his dedication and his commitment to life, which took him away from comforts and pleasures, and they said he was crazy. In fact, Festus, a Roman governor in the book of Acts, said to Paul's face one day, You are out of your mind, Paul! . . . Your great learning is driving you insane (Acts 26:24). But the apostle did not seem to mind this.

We seem generously supplied today with a variety of steely-eyed fanatics who are quick to point their fingers and are full of passionate speeches. Since many of them claim to be Christians, it raises the question of whether the early Christians really were like that. Do you have to be a fanatic to be a Christian? Listen to the apostle Paul's description of his own life and how he describes his own sense of dedication:
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on (2 Corinthians 6:4-8a).

Is that fanaticism? If it is, I feel like the great English preacher Charles Spurgeon, who, when he was told that Paul's conversion on the Damascus road was really caused by a fit of epilepsy, said, Oh, blessed epilepsy! Would that every man in London could experience epilepsy like that! So if this is fanaticism, then I say, Would that every one of us were fanatics like this! What a magnificent description of a God-honoring life! What a marvelous pattern is held before us. Here is what the ministry of reconciliation will really look like when it is lived out to the full. You and I may fall far short of a description like this. I feel I do. But though we may not equal in degree the way the apostle lived, we are all called to be like this in kind.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the witness of this record of the great apostle as he lived through the pressures and the calamities of his own time. Grant to me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the same sensible fanaticism as Paul.

Life Application​

Following Jesus is a radical, other-worldly calling. If we were accused of being truly Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 16TH​

The Reciprocity Of Love​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:11-13

Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide.
2 Corinthians 6-11 RSV

Paul loved these people in Corinth, and he has manifested that love in various ways toward them. He has demonstrated it, as he says here, by two special things. Our mouth is open to you, he says. That means he communicated with them; he told them what was going on in his own life; he shared with them his feelings, struggles, failures, pressures, and problems, and he let them know how he coped with them. That is always a mark of love. To open up to others is to love them. Conversely, to close up and not communicate is to violate love.

This is a frequent problem in churches today. Christians actually think it is right for them to be closed in on themselves, to be private persons, unwilling to communicate who they are and how they feel and where they are in their lives. That, of course, is the way of the world. The world teaches us to let no one see who we are. But we need to understand that when we become Christians, we must learn to open up to one another.
Our heart is wide, he says. He means there is no favoritism; he includes the whole congregation. He did not merely love the nice people among them. He loved them all: the difficult ones, the ones who were struggling, and the hard-to-get-along-with ones as well. There were no preconditions that he demanded before he would love somebody in the congregation either. He accepted them as people. Though he knew their struggles, their weaknesses, their heartaches, their failures, and their resistance, he loved them.

The problem was that they did not love him in return. This is the problem in churches, in individual lives, in homes, in families, and in marriages today. It is a failure to understand the reciprocal nature of love. Love is a two-way street. It always is; it is inherently so. Love requires a response. Paul was loving them, but they were not loving him back. They were closed; they were unresponsive; they were coldly self-contained toward him. And the result? Paul puts it in one word: They were restricted (2 Corinthians 6:12 RSV). What does that mean? It means they were limited; they were imprisoned within the narrow boundaries of their own selfish lives.

That is why Paul pleads here with these Corinthians: Oh! Corinthians, widen your hearts unto us. You are not restricted by us. You are restricted by yourselves, in your own affections. If you really want to experience the richness of love, then love back when you are loved. This is one of the most important lessons we can ever learn in life. Love must respond. When you are loved, what do you do? Do you love back, or do you say, What a wonderful feeling! I hope they will keep that up? Do you expect it all to come to you without a reciprocal response from you? No, that is impossible. Love must respond.

Father, help me to respond with open mouth and heart to those who have reached out to me in love. Thank You for the love You have shown me.

​

Life Application​

Transparent communication stretches us and makes us vulnerable. Are we learning to be open-hearted to all, and thereby loving, for Christ's sake and by His power?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 17TH​

Unequally Yoked​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-18

Do not be mismated with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
2 Corinthians 6:14 RSV

Mismated is literally a term that means unequally yoked. A yoke is a wooden frame or bar with loops at either end, fitted around the necks of two animals, which tied them together and forced them to function as one. That is what Paul speaks of here. He is thinking of Deuteronomy 22, where the Law says, Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together (Deuteronomy 22:10). That may seem strange to us, but God was concerned that the Israelites not tie together two animals of a different nature.

I have never seen an ox and an *** yoked together, though once when I was traveling in the Middle East I saw a farmer plowing his field with a camel and a donkey. It was almost ludicrous to watch. The camel was three times the height of the donkey, and its legs were three times as long. It was striding along at a rather slow pace for a camel, but the little donkey was running as fast as it could to keep up. The farmer kept beating the donkey all the time, trying to get it to keep up. It was cruel.

The Law reflects that it is cruel to yoke together two things of incompatible natures. This is what Paul has in mind here. What he is saying is there are certain associations that Christians have with unbelievers that constitute a yoke, and these associations are a cause for misery and shame in a Christian's life. We are to avoid them. They will hinder us, limit us, bind us, and keep us from enjoying the fullness God has in mind for us. They are like trying to mix oil and water. It is impossible. You can see this by the illustrations he uses.

The great unanswered question is, What is a yoke? Is a business partnership a yoke? Is a union membership a yoke? Is marriage a yoke? Is a date with a non-Christian a yoke? Not all associations are yokes, but yokes have two characteristics by which we can always identify them. The first one is that a yoke is not easily broken. It is a kind of permanent relationship. When you yoke two animals together they are bound together; they do not have any choice. Uncomfortable as it may be, they must do things together.

The second mark of a yoke is that it constrains someone; it does not permit independent action. There is something that forces you to comply with what the other one wants to do, whether you like it or not. Any kind of relationship that does not permit a believer to follow his or her Lord in all things is a yoke. Even a friendship can be a yoke. If it is the kind of possessive friendship in which you feel you cannot do what God wants you to do because you will offend your friend, then that is a yoke, and it must be broken.

Thank You that You love me and want to see me wholesome and complete, free and confident and able to function as I was intended. Grant to me that I will glory in the fact that I am the temple of the living God and that You dwell in me.

​

Life Application​

Are we free from all men, yet servants of all? Do any of our relationships inhibit our freedom to love and obey God with all our heart, soul, and mind?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 18TH​

How To Repent​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 7:2-16

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10

Whenever somebody accuses you of being wrong or tells you the truth about yourself, it hurts. It can produce one of two reactions, what Paul calls either godly sorrow or worldly sorrow. We all feel hurt, but the question, of course, is, Is it godly sorrow, or is it worldly sorrow? Godly sorrow is the pain of suddenly becoming aware of something about yourself that has been hidden to you. An awareness of something wrong about yourself that you have not been able to see always creates a sense of anger, perhaps, of defensiveness, of injury, and often of tears. It is the moment of self-awareness, or what we call a moment of truth.

Have you ever had that happen to you? You were going about your life, thinking you were doing okay, when somebody came along and told you something about yourself. Even as that person said the words, there was a stab in your heart that said, That's right, isn't it? You may be defensive, you may argue, or you may fight back, but deep inside you know that is true. It hurts, but if it is godly hurt, it leads to repentance. It makes you change. You alter your behavior.

I well remember how when I was a young Christian I had a great struggle in my life with an oversensitivity to people. I had such a poor self-image that I was dependent upon the way people thought about me for my feelings about myself. Consequently, if they did not always say nice things and treat me well, I was very hurt and upset. You could cause me to go into a morass of self-pity for days merely by making an offhand remark about me that cut me down. I had my moment of truth one day when I was talking with a Christian about another matter, but in the conversation she said something that struck like an arrow into my heart. She said, I've learned that sensitivity is nothing but selfishness. I did not want to admit it, but I knew it was true. I knew that what I really wanted was to be the center of attention and have everybody ministering to me and taking care of me.

The next time somebody hurt me, however, I decided to act on the basis of what I had learned and say, That's not his fault. He didn't intend to say something offensive. It is I who am feeling it. I'm taking it wrong. I did this, and after several such experiences, I suddenly began to feel a marvelous sense of freedom. The tiger was off my back, and I was free to enjoy things much more than I ever had before. I will never forget the sense of liberation that came when I acknowledged even the painful truth that somebody had unwittingly spoken to me. That is what Paul is talking about. Godly sorrow acknowledges the truth and changes its behavior, and that in turn leads to a sense of freedom and deliverance.

Lord, thank You for the opportunities You give me to repent. Help me to respond not just by feeling bad but also by acting on the basis of the truth I have learned.

​

Life Application​

Godly repentance cleanses and liberates us. Do we keep the door of repentance open to God's saving grace in us and through us?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 19TH​

Grace And Giving​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-15

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9

Christ's humbling is what Paul holds up as an example of what it means to give. There was a time when Jesus was rich. He was not rich on earth, though He sometimes stayed with rich people. He had friends and neighbors who were rich; some who followed Him were rich, but He Himself had nothing at all. But once He was rich, according to this verse. When was that? Do you remember in the Upper Room Discourse, in the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, He says to the Father, And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began (John 17:5)?

I do not know if Paul was aware of this prayer or not, but that is a very wonderfully insightful verse indicating that Jesus recalled a time when He was rich, when everything in the universe belonged to Him. All the hosts of heaven bowed down in continuous worship of His name, and hundreds of thousands were ready to run at His bidding. He owned it all, everything was His, but He gave it up voluntarily. He deliberately impoverished himself. As Paul put it in Philippians, He humbled himself (Philippians 2:8), and He became a man, just a poor man.

Remember how He constantly borrowed everything? He had nothing of His own. He borrowed food, clothing, a coin to give an illustration, a donkey to enter into the city of Jerusalem, and He finally had to borrow a tomb in which to be laid. There was one occasion when it says the disciples all went to their own homes, but He went to the Mount of Olives. He had no home to go to, no place to lay His head.

Why did He do this? Why did He become poor? Paul's reminder is, in order that we might be rich. Have you thought about how rich the Lord has made you? Just the other day, in the midst of all the tumult that we see reported in the international scene, I was thinking what a terrible thing it would be to have to live today without the Lord. Would you like to do that, now that you have known Him? Would you like to give up all the joy, all the peace, all the sense of forgiveness, all the lifting of the load of guilt? Would you give up the sense of His presence, of a power source available to you for whatever you need, of a continual supply of joy and gladness and restoration, of the continual enrichment of your life?

How rich Jesus has made us! He became poor in order that we might be rich. When you think about that, how wrong it seems to withhold our gifts from those who are in need around us. How can we clutch our affluence to ourselves when our brothers and sisters are in need?

Thank You, Lord, for the example of Jesus, who became poor that I might become rich. May I learn to extend that same grace to those around me who are in need.

​

Life Application​

Jesus is our priceless Treasure. Are we learning to worship Him with all that we are and own? What may we be withholding from Him this day?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 20TH​

Giving Joyfully​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 8:16-9:15

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

True giving must be expectant. You are dealing with God, and He is able to give back. Many people get nervous about this. They say, That is giving in order to be given to. That is selfish giving. I would grant that it is possible to view giving to God selfishly, but there is nothing wrong with recognizing that you will be benefited by your giving, because the Word everywhere tells us that. If you do not give, something happens to you. The boundaries of your experience are narrowed and reduced and you become a tight, stingy, Scroogelike person.

But, on the other hand, those who learn to give, and give for right reasons, become generous, gracious, godly-minded people. That is what Paul is talking about here. God is able to give back. It is not wrong for you to give with that recognition in mind, for everything we have ultimately comes from Him. When you eat a loaf of bread, you ought to remember the steps in producing it: the snowy flour, the mill, the field of wheat, the rain, and the Father's will. Therefore, everything comes from His hand.

If you give in order that you might have more to give, you are right in line with God's program. Yet your motivation should not be to spend on yourself. If you give so that there will be more for you to enjoy, then you are giving for wrong reasons. A lot of Christians are being taught that today. God delights to give, but His return is not always, by any means, material return. That is what the next verses show us: You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God (2 Corinthians 9:11-12).
Paul is saying that if you give according to the law of harvest, God will give back. And this is the form it will take: It will awaken gratitude in those to whom you give. In our church we have had the joy on many occasions of witnessing people publicly giving thanks, sometimes with tears running down their faces, for the way others have responded to their physical or material needs. I am delighted at that. It is a wonderful repayment for our giving, isn't it, to see people helped, blessed, and moved to give thanks for that.

Lord, indeed I have received much at Your hand. I did not deserve it, but it was given to me in Jesus Christ. May that free giving on Your part stimulate me to meet needs around me. Help me look for places to give, knowing that it increases my joy and delights Your heart.

​

Life Application​

Grace-giving is a miracle that mirrors God's character. Are we therefore intent on knowing the Giver of such a radical gift?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 21ST​

Our Secret Weapons​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 10:1-6

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4

Paul says we do not employ the weapons of the flesh. What are those weapons? What does the world use to try to solve the problems it recognizes in society? You know what it uses: coercion, manipulation, pressure groups, compromises, or demonstrations that ultimately result in raised voices, clenched fists, and outbreaks of conflict. These are the weapons of the world. So it is understandable why those who are governed by the flesh would seek to employ fleshly weapons to get things done. But the universal testimony of history is these do not work.

We have other weapons. They are mighty, they are powerful, and they accomplish something. They will demolish strongholds of evil, Paul says. But there are no answers in this passage to the question, What are these weapons? The apostle has referred to them in various places in his letters.

The first weapon available to us is truth. The Christian is given an insight into life and reality that others do not have. We know what is behind the forces at work in our society today, and we ought to know how to go about overcoming them. That is what truth is all about. Truth is realism. The wonderful thing about the Word of God is that when you understand the world as the Bible sees it, you are looking at life the way it really is. That is why it is so important that we understand the Scriptures, that we refresh our minds with them all the time, for we are constantly bombarded with illusion and error every day, and it is easy to drift back into thinking the way everybody around us thinks.

Love is also a powerful weapon, and in Scripture, the Word of God links truth with love. When you begin to treat people with courtesy instead of anger, when you accept them as people with feelings like yours and understand that they too are struggling with difficulties and see things out of focus as you often do, when you begin to treat them as people in trouble who need help--that is what love is--then you change the whole picture.

Along with truth and love in Scripture is faith. Faith is the recognition that God is present in history. He has not left us alone to stumble on our own way. The Lord Jesus sits in control of all the nations of earth. Faith believes that and expects Him to do something. In Hebrews 11 we have the great record of the plain, ordinary men and women like you and me who found, by faith, that they could stop the mouths of lions, open the doors of prisons, and change the course of history.

Another powerful weapon for the Christian, proceeding from faith, is prayer. The power of prayer is held before us throughout Scripture. We are constantly exhorted to expose the situations in which we find ourselves to the prayers of believing people, both individually and corporately, praying that God would move in and change things. Again and again the record testifies that Christians who pray have drastically altered events.

Lord, help me from here on to begin to use the weapons of truth, love, faith, and prayer.

​

Life Application​

For every Christian, spiritual warfare is a given, whether engaged actively or passively. Are we alert to identify and engage our spiritual weaponry?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 22ND​

The True Evaluation​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 10:7-18

But, Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved but the one whom the Lord commends.
2 Corinthians 10:17-18

Whenever anybody boasts, Paul says, it is to be in what the Lord has done. How that wipes out with one stroke all the proud evaluations you see people making of their own ministries! You never hear that from Paul. In the very next section he will tell us some of the things that happened in his ministry, but he does it with the most abject apologies. He is distressed that he has to talk about what he has done. He only defends his ministry because that is the kind of argument the Corinthians have been listening to from false teachers, and they seem to think it is important.

A brief example of Paul's approach occurs in 1 Corinthians 15:10, where he says this about himself: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Some may think this sounds like boasting. But notice what Paul says: Yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Paul always recognizes that the only thing that counts is what Christ does in him, not what he does for Christ. I have sometimes seen on the wall of Christian homes a little plaque that says,
Only one life, 'twill soon be past.
Only what's done for Christ will last.

That sounds very pious, and it certainly has a germ of truth about it, but it always bothers me because I do not think it is very accurately expressed. What I would like to see is,
Only one life, 'twill soon be past.
Only what Christ does through me will last.

But that doesn't have the right meter, you say. It doesn't, but it has the right theology, and that is what I am interested in. It is not what I do for Him that makes any difference at all. It is what He does through me. It is what I expect Him to do and what He promises to do that counts. Therefore, the true evaluation of a ministry is to look back and say, Well, thank God for what happened. But I didn't do it. God did it through me. I am grateful for the privilege of having the opportunity to be an instrument in His hands. That is true evaluation.

Lord, let me be content to labor at what You have given me to do, knowing that the fruit and the harvest will be of Your making and not mine.

​

Life Application​

Do we resort to measuring and comparing ourselves with others? Are we finding contentment in simply serving as Christ's own beloved one?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 23RD​

Godly Jealousy​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 11:1-2

I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
2 Corinthians 11:2

Perhaps the most vicious and destructive quality in the world today is jealousy. It has been properly called the green-eyed monster. Jealousy is an angry, strong, powerful emotion that refuses to tolerate a rival. It can be a very powerful motivator to aggressive action. It is one of the most frequent causes for broken homes, broken hearts, and broken bodies in the world today. Yet amazingly, God declares in the book of Exodus, I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). All through the Scriptures there is this emphasis upon the jealousy of God. If jealousy is so bad, why is God jealous?

Here Paul says that he feels a godly jealousy for these people. Surely that indicates that jealousy can be both good and bad. So when you feel jealous of someone, you have to ask yourself, Is my jealousy a rightful one, or is it false? The difference is right here: False jealousy is always selfish. It is concerned with your own feelings. It is possessive, and it wants to control another person. It is therefore often dominating and even cruel and tyrannical. It usurps the rights of others and insists on its own way. It is imposed upon someone else whether that person likes it or not. Because it is so vicious in its cruelty and its tyranny, jealousy perhaps is the most destructive force in the world today.

A true jealousy, a godly jealousy, on the other hand, as Paul felt for the Corinthians, is one that arises from a deep passion for the welfare of another. It becomes careless of self, and it is always manifested in a tenderness and a thoughtfulness about someone else. It may never cease, because it is a powerful motive, just like the jealousy in both God's and Paul's hearts. Paul likens his jealousy to that of a father who has betrothed his daughter to a young bridegroom.

Throughout history, fathers have had the privilege of giving their daughters away in marriage, and this is symbolized today when, in a wedding ceremony, the father walks down the aisle with the bride. Every father (I speak from experience) longs to be able to present his daughter, having raised her in a careful, nurturing home, as a chaste and lovely virgin to the young man she loves. This is a rather startling analogy to use about these Corinthians, for we saw in 1 Corinthians 6 their impure backgrounds. There Paul tells us that some of them had been adulterers, immoral people, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, robbers, and cut-throats. And that is what some of you were, he said (1 Corinthians 6:11a). And yet now he says, [I have desired] to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Lord, teach me to see the difference between godly jealousy and that which is selfish. Let me love others with the same fierce passion with which You have loved me.

​

Life Application​

God is passionately jealous for the Good of His own people. Are we being freed from damaging our relationships with self-focused jealousy?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 24TH​

The Simplicity Of Christ​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 11:3-15

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3 KJV

The main thing about being a Christian is to see that the main thing remains the main thing. That is what Paul is saying. The main thing is that at the heart and center of your life is the simplicity that is in Christ, a simple thing. I have noticed over many years of observation that when religion becomes complicated, it is always a sign that it is drifting away from the realities and centralities of faith. The world around us is getting increasingly complex, and it is because it is drifting farther and farther from God. Look around at the world of nature, and you can see the simplicity of God's design everywhere. He builds the year around four seasons that repeat themselves and never fail. Yet that simple pattern of four seasons contains within it all the possible variations of weather. Look at a flower and see how simple the pattern of its makeup is and yet what an infinite variety God produces in a field of flowers. You can see this everywhere. God basically is simple. When religion becomes complex, it is a sign that it is departing from Christ.

That is what Paul is concerned about here. When you ask yourself just what that simplicity is that he is talking about, the answer from everywhere in the Word of God is the daily companionship of the Lord Jesus. Do you sense that Christ is yours all day long? Do you reckon upon that, think about that, and live out of that relationship and out of that sense of the expectation of His presence? We often say, and rightly so, that Christianity is not a creed, it is a relationship; it is living with a Person. That is the simplicity that is in Christ. The danger that we constantly face is that we get involved in the things about Christ and fail to live in a relationship with Christ.

You can lose it in the midst of Christian activity. You can lose it when you get so involved in some of the fascinating aspects of Scripture that you lose the simplicity that is in Christ. You can lose it in the pressures of daily living. You can get so busy and so worried and so anxious about yourself and the things that are happening to you that you lose the sense that Christ is with you, and He is adequate. This is the beautiful simplicity that is in Jesus. The Corinthian believers were assaulted with teachers who were exposing them to things that caught their attention, but they were drifting from that central point. They were involved with fascinating philosophies based on the Word of God but that went off on sidetracks and rabbit trails of thought. They were being challenged with certain ego-appealing experiences and believed that if they could only grasp them, they would feel great, wonderful, and so God-possessed. Likewise people today are invited to explore strange and wonderful mysteries all involved with Christian faith, but these tend to move them away from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Father, grant that I may walk close to Jesus and not let anything take me away from that day-by-day, moment-by-moment companionship of His presence.

​

Life Application​

Are we getting side-tracked by the superficial and secondary? Do we need to return to the main menu: the exquisite simplicity of the Gospel?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 25TH​

How To Boast​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 11:16-33

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness... In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
2 Corinthians 11:30-33

Paul reaches back twenty years into the past to this rather remarkable incident that occurred shortly after his conversion, and he says, If I must boast, this is the kind of thing I am going to boast of. He boasts about the things that show his weakness. That is what we ought to be boasting about, the times when we did not look good, the times when we fell on our faces and failed. Paul says that is what he boasts about. He says, As I look back on my life, one incident comes to mind. It was a time when I was a complete failure at what I was trying to do. That is what I boast in, because that is when I began to learn the most important lesson of my life.

After his conversion he went into the wilderness of Arabia for a while. There he undoubtedly studied the Scriptures to try to understand how he had missed seeing who Jesus was. But as he searched, he found Christ on every page. When he came back from that experience, he had two burning convictions in his heart. First, he believed that the Old Testament proved that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. The second thing that he was convinced of from that experience was that God had chosen him to be the apostle to Israel. And he tried. He did his best with his brilliant mind, with all his Hebrew qualifications.

But things kept falling apart, until circumstances reached such a terrible state that one night the governor tried to find him in order that guards might seize him and put him to death. On hearing about it, his friends took him out to one of those houses built on the wall of Damascus, and through a window in the dark of the night, they let him down in a basket. Paul says, The night I became 'a basket case' is the thing I boast about. Looking back, he says, That was it. As I walked away from the city of Damascus, with all my plans and dreams of glory for Christ collapsed around my feet, that was the night I began to learn a great truth: My natural gifts are not what qualify me as a servant of Christ. Would that I could teach this to all Christians today! We are being bombarded with the philosophy that natural abilities are what make a person usable as a Christian—a strong personality; an outgoing, optimistic outlook; gifts of leadership; handsome frame and body; musical ability; speaking ability—all these are the things that God will use.

Paul says, This is a ridiculous way of thinking. I had to learn that these ideas did not help, that Christ working in me is the only thing that God approves of. Anybody who is a Christian has Christ working in him or her, and if you learn to depend on Jesus' work within, ready to work through you as you choose to do things, He will work alongside you and make your efforts meaningful and valuable both in God's sight and ultimately people's. That is the great secret that Paul learned.

Teach me, Lord, to boast in the things that show my weakness.

​

Life Application​

Do we see the value of our failures as part of God's curriculum for training us in humble trust? Do we trust Him to redeem our failures?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 26TH​

Strength In Weakness​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-10

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9a

Paul was a mighty man of prayer, so it was natural for him to make a plea three times. The answer comes, and it is very clear. Whether it was in a vision or some inner conviction of his mind, I do not know, but the answer was clear: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. If this verse expresses a principle that is true of life, and God knows it is true that His strength is made perfect in our weakness, what do you think He is busy accomplishing with us? Making us weak, isn't He? And what makes us feel weak? It is being under attack, feeling inadequate to handle the pressures and the problems that we have. If you feel weak, then, it is not only the devil that makes you feel that way, but it is God, too. God makes us feel this weakness to keep us from adopting attitudes that could render us useless in the work of spreading His kingdom. Paul knew that the worst thing he could do was become arrogant about his revelation. It was evidently more important to keep Paul humble than it was to make him comfortable, so God allowed the thorn to go on.

The most dangerous threat to any servant of Christ is spiritual pride. I confess to you that is the thing I fear most in my own ministry. So many nice things are said to me, so many people stroke my pride, and there are so many boosts to my ego that I fear I will begin to believe that some of these compliments represent remarkable abilities that I possess. I was at a conference in California once, and I was speaking with the director of the conference about another brother in the Lord about sending one of his organization's top speakers for a series of special meetings. This man drew himself up and said, I am the top speaker of our group. I'm number 1. It was not surprising to me, after learning that, to see this man's ministry begin to crumble and fall apart; soon he was removed from his leadership position by his own organization. I have seen a lot of people fall because they grew arrogant and boastful about what God was doing through them.

This underscores the spiritual battle we are involved in. When is the devil being beaten? Not when we feel great and confident, when it looks like wonderful things are happening, when the ministry is going well. No, the devil is being defeated when we are feeling attacked and under the gun, when we feel weak and helpless and do not know what to do, when we are not sure how to respond, when in our perplexities and sense of weakness we come before the Lord and plead with Him for strength to go on one more day and for grace to help us stand. That is when we are winning and when the kingdom of God is being spread more abundantly than ever before.

Lord, thank You for those things in my life that keep me weak and dependent on You.

​

Life Application​

Are we aware of the peril of spiritual pride? Can we receive our weakness and incompetence as a path to God's power at work in us?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 27TH​

The Remarkable Paradox​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:11-13

For I am not in the least inferior to the super apostles, even though I am nothing.
2 Corinthians 12:11b

Hidden in verse 11 is a remarkable paradox that is possible only for those who are true servants of Christ. Notice how Paul puts it: I am not in the least inferior, he says; and then in the next phrase, even though I am nothing. One statement is, I am the equal of anybody; I am not inferior at all to these superlative apostles; I have everything they have and more, while at the same time he can say, yet I am nothing. That is the mark of a true servant of Christ: the ability to say both of those things and for both of them to be equally true. When Paul says, I am not inferior, he means, Everything I am in Christ, everything that Christ can do through me, makes me equal to anything they can do.

This is the attitude that all Christians ought to come to about themselves: I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13). If God tells me to do something, I can do it. I can obey His word, I can follow His precepts. I can do what He asks. There is a ringing note of confidence because you are not relying on yourself, but on Christ. At the same time the apostle could add, Relying on myself, I am nothing. All my abilities, my gifts, and my natural talents won't get me anywhere in God's sight. They are impressive to other people, and I could fool a lot of people this way, but they are not at all impressive in the eyes of God.

I wish I could get a lot more Christians talking this way today, willing to say, if Christ tells me to do something or to be something, then there is no limit to my ability to do or be it, because He will provide the power. But in myself, trying to do anything depending on my gifts, I will accomplish nothing of any value in God's sight. Now that is the mark of a true servant of Christ! One of the ways you can test the false apostles of our day is to listen carefully to what they say about themselves. Do they claim anything is coming from them? Do they claim to be remarkable people of remarkable ability, or are they talking about the power coming from Christ? That is the big difference. By this, these Corinthians should have recognized Paul.

Lord, thank You that even though I add nothing, I can do all things through Christ.

​

Life Application​

Do we have growing confidence in the power and Presence of Christ in us, so that self-esteem is becoming a non-issue?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR SEPTEMBER 28TH​

The Mark Of A True Servant​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:14-13:4

After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.
2 Corinthians 12:14b-15a

Paul gives himself in selfless love because he is the parent and they are the children; he had led them to Christ. It is the responsibility of parents to provide financially for their children and not to expect the children to support them. Many of you are parents, and some of you are laying aside money to be used for your children's education down the road. Your parent's heart desires to provide for the welfare and the future of your children because God has made it that way. One of the great marks of true servants of Christ is that they give themselves without restraint to those to whom they are ministering. They do not ask for anything back from them. What a contrast that is with false apostles. How upset they get if you do not minister in return to them.

But notice what Paul's attitude is. He says, I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? That is, these Corinthians were not responding with love. The normal response of children to their parents' care is to love them. But even if the Corinthians do not, Paul says, I am still going to pour out everything for you. And he indicates that his love is an unqualified form of love. I remember years ago reading a story of a mother who went down to breakfast one morning and found a bill from her son lying beside her plate. He had written it out for her:

• Mowing the lawn: $2.00
• Drying the dishes $1.00
• Raking leaves: $3.00
• Cleaning garage: $4.00
• Total owed: $10.00

His mother did not say anything but went about her work. When the boy came home from school for lunch that day, he found a bill lying beside his plate. It said:

• Ironing clothes: nothing
• Mending socks: nothing
• Cooking meals: nothing
• Bandaging cuts: nothing
• Baking cookies: nothing

Love, Mother

That is the apostle's attitude. He does not expect anything in return. It would be nice if his efforts were reciprocated, but even if they are not, that is not going to stop him. That kind of selfless, unqualified love is the mark of a true servant of Christ. You can use it to test the claims of many voices today to determine whether they are the servants of Christ, because it is the invariable mark of those who genuinely love that they love without demanding something in return.

Lord, teach me to serve others without expectation of what I will get in return.

Life Application​

God's love in Christ for us is immeasurable. Are we choosing to be living statements of that quality of love? Or do we put price tag on our relationships?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.