If in reading through the following Scripture you have any interesting thoughts, comments, questions, or insights that come to your mind, please feel free to share!!
Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: "In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We cause no one to stumble in anything, in order that no fault may be found with our ministry; on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left; through glory and dishonor, insult and praise. We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful; as unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death; as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
(2 Corinthians 6:1-10)
I'm in the middle of reading the bible through chronologically, so i really miss reading the N.T :) I like that how you handle hardships and constraints commend your ministry to others. Hardships and setbacks are seen as a waste by the world, but everything in our life has purpose. This passage reminds me of how the more i read the bible, the more i see how COMPLETELY opposite God's and the world's views are. It's fascinating. The other part i liked was "as poor yet enriching many." It makes me think of non-Christians who have reached their personal or career goals, have accomplished everything worthwhile in the world's eyes (including gaining wealth), yet they haven't really enriched anyone. And that is what truly matters more in the end. Then you can have a Christian who doesn't have a lot, they appear to have the most mundane life possible, yet they are enriching so many people. :D
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