Adjusting to Jesus

Read 2 Corinthians 10 thru 13, Acts 20:2-3
 
2 Corinthians 13:7-9 We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come, even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. 8 For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. 9 We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.
 
WHEN someone questions if the Bible is a real document useful for our lives today, we can easily answer, “Yes, it is.” with such Scriptures as this. We know from reading 1 Corinthians that the church was experiencing many challenges. Although they had heard the gospel, had received the apostle Paul’s and others’ preaching, had committed their lives to Christ and had formed a church to worship Jesus as Lord, they had not completely abandoned their old lives. Jealousy, pride, gossiping and other sins kept the church from living in Jesus’ true blessing. This hasn’t changed, has it? The church has continued to suffer these challenges throughout its history. When Paul wrote, “We pray to God you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction.” he indicated the Corinthian church members opposed the truth. Indeed, this is a most relevant passage to consider for our lives today.
   Why is it so difficult to adjust to Jesus? Our sin nature is a very strong nature that causes us to shape God’s teachings into our own preferences. Our self-righteous mindsets flows into the church to prevent full acceptance of God’s gospel. A unified, joyful and Spirit-filled church is only possible when its members submit to Jesus as Lord of their lives. That means they don’t just say, “Jesus is Lord.” but they live out the truth Jesus is Ruler, Master, Teacher and Shepherd. Meek hearts make effective Jesus disciples. Releasing our own way for Jesus’ way may seem weak to the world, but it takes strong faith to follow Christ into his new way.
   Paul urged the church in Corinth to give up their own strength for Christ’s strength. In a mature relationship with Christ, they could grow together into a strong, effective body of faith.
   Also note that Paul did not desire to come to Corinth to correct the church. With his firm instructions, we can sometimes assume he was eager to judge the wrongs and perhaps prove his superior faith. But much of his writings tell us he regretted the discipline aspect of leading a church. He recognized his own sins, and he had to continually fight against evil as we all do. All Christians for all time must reject the world and receive Jesus day by day – a very relevant message from God’s Holy Bible.