Paul ran into some of the same problems we do today. One of his problems had to do with his authority. Some people thought Paul was bold in his
letters but not so much in person. Some
thought he didn’t have much authority when he was with in their presence.
Paul responded to these people in 2 Corinthians chapters
10-13. It says this in chapter 10:7-10, “Do
you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced
in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that
just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s. For even if I should boast
somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and
not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed— lest I seem to terrify you by
letters. ‘For his letters,’ they say, ‘are weighty and powerful, but his bodily
presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”’
Paul strikes me as the kind of man that was full of faith and
knew the power of the Lord in his life and could have thrown his weight around,
so to speak, if he wanted to, but he didn’t choose to at that particular time. Paul’s love, compassion, dedication and commitment
for the church were seen by the way he conducted himself while in and out of
their presence. Paul responded in verse
11 saying this, “Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in
person will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away.”
Paul may not have been the most powerful preacher, but he
was an excellent debater. Paul did not
think of himself more highly than he should but he knew in whom he believed and
he could trust Him to accomplish His will in his life. Paul didn’t compare himself to others because
he knew that was unwise. Paul was confident
because he knew where his strength came from.
We also could learn a powerful lesson from Paul in our day, and
that is instead of using carnal, or worldly weapons, as we seem to do so often,
we need to do what Paul did as recorded in verses 3-6, “For though we walk in
the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down
arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being
ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
We are reminded by Paul that spiritual weapons are much more
powerful than the carnal weapons many of us seem to depend on. The Lord‘s mighty weapons are faith, hope, prayer
and bible study as well as the power of Jesus’ name along with the Holy Spirit’s
power working in our lives. Paul didn’t
depend on himself, his appearance, speech and intelligence, no, Paul spent time
with the Lord so he was prayed up and filled up with the Word, he was filled up
with faith and he was empowered by the Holy Spirit going forth in the mighty name
of Jesus. Armed with these weapons he was
ready to do battle with the enemy of his soul. When we go forth to battle against the forces
of darkness we need to be prepared like Paul was; using carnal weapons will
spell defeat every time but there will always be victory using godly weapons.
False teachers were telling people to ignore Paul, but Paul
told them that his letters and the words he spoke were to be taken with all seriousness
and not to be taken lightly. Paul and
his companions were the first ones to bring the good news to these people which
gave him the authority over them and all Paul had was their best interest in
mind. Paul criticized the false teachers
who compared themselves to others and not by the Lord’s standards.
This is another lesson we can learn from Paul. Comparing ourselves with others can cause
pride but when we measure ourselves to the Lord it takes the pride away and
humbles us. Don’t worry about other people
and what they have accomplished but think about whether you measure up to what
the Lord wants. How do you measure up to
Christ? If we do that we will have a
reason to keep striving to be better, knowing that we haven’t arrived yet, that
should also keep us from being prideful.
Something to think about and may the Lord bless you and yours
and have a great day!!
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