Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 13

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 2 (NRSV)

The Spirit is what gives us the ability
to have confidence even when
we may not feel it.

How do you know when you are spiritually discerning and not just confident in your previously held beliefs?

That is the difficult question for us as we try to determine the best way to live our lives.

Paul indicates that he came to Corinth "in weakness and in fear and in much trembling." This is not how modern motivational speakers would advise you to inspire confidence in your audience!  Except that Paul must have lit something within them because they came to faith in Christ and continued as a church.

We begin to see the miraculous in Paul.  He speaks of the power of God, not as something out there, far away or beyond us.  Rather, we have access to this power through the Spirit of God.  As we have shaped our understanding theologically of the Trinity, we see the Holy Spirit as part of the Godhead - fully God and yet distinct from the Father and the Son.

So it is often through the Spirit that we understand ourselves interacting with God.  

But, how do we discern if we are spiritual or unspiritual as Paul says?  How do we determine if the leader we are following is spiritual or leading from their own self-interests?  I am aware that there are times in my life when I was just fooling myself.  Worse yet, I have followed a fool or two.

We are attracted to leaders who are able to connect with us.  We like to see confidence in them and their message (certainly, we prefer that to weakness, fear and trembling).  But sometimes manipulators employ these very tactics.

Paul gives a hint at the end of this chapter.  He states, "we have the mind of Christ."  We often speak of being the body of Christ but we seldom speak of having the mind of Christ.  Maybe we should emphasize this more often. The mind of Christ means that we are familiar and comfortable with the teachings of Jesus.  We remember the parables and can paraphrase them if someone asked us to summarize them.  We remember how he treated people.

This allows us to look at a leader and ask ourselves, "Does this person seem Christ-like to me?"  Do they say and do the things that make me think, "Jesus would do that."

As I consider my own spirituality, I must then turn my gaze upon my own words and actions.

And if I find myself lacking, this may not mean that I am not spiritual.  In fact, the very awareness of my own lack may mean that the Spirit is working in me.  

The real question is will I fan that flame and let it grow?

Prayer for the day:

Loving Spirit, teach us to trust.  Instruct us in our speech.  Give us all confidence so that we will not be afraid to share power and praise and joy.  And if we begin to doubt your presence, let us breathe deeply and pause.  And then wash over us once more.  Illuminate in us the mind of Christ.  For it is in Christ's name we pray.  Amen.

Photo by Chris and Karen Highland via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.