How is Your Inside?

2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

This is Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. Apostle Paul wrote many letters to Corinth but we have two in the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 5:9, he refers to another letter that he wrote to them yet this is first Corinthians. That means while it is first to us, it may not have been the first he wrote to Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 2:3-4, he refers to yet another letter that we do not have. We, therefore, conclude that many letters were written to Corinth but we have two.

In this letter and this chapter, Apostle Paul encourages the Corinthian church to persevere through difficulties they face. Apostle Paul doesn’t tell them that a miracle will happen and problems will disappear. Apostle Paul doesn’t tell them that being a Christian is the end of problems. Yet this unbiblical concept is what attracts many people to churches in our day.

Multitudes of people flock to churches that assure them that a paid prayer is enough to clear all their troubles. Many are comfortable with the unbiblical truth that belonging to Jesus is the end of all known problems. Many do everything they are told to do to live a trouble-free life which is contrary to what Jesus taught.

John 16:33
“… In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Acts 14:22
… “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

The words of Jesus in John 16:33 and the words of Apostle Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:22 tell us what to expect as Christians. It will not be trouble-free. The Biblical message is that God will enable us to bear, 1 Corinthians 10:13 and help us escape if it is too much beyond our Abuto bear. Our life will not be trouble-free but it will be made bearable by God.

This is the biblical teaching on suffering in the present life. To be promised a trouble-free life after paying for prayer and blessings is heretical. We should prefer to know the truth than a lie that soothes us in unrealistic unbiblical ways!

In our text today Paul tells us that in our outward visible life we suffer greatly. Outwardly we are wasting away. Outwardly we are thoroughly beaten. Then the Apostle writes that, but inside is the opposite of the outside. On the inside, we are getting renewed and strengthened daily. How is your inside?

Outside you are broke without money but how is your inside? Outside you are lonely but how is your inside? Outside you are sickly but how is your inside? Outside you are aging and weak but how is your inside? Outside we experience the difficulties in life in a sinful world, but inside God has preserved us. How is your inside?

Apostle Paul suggests that outside May be subject to difficulties of life but inside is preserved safely by God. Is your inside preserved and safe in God? How is your inside? May God grant us endurance outside and preserve us with the best inside life, in Jesus’s name, Amen!

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