"We know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation." 2 Cor. 1:7
“Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” (2 Cor. 7:2-3)
Paul's spiritual leadership was being questioned in 2 Corinthians. False teachers had came in and undermined his teaching and authority. Commentary notes, “Whatever his critics might be saying against him, the Apostle Paul had not injured anyone, he had not taken advantage of anyone financially.” [1]
In 2 Corinthians 5:13-15 Paul writes to the church, “For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
Paul was an authentic leader and continually pointed the Corinth church to follow God. He was not looking for what he could gain from the church or look good in himself, but what he could give of himself to them. He made it clear to the Corinth church that he was following Christ as his pattern.
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 he writes, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
The false teachers promoted themselves and were charismatic. With their outward appearance and boasting, they were viewed as super apostles and greatly appealed to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:4-5). They preached another gospel and the Corinthians embraced it. Paul was beside himself for how quickly the people of the church turned and embraced outward appearances over authenticity of heart in following Christ.
He tells them in 2 Cor. 11:2, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
Paul tells the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11:4, “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted -you may well put up with it!”
Paul made it clear to the Corinthians that his authority was not his own, but established by Christ. He wrote to them in 2 Corinthians 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.' Let such a person consider this, that we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.”
What Paul lacked in charismatic speech and training in rhetoric [2], he made up for by his knowledge, deeds (labors for the kingdom of God) and authority from Christ that resulted in genuine transformation and fruit in the lives of the Corinthian church.
Paul tells them in 2 Corinthians 11:5-11, “For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things. Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you. And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself. As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows!”
Some of the things that Paul did that demonstrated his authenticity in his leadership was to model his values and character, empower believers, cast vision, and labor to build trust in his relationships.
John Maxwell writes, “There is no success without sacrifice.”[3] Paul was a leader who was willing to suffer and sacrifice for the kingdom of God. He modeled this to the Corinth church.
In 2 Corinthians 1:8 he writes, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.”
By modeling sacrifice and commitment, Paul was encouraging the church that they could endure the same sufferings which he suffered (2 Cor. 1:6). Paul reminded the Corinthians that as they partook in the sufferings, they would also partake in the consolations of Christ (2 Cor. 1:7).
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 says, “What a wonderful God we have—He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them the same help and comfort God has given us. ... In our trouble God has comforted us—and this, too, to help you: to show you from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the strength to endure.” [4]
Commentary notes, “The apostle could see good emerging both from his afflictions and his comfort... [The Corinth church] would be encouraged and challenged by Paul’s endurance, and would reason that if God could give him grace to suffer, He could give them grace too. ...The comfort which the apostle received would fill the Corinthians with consolation and inspire them to patient endurance as they passed through the same kind of persecution as he did. Only those who have gone through deep testings know how to speak a fitting word to others who are called upon to go through the same.” [5]
Paul never coddled the believers. He did not promise them ease and prosperity. Rather, they were more certain to lose everything they had by following Christ. Believers at that time were loosing all they owned due to persecution. In other cases, believers were being arrested and/or burned at the stake. Paul's message was not “Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to you if you chose to follow Christ.” Rather his message to believers was “Following Christ is worth everything and more than this!”
“Those who trust in the Lord are a strong mountain, they will not be moved” sings in the background.
Paul did not draw the people to himself. He saw himself as a bond-servant of Christ who was responsible to point people to God. In Christ would be their consolation as well as their transformation and not in him. In 2 Cor. 3:18 he writes, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
While Paul labored earnestly in prayer for them to be rooted in their belovedness, Paul didn't tickle believer's ears with how great they were. Rather, Paul was bold in his confrontation of their sin. He spoke to them the truth, no matter the cost to himself. He did not spare them the truth because he desired their growth – not their harm.
Paul wrote to them, “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted.” (2 Cor. 7:8-10)
With the church in Galatia, rather than repent, they became offended with Paul and questioned his leadership. Yet, even at risk of their becoming offended, he did not withhold anything that would benefit them. He spoke the truth in love in hopes that they would bear fruit. He wrote the church in Galatians 4:16, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?”
Paul was not seeking his own glory but that God would be evident and glorified in all he did. Paul did not manipulate or control others to gain their following or any benefit from them. Rather, he made every effort to be above any reproach in his ministry. He served them genuinely out of a desire for their hearts to belong completely to Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 4:1-5 he goes on to write, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.”
However, while Paul made every effort to be above reproach in his ministry, not manipulating or being deceitful, he also did not try to put forth an image of holiness. Nor did he place himself above other believers. In humility Paul acknowledged his human weakness and fears within (2 Cor. 7:5). Paul had not 'arrived' -he was on the journey with all the believers.
He writes in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”
He knew that the more he died to himself, the more God would be manifested in him to the benefit of the church in Corinth. In 2 Cor.4:11-12 he notes, “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. So then death is working in us, but life in you.”
What was most evident about Paul is not that he was 'perfect' or got everything right, but his willingness to stay in the game. Paul never quit. The more he suffered, the more it pressed him into dependence upon God for his life and strength. Blow after blow, Paul kept on getting back up and running after God.
After being hard-pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, struck down and then on top of all this, challenged in his leadership role by the very people he had poured his heart and life into, Paul didn't sit down but kept fighting the good fight of faith.
Paul kept his eyes on the bigger picture and his heart set toward kingdom purposes. Paul had a clear vision for gentiles to know Christ and to be transformed into Christlikeness that kept him pressing forward and pressing in despite all difficulties. Paul labored tirelessly. To the church in Galatia Paul told them, “I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”
He writes in 2 Cor 4:14-18, “knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
“High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art” sings.
As Paul had a thorn in the flesh, this did not keep him from pressing forward (nor did physical infirmities -Gal. 4:13). Rather it kept him humble and dependent upon God. With the thorn in his flesh, he pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from him. But when the Lord refused to remove it, Paul embraced God's will (2 Cor. 12:8-9). The Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)
Rather than complain or groan, Paul responded, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
John Maxwell writes, “God gave him the grace and power to overcome the thorn, but didn't take it away. Visions make leaders passionate; thorns keep them authentic.”[6]
Lord, Your beautiful, Your face is all I seek, for when Your eyes are on this child, Your grace abounds to me”
The reason for Paul's joy was deeper than any difficulty or tribulation in the world could touch. Paul let go of everything in the light of who Christ is. Christ was worth it all to Paul. And not only Christ, but in his deep love for Christ, Paul was incredibly passionate about those things that Christ put in his heart to tend to. Paul put his whole heart in what he did and never lost sight of the vision that God gave him.
Even in prison, Paul did not give up. One Commentary wrote about the letter Paul wrote to the Philippians, “This letter proves that even while the apostle Paul sat in a foul Roman prison, he never lost his passion, his sense of mission, his sense of direction, or his command of the situation. While Paul remained an inmate of Rome, he couldn't plant new churches as he felt called to do. Instead , he sat in chains, attached to a Praetorian guard, awaiting a trail that he thought could end his life (1:21). Yet even in the midst of all this, he never abandoned his role of leadership.”
“All I need is You, Jesus all I need is You, Jesus You are the source of all I need” sings in the background.
Paul writes in Philippians 2:17, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.”
Paul poured everything out to serve Christ with his eyes towards the day that he would meet Him face to face. He longed for the day he would be with Christ. Yet he was willing to endure so that believers would progress in their faith and bear good fruit.
To the Philippians he wrote in 1:21-25, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith...”
Lord, Paul “took pleasure” in his struggles. How far I am from this! Forgive me for being so quick to whine and snivel, back down and/or blame others when I experience a little difficulty. You have given me so much. And you offer me the greatest gift of all – to be in it with me. You are my comfort and consolation. I can think of nothing greater. Thank you for the people you have placed in my life that have been such an encouragement to me to press in and press forward. I am truly grateful. Forgive me for loosing sight so quickly of Your kingdom purposes. You are worth it all -and even more than I could possibly offer You!
“You are greater still, And I chose to lose it all for the sake of Christ” sings.
Lord, in everything Paul did, He was speaking something very clearly – You are the pearl of great price and You are worth it all. Would you let this be the song of our heart. You are worth everything we can offer You. Would You give us the grace, vision and passion to, like Paul, be poured out to You like a drink offering to see your purposes come forth. Would you give us joy and rejoicing, even in suffering for the privilege of partnering with You in Your kingdom purposes. With Paul may we be able to say, "I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation."
1-2, 4-5. MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S.
3, 6. Maxwell, John. The Maxwell Leadership Bible, Second Edition. NKJV. Lessons in Leadership from the Word of God. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, Tennessee. 2007.
Paul's spiritual leadership was being questioned in 2 Corinthians. False teachers had came in and undermined his teaching and authority. Commentary notes, “Whatever his critics might be saying against him, the Apostle Paul had not injured anyone, he had not taken advantage of anyone financially.” [1]
In 2 Corinthians 5:13-15 Paul writes to the church, “For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
Paul was an authentic leader and continually pointed the Corinth church to follow God. He was not looking for what he could gain from the church or look good in himself, but what he could give of himself to them. He made it clear to the Corinth church that he was following Christ as his pattern.
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 he writes, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
The false teachers promoted themselves and were charismatic. With their outward appearance and boasting, they were viewed as super apostles and greatly appealed to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:4-5). They preached another gospel and the Corinthians embraced it. Paul was beside himself for how quickly the people of the church turned and embraced outward appearances over authenticity of heart in following Christ.
He tells them in 2 Cor. 11:2, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
Paul tells the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11:4, “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted -you may well put up with it!”
Paul made it clear to the Corinthians that his authority was not his own, but established by Christ. He wrote to them in 2 Corinthians 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.' Let such a person consider this, that we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.”
What Paul lacked in charismatic speech and training in rhetoric [2], he made up for by his knowledge, deeds (labors for the kingdom of God) and authority from Christ that resulted in genuine transformation and fruit in the lives of the Corinthian church.
Paul tells them in 2 Corinthians 11:5-11, “For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things. Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you. And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself. As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows!”
Some of the things that Paul did that demonstrated his authenticity in his leadership was to model his values and character, empower believers, cast vision, and labor to build trust in his relationships.
John Maxwell writes, “There is no success without sacrifice.”[3] Paul was a leader who was willing to suffer and sacrifice for the kingdom of God. He modeled this to the Corinth church.
In 2 Corinthians 1:8 he writes, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.”
By modeling sacrifice and commitment, Paul was encouraging the church that they could endure the same sufferings which he suffered (2 Cor. 1:6). Paul reminded the Corinthians that as they partook in the sufferings, they would also partake in the consolations of Christ (2 Cor. 1:7).
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 says, “What a wonderful God we have—He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them the same help and comfort God has given us. ... In our trouble God has comforted us—and this, too, to help you: to show you from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the strength to endure.” [4]
Commentary notes, “The apostle could see good emerging both from his afflictions and his comfort... [The Corinth church] would be encouraged and challenged by Paul’s endurance, and would reason that if God could give him grace to suffer, He could give them grace too. ...The comfort which the apostle received would fill the Corinthians with consolation and inspire them to patient endurance as they passed through the same kind of persecution as he did. Only those who have gone through deep testings know how to speak a fitting word to others who are called upon to go through the same.” [5]
Paul never coddled the believers. He did not promise them ease and prosperity. Rather, they were more certain to lose everything they had by following Christ. Believers at that time were loosing all they owned due to persecution. In other cases, believers were being arrested and/or burned at the stake. Paul's message was not “Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to you if you chose to follow Christ.” Rather his message to believers was “Following Christ is worth everything and more than this!”
“Those who trust in the Lord are a strong mountain, they will not be moved” sings in the background.
Paul did not draw the people to himself. He saw himself as a bond-servant of Christ who was responsible to point people to God. In Christ would be their consolation as well as their transformation and not in him. In 2 Cor. 3:18 he writes, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
While Paul labored earnestly in prayer for them to be rooted in their belovedness, Paul didn't tickle believer's ears with how great they were. Rather, Paul was bold in his confrontation of their sin. He spoke to them the truth, no matter the cost to himself. He did not spare them the truth because he desired their growth – not their harm.
Paul wrote to them, “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted.” (2 Cor. 7:8-10)
With the church in Galatia, rather than repent, they became offended with Paul and questioned his leadership. Yet, even at risk of their becoming offended, he did not withhold anything that would benefit them. He spoke the truth in love in hopes that they would bear fruit. He wrote the church in Galatians 4:16, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?”
Paul was not seeking his own glory but that God would be evident and glorified in all he did. Paul did not manipulate or control others to gain their following or any benefit from them. Rather, he made every effort to be above any reproach in his ministry. He served them genuinely out of a desire for their hearts to belong completely to Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 4:1-5 he goes on to write, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.”
However, while Paul made every effort to be above reproach in his ministry, not manipulating or being deceitful, he also did not try to put forth an image of holiness. Nor did he place himself above other believers. In humility Paul acknowledged his human weakness and fears within (2 Cor. 7:5). Paul had not 'arrived' -he was on the journey with all the believers.
He writes in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”
He knew that the more he died to himself, the more God would be manifested in him to the benefit of the church in Corinth. In 2 Cor.4:11-12 he notes, “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. So then death is working in us, but life in you.”
What was most evident about Paul is not that he was 'perfect' or got everything right, but his willingness to stay in the game. Paul never quit. The more he suffered, the more it pressed him into dependence upon God for his life and strength. Blow after blow, Paul kept on getting back up and running after God.
After being hard-pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, struck down and then on top of all this, challenged in his leadership role by the very people he had poured his heart and life into, Paul didn't sit down but kept fighting the good fight of faith.
Paul kept his eyes on the bigger picture and his heart set toward kingdom purposes. Paul had a clear vision for gentiles to know Christ and to be transformed into Christlikeness that kept him pressing forward and pressing in despite all difficulties. Paul labored tirelessly. To the church in Galatia Paul told them, “I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”
He writes in 2 Cor 4:14-18, “knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
“High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art” sings.
As Paul had a thorn in the flesh, this did not keep him from pressing forward (nor did physical infirmities -Gal. 4:13). Rather it kept him humble and dependent upon God. With the thorn in his flesh, he pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from him. But when the Lord refused to remove it, Paul embraced God's will (2 Cor. 12:8-9). The Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)
Rather than complain or groan, Paul responded, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
John Maxwell writes, “God gave him the grace and power to overcome the thorn, but didn't take it away. Visions make leaders passionate; thorns keep them authentic.”[6]
Lord, Your beautiful, Your face is all I seek, for when Your eyes are on this child, Your grace abounds to me”
The reason for Paul's joy was deeper than any difficulty or tribulation in the world could touch. Paul let go of everything in the light of who Christ is. Christ was worth it all to Paul. And not only Christ, but in his deep love for Christ, Paul was incredibly passionate about those things that Christ put in his heart to tend to. Paul put his whole heart in what he did and never lost sight of the vision that God gave him.
Even in prison, Paul did not give up. One Commentary wrote about the letter Paul wrote to the Philippians, “This letter proves that even while the apostle Paul sat in a foul Roman prison, he never lost his passion, his sense of mission, his sense of direction, or his command of the situation. While Paul remained an inmate of Rome, he couldn't plant new churches as he felt called to do. Instead , he sat in chains, attached to a Praetorian guard, awaiting a trail that he thought could end his life (1:21). Yet even in the midst of all this, he never abandoned his role of leadership.”
“All I need is You, Jesus all I need is You, Jesus You are the source of all I need” sings in the background.
Paul writes in Philippians 2:17, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.”
Paul poured everything out to serve Christ with his eyes towards the day that he would meet Him face to face. He longed for the day he would be with Christ. Yet he was willing to endure so that believers would progress in their faith and bear good fruit.
To the Philippians he wrote in 1:21-25, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith...”
Lord, Paul “took pleasure” in his struggles. How far I am from this! Forgive me for being so quick to whine and snivel, back down and/or blame others when I experience a little difficulty. You have given me so much. And you offer me the greatest gift of all – to be in it with me. You are my comfort and consolation. I can think of nothing greater. Thank you for the people you have placed in my life that have been such an encouragement to me to press in and press forward. I am truly grateful. Forgive me for loosing sight so quickly of Your kingdom purposes. You are worth it all -and even more than I could possibly offer You!
“You are greater still, And I chose to lose it all for the sake of Christ” sings.
Lord, in everything Paul did, He was speaking something very clearly – You are the pearl of great price and You are worth it all. Would you let this be the song of our heart. You are worth everything we can offer You. Would You give us the grace, vision and passion to, like Paul, be poured out to You like a drink offering to see your purposes come forth. Would you give us joy and rejoicing, even in suffering for the privilege of partnering with You in Your kingdom purposes. With Paul may we be able to say, "I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation."
1-2, 4-5. MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S.
3, 6. Maxwell, John. The Maxwell Leadership Bible, Second Edition. NKJV. Lessons in Leadership from the Word of God. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, Tennessee. 2007.
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