It Starts Small

Paul starts this passage of scripture with therefore, do not give up…. If we know anything about how Paul writes, the “therefore” means because of ….. do not give up. What is Paul telling us?

Let us back up to verse 7 and the following:

Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭

Paul is encouraging us to not give up because we are going to be afflicted, but not crushed. We are going be perplexed, but not in despair. We are going to be persecuted but never abandoned. We will be struck down, but not destroyed.

We have a hope because:

We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬-‭11‬

All of the power of God resides in us through the Holy Spirit. Our fleshly body is dying every day. Physical death is inevitable. But spiritual life is what gives us renewing. Paul says, our spiritual life is given to us through Christ so that He may be displayed in our mortal bodies. Our attitude, our actions, and our words are to be a display of Him in our physical bodies by the way we speak and act.

Let us keep reading:

For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭CSB‬‬

What is Paul speaking to us concerning God’s Mercies are New Each day?

Paul says we are going to experience trials, tribulations, storms, fires, valleys, and tests. It is an inevitable part of life. As we march towards physical death, however, there is life on the inside of us that can not be put to death. Moments of affliction are nothing in the long-term of eternity. Life does not end at our physical death. Our physical death is the moment we shed these meat sacks and receive the completeness, perfection, God promises us.

We can be renewed everyday through His mercy that while we age, we are still alive in our hearts. There is no age or death to the Spirit that dwells within us. As our bodies get old, our youth is restored within our hearts by the mercy and grace of God that fills our hearts with a love that renews our minds and spirit to be a vessel of Christ, no matter what our physical age is.