To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 4:5 “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

One of the best tests of our own Christian maturity (and authenticity, for that matter) is an examination of what we talk about. In the verse above Paul was addressing accusations that he was a false teacher. His defense was the way in which he talked. You see, false teachers are all about self-promotion. Often, they strut and parade about making a show of themselves as they claim to speak for Christ. They find it hard to resist the temptation to talk about themselves, because in reality, their life is all about themselves. That’s the great contrast between a genuine, Christ-centered person, and an imposter.

Selfishness, self-centeredness, self-focus – that’s the way it is with many people. And although we might not want to admit it, an examination of our words will expose our real priorities, for as Jesus said, it is “out of the abundance of the heart (our) mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). If our life is all about us, it is “us” that will be a focus of what we talk about. If, on the other hand, our life if Christ-focused or focused on loving our neighbor as ourselves, i.e., the greatest commandments of our God, then our words will be focused on Christ and on the interests of others we say we care about. It’s a simple test. It’s a test that will be obvious to everyone else to whom we speak, despite our own blindness to it because we can be so self-absorbed.

So, have you taken this test? How are you doing? May God help us to examine ourselves, as God’s Word so often commands us to do, both to see whether we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5), and to see if our faith is what it should be in light of our profession that it is Jesus Who is truly the Lord of our lives rather than ourselves.