You are a letter
Clearly you are a letter of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
Your life is a letter written for all the world to see. The way you live, the words you say and the things you do are sending out a message to all who hear and see you. What is the message that others are getting through the life you are living?
I used to think that God’s Word was His love letter to the world, and it is for sure, but after reading today’s scripture, I realize that my life is a gift from God to the world around me. Most people I am around each day will never read about how much God loves them in the Bible. That is one of the reasons God saved me, to be His walking love in the flesh for the world to get a glimpse of Him. His desire is that all people would know His unconditional love and experience it in their every day lives, so He gave you and me and all His people to the world to demonstrate His great love!
This is not an easy task, and not one to be taken lightly either. When we get up each morning, our job is to be the love of God to all others. From our family to our neighborhood, from our friends to the people we work with, we are God’s message to all those outside of His kingdom. So, what message are the people getting from God through your life? Do they see the self-sacrificial love of God in the way we serve and go out of our way to encourage? Or, do they see someone similar to themselves that is working and striving to meet the needs of number one?
Oh, I know it isn’t easy to live that love walk initially, but as you begin to practice love wherever you go and commit to loving others with the God kind of love, in time you will develop a habit of loving. Not just to get in a rut, in fact it is impossible to get in a rut when loving others because it is the one thing the stimulates joy in our lives, that is serving others. In fact, vs. 5 & 6 of this passage say that we cannot be this example of love without the help and power of God in our lives and that it is the only thing that brings joy and fulfillment into our otherwise ordinary way of living.
The apostle Paul’s life was the perfect example of being God’s letter to the world. Through much of his life he ministered to other wherever he was. Not just by starting churches from city to city, but he worked his daily vocation as a tent maker and used that platform to reach others. Not of his own strength, he was working with God and He, the Holy Spirit, was the power source within Paul’s ministry. We can do this too. Whatever place we have been given to live our daily lives, we can be the message to the world from our Father and working together with Him as we go will guarantee your success!
Today I want to encourage you to offer up your life as a living sacrifice. Tell your loving heavenly Father that you are giving your life to be His love letter to the world around you. Partner with Him by following His prompts and nudges along the way and watch as His sufficiency brings a supernatural joy into your life that was never there before.
Today’s scripture reading: 2 Corinthians 3:1-6