{"id":17594,"date":"2021-09-23T22:00:45","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T05:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2corinthians-10_1-6-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-09-17T15:59:30","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T22:59:30","slug":"2corinthians-10_7-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2corinthians-10_7-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Boast In Jesus, Not In Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Corinthians 10:7-18\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Corinthians 10:7-18.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 10:7-14 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.<\/em>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-14:\u00a0\u00a0One criticism being thrown at Paul was that Paul had been boasting excessively about his authority in the church.\u00a0\u00a0This criticism was probably coming from the \u201csuper apostles\u201d, a group that featured speakers who were more eloquent than Paul but who did not have the authority that Paul had as founding pastor of the church.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul tells his church, “Stop judging by mere appearances and enough with these silly comparisons.” (v7)<\/p>\n

It seems that these \u201csuper apostles\u201d were trying to undermine Paul\u2019s authority as the spiritual leader of the church by pointing at his lack of speaking skills and saying to the church in Corinth something to the effect of, \u201cWho does Paul think he is, commanding and ordering you guys this way in his letters?\u00a0\u00a0And then when he actually shows up, look how unimpressive his speaking skills are!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0To paraphrase Paul\u2019s response in verse 8: \u201cI\u2019m not going to be ashamed of using the authority God has given me to lead the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s probably going on here is that Paul was not really \u201cboasting\u201d; rather he was simply using his authority as founding pastor of the church to rebuke and to remind the church in Corinth.\u00a0\u00a0However, the \u201csuper apostles\u201d and their groupies saw this as boasting, even though ironically they wanted the very authority and position that Paul had.\u00a0\u00a0These \u201csuper apostles\u201d did not respect Paul\u2019s authority as a founding leader of the church.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Be confident in who you are and what God has given to you.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0From time to time people will criticize, but remember, as Pastor Craig Groeschel says, that just because they\u2019re the loudest does not mean they\u2019re the most.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t play the comparison game.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t live for the approval of others.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0For as Paul writes\u00a0in verse 18, ” it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”\u00a0Instead, keep a sweet, strong heart and continue to serve God with humility, integrity and confidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 10:15-16 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand,
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in another man’s territory.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-16: \u00a0Just as Paul and his team desired that their ministry would “greatly expand” and go beyond its current borders, I believe God wants us to dream big for Him and to always strive to see our ministries expand — not for our glory, but because people matter to God.\u00a0 As long as there are people in our city and in our world who don’t know Jesus, we have reason to want our ministry to “greatly expand”, to reach people and places that we are not yet reaching.\u00a0 Jesus had the same mentality.\u00a0 In John\u00a010:16 he says, \u201cI have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.\u00a0I must bring them also.\u00a0<\/em>They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, Jesus wasn’t content to have the people that he did.\u00a0 He wanted to see his people grow and God\u2019s kingdom expand.\u00a0 In the same way, may you never settle and think, “I’ve done enough.\u00a0 No need to reach out to more people.” \u00a0For as long as there are people in our city and in our world who don’t know Jesus, you and I have a mission to bring the hope of Jesus to them.<\/p>\n

May God expand our hearts and our ministries for His glory.<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 10:17-18 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-18:\u00a0\u00a0Don’t get caught in the comparison game.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe today the biggest mistake you’re making is that you keep comparing yourself to someone who is totally different from you<\/strong>, someone whose skill set, personality, background, and destiny are completely different from yours.\u00a0 Instead of saying, “Why can’t I be more like that person?”, remember that God made you with a unique destiny. Embrace it!<\/p>\n

Or\u00a0maybe today the mistake you’re making is that you keep comparing someone close to you with someone whom you only see from a distance<\/strong>.\u00a0 For as long as you do that, you’re going to make life miserable for yourself and for that person who is close to you.<\/p>\n

Remember that God doesn’t make copies; He only makes originals.\u00a0 So instead of being controlled by comparisons, embrace your uniqueness in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Don\u2019t live for the approval of others, but live to please God.\u00a0 Boast in Him, not in yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that because You made me uniquely I don\u2019t need to be caught up in the comparison game.\u00a0\u00a0Help me to be confident and secure in who I am and what You have given to me.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Corinthians 10:7-18.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 10:7-14 (NIV)
\n7\u00a0\u00a0You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.
\n8\u00a0\u00a0For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
\n9\u00a0\u00a0I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.
\n10\u00a0\u00a0For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”
\n11\u00a0\u00a0Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
\n12\u00a0\u00a0We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
\n13\u00a0\u00a0We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ.<\/p>\n

On verses 7-14:\u00a0\u00a0One criticism being thrown at Paul was that Paul had been boasting excessively about his authority in the church.\u00a0\u00a0This criticism was probably coming from the \u201csuper apostles\u201d, a group that featured speakers who were more eloquent than Paul but who did not have the authority that Paul had as founding pastor of the church.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul tells his church, “Stop judging by mere appearances and enough with these silly comparisons.” (v7) \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17595,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17594\/revisions\/17595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}