July 3 | 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

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DAILY READING

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

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REFLECTION

A Love-Shaped Life

by Katie Borden

When I was in 7th grade, one of our teachers had us write a letter to our future self and then mailed them to us when we graduated from high school. When I read that letter the summer I graduated, I was entertained with rants about which teacher was “ruining my life” that school year, who my best friends were, and what I thought about the boys in the class. 

More to the point, 18-year-old me was faced with an onslaught of questions from 12-year-old me in that letter. It’s still fascinating to contemplate some of those questions today, because it reminds me that what I find important about life–and what I even know to wonder about in life–changes so much with time and experience.

I think that’s true in our life with God, too. In our worldly wisdom, we don’t know how to pursue anything other than self-preservation, self-centeredness, and self-advancement. To be clear, I do think there are times when it is right and good to protect yourself, to consider your needs and to pursue progress toward life goals. But as I’ve wondered what it is we’re really seeking in these aims when they are the main driver of life, it occurs to me that we may really be trying to stave off the effects of a sinful world (and sinful selves) under our own power. 

Perhaps self-preservation is an act motivated by fear. Maybe our self-centeredness has an undercurrent of pride–or shame. Our self-advancement may be an indicator that we long to be valued and are desperate for a place to belong.

In the greater section of 1 Corinthians that our passage today comes from, Paul is explaining how different the wisdom of the Spirit is from the wisdom of this world, and when I consider the above motivations we all experience from time to time, I see this even more clearly. In our humanness, we can’t even conceive of what to ask God about as it pertains to what he has in store for us because we can’t comprehend a different way of life until the Spirit gets a hold of us and begins to shape our lives in the way of Christ:

Jesus did not preserve himself, but gave himself up for our sakes.

Jesus did not focus on building up a name for himself in the ways that the world expected him to, because he didn’t need the world’s approval–he already knew who he was.

Jesus was not self-centered, but poured his energy and love into those he loves.

I’d encourage you to focus on that last word: love. This is what makes Christ’s way of life so different–this way of life focuses love outward. And Christ’s outward love focused on us. This is what God has in store for us: a life filled with the love of Christ, so full and alive that even in our outward focus to others that may look foolish in this life, we are not drained of good things, but filled with the good things that will truly last an eternity.

PRAYER

God, thank you for the love that you have for me. Fill me with this love so that I would know nothing else but your self-giving love. Shape me in the way of love. Amen.

JULY 2 | PHILIPPIANS 3:1-11

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DAILY READING

Philippians 3:1-11

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REFLECTION

Gains and Losses

by Judy Webb

Did you give up much when you decided to follow Christ? Or were you always a believer? Did any of those things seem like a hardship to let go of? Paul is sharing how his entire life changed. His attitude took a complete about face and with the changed and transformed heart he walked a bold and different path.  

Have you ever had to make a decision that was hard to do? Did you try the popular method some employ and make two lists? One column on the benefits of one decision and the other column perhaps weighing the negatives of that decision.

It seems possibly what Paul did when faced with giving up his prior way of life to embrace the Gospel of Jesus. Paul had to let go of everything familiar and make the change of a lifetime. He went from persecutor to promoter, from one who denies Christ to someone who claims Him as Savior. He changed from a man whose sole purpose was to punish believers of Jesus, into a new man with a new vision to lead all to believe in Jesus.

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8)

Paul made the great renunciation by declaring the only gain in life is to find Christ. Paul believed that once saved, all the things that were so important no longer meant anything to him. He had seen the glory of the Lord, and all other glories were like nothing in comparison.

Paul, raised and educated with the Scriptures in his head, never really got into his heart. He never wrapped his mind around what the Word of God was truly saying to him. Until God got his attention in a big way. Has God commanded your attention in a big way? Is your story similar at all to Paul's conversion story? Care to share?

PRAYER

Dear Lord,

Thank you for chasing me down, for never giving up on me. Like Paul, I embraced your truth once I heard it for myself. Help me share that truth with others. Amen.

July 1 | 1 Peter 2:1-10

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DAILY READING

1 Peter 2:1-10

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REFLECTION

Combatting the Lie

by Pr. Dave Mann

The longest-standing lie of all time. It is the most pernicious, malicious, destructive, harmful falsehood in the entire world. And in addition, it is thought to be common knowledge, even to this day. What is it? It is the lie the serpent spoke in the garden. “God is holding out on you. If you obey God, you will miss something wonderful. Your life will be boring. God doesn’t really love you. If he did, he would not deny you the right to eat from this tree. You can’t trust him! Go ahead. Live a little!” (See Genesis 3:1-5.)

The Apostle Peter leans hard in the other direction. He exhorts us in the first verse to move definitively away from negative behaviors that the devil would love for us to taste—malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, etc. The voice of the tempter desires to lure us into “experiencing all of life”—just to be fully informed about what the world is about.

Verse 3 blows away Satan’s empty promise and hurtful lie. Peter writes: “You have tasted that the Lord is good.” The truth is God wants the best for us. You can be sure that the will of God is what will build meaning and purpose and joy and peace and hope and confidence in our lives.

Verses 4-5 continue to urge us to believe that, as we trust him, the Lord will build all of us in the church as living stones into wholesome relationships. Christ Jesus is the Cornerstone, and we firmly place our weight on him. Likewise, we are fit together with the other living stones in the house of the Lord.

However, if our Enemy sees us beginning to dismiss his first lie, he has a backup. “Oh, so you think God is good, do you? Well, if the people of God knew what you have done, they wouldn’t want you as part of their household.” 

Check out what Peter writes in verse 9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” It’s not about what you have done to make yourself worthy; it’s about what God has done.

And just to make it clear, Peter adds verse 10. God knows who you are and what you have done. Everything we have ever done, one day will be announced from the rooftops—no secrets. However, besides the announcement of what we have done, there will be an even louder proclamation of what God has done. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, you are the way, the truth, and the life. Help me recognize the lies of the Enemy and to believe the truth that comes from your Word. Please convince me again and again to trust the declaration that you are good and that you want the best for me, in Jesus’ name, Amen.