Our Daily Scripture – 8/6/25 (Wednesday)

SCRIPTURE:  2 CORINTHIANS 10

MEMORY VERSE:  

“Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 10:17)

PAUL’S DEFENSE OF HIS MINISTRY (vs. 1-18)

Paul told the Corinthian brothers the following message:

  1. We live by the standards of this world, but we do not wage war as the world does. (v. 3)
  2. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world because our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds. (4-5)
  3. We demolish arguments and every pretension against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (v. 5)
  4. We will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. (v. 6)
  5. I will not be ashamed to boast about the authority the Lord gave us to build you up because we belong to Christ. (v. 7-8)
  6. I am not trying to frighten you with my letters. We are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. (v. 11)
  7. We will not boast beyond proper limits by boasting about work done by others, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us with the gospel of Christ. (v. 13-16)
  8. Let him who boasts boast in the Lord for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. (v. 17-18)

THOUGHTS:

In order to fight against the devil’s “strongholds”, we must not use human plans or methods to win our battles.  Instead we must use  God’s mighty weapons – prayer, faith, hope, love, God’s Word and the Holy Spirit – which are powerful and effective.

Greece was known for its eloquent and persuasive orators.  Some judged Paul by comparing him to other speakers they had heard.  They said that Paul’s speaking amounted to nothing.  But Paul responded obediently to God’s call and introduced Christianity to the Roman Empire.  Preaching ability is not the first prerequisite of a great leader.

Recognition is dangerous because it can lead to inflated pride.  Better seek the praise of God rather than the praise of people.  When we receive praise, we must give God the credit and glory.