From One Degree of Glory to Another.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV

Paul continues his use of Moses as a comparison. Moses, as a result of his exposure to the glory of God during his time on top of Mount Sinai, actually glowed when he came back down the mountain. God's glory rubbed off on him, so to speak. And when the people saw Moses’ face, they were terrified. They had never seen anything like it before in their lives. So Moses covered it up with a veil. But in time, the glory or glow began to fade. But rather than let the people in on the secret, he continued to wear the veil and hide the fact that his glorification was impermanent.

But Paul’s point is that Moses’ temporary glory was symbolic of the temporary nature of the Old Covenant. It too, would come to an end. It would be replaced with something far better. The glory Moses received was external in nature. His skin glowed. But like a bad sunburn, over time it began to fade. The New Covenant, made possible by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, provides us with a different kind of glory. Because of the work of the Spirit in our lives, we have had the veil removed. And that act has accomplished two very important things. It has freed us up from having to pretend as if we are something we are not. For Moses, the veil became a cover-up, a means of hiding reality. At one time, we too were stuck trying to act as if we were spiritual through external acts that led those around us to believe we were something we were not. We veiled our lostness with self-righteousness. But then the Spirit opened our eyes. And that's the second significant thing that happened when the veil was removed. We were able to see Christ in all His glory. For the first time we were capable of recognizing Jesus for who He is and able to accept what He had done for us. The removed veil signifies our acknowledgement of our own sinfulness and the Spirit-endowed ability to see the freedom made available to us through Jesus.

Paul says, “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”. We have the Spirit of Christ present within us. This does not mean that the Spirit and Jesus are one in the same. It simply means that they share their divinity and to have one is to have the other. The Spirit allows us to have the mind of Christ, the wisdom of Christ, the love of Christ, and the nature of Christ. And His presence within us frees us up from having to try to earn favor with God through acts of self-righteousness. We now depend solely upon the righteousness of Christ that was imputed to us by God. We share in Christ's righteousness, so when God looks at us, He sees us as perfectly righteous, just as His Son was.

But Paul’s main point in these closing verses seems to be that we are able to see the glory of the Lord in the lives of one another. It is an internal, eternal glory that emanates not from the outside, but from the inside. It begins in the heart and flows out of us so that others can see it and experience it. It shows up as the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It manifests itself in the gifts of the Spirit, resulting in the building up the body of Christ. We can see each other being transformed into the same image, the image of Christ, from one degree of glory to another – progressively and proactively – by the Spirit within us. “For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

We are to reflect the glory of the Lord. We are to literally glow with His glory. In the very next chapter, Paul writes, “For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 NLT). We have the light of Christ shining in our lives in the form of the Holy Spirit. We have the capacity to see the glory of Christ because we have had the veil removed from our eyes. We can see Him when we read the Word. We can see Him working in the lives of those around us. And Paul goes on to say, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7-8 NLT). That light within us is to shine out of us. Others should be able to see the glory of Christ reflected in our actions, attitudes, speech and conduct. Our changed lives are to be living proof of the transformative power of Christ’s work on the cross and the Spirit’s presence within us. We are being transformed into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another. And one day, we will be like Him – glorified, perfectly righteous, completely sinless, and enjoying the unbroken pleasure of His presence.

Open Eyes. Changed Hearts.

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. – 2 Corinthians 3:12-16 ESV

For Paul, the new covenant was permanent and irreplaceable. That brought him hope. It was not based on man's efforts, but God's grace. That brought him hope. It transformed men and women from the inside out. That brought him hope. Since his conversion, he had personally witnessed the transformative powers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had seen it dramatically change his own life. He had watched as those to whom me ministered, both Jews and Gentiles, were radically redeemed and reformed by God. And it gave him hope and provided him with boldness. In fact, his compares his own boldness with that of Moses. But he uses an interesting Greek word, parrēsia, which can mean “boldness”, but also, “openly, frankly, i.e. without concealment”. I believe this has more to do with what Paul is trying to say. He is using Moses as a comparison. In his day, when he had received the law from God, a residual effect of the experience was a visible radiance or glow to his skin that others could see. His time spent on the mountain in the presence of God’s glory had left a tell-tale sign, and it so disturbed the people, that Moses took to covering his face with a veil. But as Paul says, the time came when the glory began to fade, yet Moses continued to wear the veil. He not only hid his face, he hid the truth. He concealed the reality of what was happening to him. The fading of the glory on the face of Moses was a symbol of the inevitability that the glory of the old covenant would also fade. It was destined for replacement. It was designed for obsolescence.

Over in the book of Hebrews, the author, quoting the words of God recorded in the book of Jeremiah 31, writes, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Hebrews 8:10 ESV). Notice that phrase, “write them on their hearts”. It is most likely what Paul had in mind when he wrote, “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV). The new covenant is not like the old. It is not based on a set of laws written on stone requiring the strict obedience of men. In other words, under the new covenant, the laws of God are no longer external and based on human adherence to work. They are internal and dependent on the indwelling Spirit of God to convict and conform the life of the believer to the will of God. It is not the law that has been replaced. It is the method by which man attempts to live according to it. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13 ESV). The means by which men were expected to maintain a right relationship with God was fading away. It was being replaced by something new and far superior. The old covenant was based on outward conformance to God's laws. It did nothing to change the heart. It was pure legalism, and it was destined to fail. No matter how hard man tried, he could not stop sinning. He could not keep the law perfectly. But when Jesus came, He did. He was obedient, even to the point of death. He did the will of His Father without fail, including keeping the law. Why? Because His heart was right with God. His was an internal obedience. And His death on the cross ushered in the new covenant, what He referred to as the new covenant in His blood. When Jesus shared the Passover meal with the disciples just prior to His betrayal, arrest and trials, He said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people – an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you” (Luke 22:20 NLT).  Matthew records that Jesus also said, “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28 ESV). But many would fail to recognize the significance of Jesus’ death. Paul indicates that their eyes were veiled. He is referring to the Jews who, when reading the Old Testament writings concerning the law, were unable to see the truth about Jesus. Like Moses, their eyes were veiled. The truth was concealed from them. But Paul says, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Corinthians 3:16 ESV). Their eyes are opened. The Spirit of God gives them the capacity to see the truth regarding Jesus’ death and the wonderful reality of the new covenant that makes a right relationship with God possible – no longer based on human effort, but on faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And that truth provided Paul with boldness, an openness and frankness that made to good news of Jesus Christ available to any and all who would listen.

Surpassing Glory.

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. – 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ESV

In this chapter, Paul is contrasting what he calls the ministry of condemnation, or the law, and the ministry of righteousness, or that of the Spirit. In doing so he refers back to the occasion when Moses received the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments from God. Over in the Book of Exodus we read, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him” (Exodus 34:29-30 ESV). As a result of his time spent in the presence of God, Moses walked away physically changed. He literally glowed. And it was so disconcerting that the people were afraid to come near him. So Moses solved the problem by wearing a veil over his face. Every time he met with God, he took the veil off. When he returned to the people, he would put it back on. But Paul tells us the veil became a replacement for the real thing. He kept wearing the veil even long after the glory had faded. “We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away” (2 Corinthians 3:13 NLT). Verse seven says that glory “was being brought to an end.” It was temporary, not permanent. Just as the ministry of the law was meant to be temporary and not permanent. The law couldn't save. It could only reveal man's desperate need for a Savior. It could provide a standard by which man was to live, but no means to do so. Which is why Paul wrote, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins” (Romans 8:3 NLT). 

The writer of Hebrews echoes this same sentiment. “The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship” (Hebrews 10:1 NLT). The former glory of the law, revealing the righteousness of God to man, has been surpassed or superseded by the glory of God as revealed through the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for men to live righteously. We are no longer reliant on human effort alone in our attempt to please God. We enjoy the surpassing glory of God's indwelling Spirit. Ours is not some kind of external glow like Moses had. Long after the glow began to fade from his face, Moses was still putting on the veil. He was wearing a mask. The glory he experienced was impermanent. But ours is lasting. Our salvation is assured. The Holy Spirit's presence in us is permanent. And none of it is based on works or human effort. It is solely, completely dependent upon faith. “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life’” (Romans 1:17 NLT). The law couldn't save. It could only condemn. And yet, it was considered glorious. It came directly from the hand of God. And Moses, the one who received it from God, was so impacted by it all, that he glowed. He carried the glory of God in his hands and on his face. But that glory was never meant to last. Referring to laws concerning food, festivals, holy days and Sabbaths, Paul wrote, “For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality” (Colossians 2:17 NLT). He goes on to say, “So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, ‘Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!’? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires” (Colossians 2:20-23 NLT). The presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is a surpassing glory. It’s internal, not external. It’s permanent, not temporary. It’s a sure thing, not a shadow. God has written His message of righteousness, “not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV). We have the capacity to live, think, and act like Christ. We aren’t stuck trying to live righteously on our own. We have the Spirit of God empowering us to live like the Son of God. Which is why Paul can say, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT).

Living Letters.

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. – 2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV

One of the recurring problems Paul faced in his ministry was the pervasive presence of a group of individuals often referred to as Judaizers. These were Jewish believers who were strong proponents of the Mosaic law. It was their belief that salvation, as offered through Christ, was only complete when accompanied by strict adherence to the Old Testament law as given by God through Moses. So in their opinion, any Gentiles who came to faith in Christ through Paul's ministry were required to keep the commands as outlined in writings of Moses found in the Pentateuch. This would include such things as circumcision and observance of all the dietary restrictions. These individuals seem to have followed Paul wherever he went, causing a great deal of confusion among the new believers. These Judaizers even raised doubts concerning Paul's qualifications as an apostle and the efficacy of his ministry. So Paul found himself constantly having to defend himself. Unlike the Judaizers, who carried letters of recommendation to validate themselves, Paul preferred to use the transformed lives of those who had come to faith in Christ as proof of his calling. He asked them, “do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3 ESV). Their transformed lives was all the evidence necessary to validate Paul's words and work. Their hearts had been changed dramatically and permanently by the Spirit of the living God. Paul describes them as a letter from Christ “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV). Here he makes a clear comparison between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant. The tablets of stone are a reference to the Ten Commandments as given to Moses by God. During the period of the Old Covenant, men were required to keep the Law in order to remain in a right standing with God. God had made perfectly clear His expectations regarding man's behavior. The law spelled out His commands pertaining to man's vertical relationship (with Him) and horizontal relationships (with others). God expected obedience. But God also knew man was incapable of keeping the law. That's why He made provision for man's disobedience by instituting the sacrificial system. It made possible forgiveness for sin. But it was a temporary fix and could never provide complete forgiveness for sin. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared” (Hebrews 10:1-2 NLT). God had never intended the law to be the means of man's salvation. It was meant to show us our sinfulness. No one could keep God's law perfectly. Again, the writer of the book of Hebrews reminds us, “those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:3-4 NLT).

Paul told the believers in Rome, “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (Romans 3:21-22 NLT). So why was the law given in the first place? Paul tells us. “It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised” (Galatians 3:19 NLT). Then he adds, “Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian” (Galatians 3:24-25 NLT). With the birth, death and resurrection of Christ, everything changed. Man's salvation and sanctification were no longer dependent upon his keeping of the law, but on faith in the finished work of Christ. Which is why Paul so vehemently states, “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do” (Acts 13:38-39 NLT).

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have been made right with God, not based on our own human efforts or attempts at righteous living, but based on the sacrificial death of the Son of God. And we have been given the Holy Spirit as evidence of this fact. He lives within us, providing proof of our transformation and power to live as what we have become in Christ – new creatures. Which is why Paul tells us, “And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, ‘This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds’” (Hebrews 10:15-16 NLT).

Our changed lives are all the proof we need that what Christ did on the cross was effective. The Holy Spirit's convicting and comforting presence within us encourages us to believe that we truly have been changed. Our sins are forgiven. Our debts have been paid. Our salvation is assured. Our eternity is secure.

New & Improved.

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Shouldn't we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?. – 2 Corinthians 3:8 NLT

In this section of his letter, Paul addresses the differences between the old covenant, represented by the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets, and the new covenant, written on the hearts of men through the power of the Holy Spirit. He compares one to the other, using the word glory 19 times in an attempt to prove the new covenant superior to the old. The old covenant was given by God and, therefore, was good. But it has been replaced by the new covenant. Both were marked by God's glory, but the glory of the new covenant was greater. The old covenant, or way, was dependent on man keeping the laws of God, given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The problem was that man, because of his sin nature, was incapable of keeping his part of the covenant. He continually sinned, breaking God's commands and failing to keep God's holy standards for righteousness. The old covenant ended up condemning man, exposing his sin and revealing his failure to meet God's requirements for holiness and acceptance.

Paul understood the purpose of the law in the lives of men. He wrote about it extensively in his letter to the believers in Rome. In fact, Paul was constantly having to fight against those who wanted to demand that the keeping of the law was still a requirement, even on Christians. There were those who followed Paul on his missionary journeys, teaching new converts that their salvation was incomplete unless they also kept all the Jewish laws and religious rituals like circumcision. These individuals were a constant thorn in Paul's side and he had to deal with their false teachings everywhere he went. He told the Roman believers, "it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, 'You must not covet.' But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power…sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me" (Romans 7:7-8, 11 NLT).

But what made the new covenant of Christ's death so much more glorious was that it nullified the need for men to keep the law as a requirement for being made right with God. Paul wrote, "But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are" (Romans 3:21-22 NLT). Paul told the Corinthians, "how much more glorious the new way, which makes us right with God!" (2 Corinthians 3:9b NLT). The objectives of both the old and new covenants were to make men right with God. Sin had separated man from God. Sin is nothing more or nothing less than rebellion against God's authority. It is rejection of his rule over our lives and refusal to acknowledge Him as our Lord and Master. God's law revealed His holy standards for righteous living. It put down in writing what God required for men to have a right relationship with Him. But all it did was reveal man's inability to live up to that standard. For generations, man attempted to restore his relationship with God through self-effort and better behavior, only to fail miserably. That's why God sent His Son. That's why the new covenant is more glorious than the old. Because the new covenant provided a fail-proof way for man to be restored to God. Jesus Christ provided a means by which sinful man can be cleansed, forgiven and given new life. We have a Spirit-empowered capacity to obey God that we didn't have before. We have been given new hearts that desire to live according to God's standard. And God is slowly, but surely transforming us into the likeness of His Son. "And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image" (2 Corinthians 3:18b NLT). And it just doesn't get any better than that!

Father, I can't thank You enough for the new way You provided so that I might be made right with You. I never could have kept the law and lived up to Your holy standard. I was doomed to defeat, a product and a victim of my own sinfulness. But while I was stuck in my sin, You sent Your Son to die for me. He took my place on the cross and suffered the penalty and the punishment that was meant for me. He took my sins on Himself and, in exchange, He gave me His righteousness. So I stand before You as holy and righteous, uncondemned and totally forgiven. I am right with You because of what Your Son did for me. Thank You! Amen.

Giving God the Credit.

2 Corinthians 3:1-6

It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. – 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NLT

There is no doubt that some among the believers in Corinth had been questioning Paul's authority. They had been spreading rumors that Paul was not really qualified to address the various issues he been writing about. Evidently, false teachers had been influencing the Corinthians, contradicting the teachings of Paul, and using as their basis of authority, forged letters of recommendation from Judea. In other words, they had papers to back them up. It appeared as if they were official representatives "true" apostles back in Jerusalem. The inference was that Paul was an imposter and charlatan. He was a fake. And all that he had been teaching was to be rejected as false and dangerous.

But Paul had no desire to play their game. He was not going to waste his time trying to prove his validity by producing letters written by men. He knew his calling and who it was that had issued his call. As far as Paul was concerned, the proof of his ministry's integrity was to be seen in the transformed lives of the men and women of Corinth. He knew that others could see the change and that was why the Corinthian believers were suffering persecution. Paul viewed their changed lives as "a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you" (2 Corinthians 3:3 NLT). The Spirit had clearly been at work in Corinth, opening the eyes of men and women as they had heard the gospel message proclaimed by Paul. This had not been the result of Paul's efforts, but it had been the work of the Spirit – from beginning to end. Paul didn't need letters of recommendation, because it wasn't his work to begin with. It was God's work. Paul had no delusions of grandeur. In fact, he fully understood that he was not "qualified to do anything" on his own. The work in Corinth had nothing to do with Paul's competence or credibility. It had everything to do with God and His decision to work through someone like Paul. "Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NLT). In essence, Paul was telling those who were casting aspersions on his ministry, to take it up with God. What Paul had been able to accomplish in Corinth had been a clear work of God, made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. He had simply been a tool in the hands of God to accomplish His will.

How easy it is for us to believe that we are vital to God's plan. How quickly we can assume that God needs us to accomplish His will. We can find ourselves taking credit for what God has done and becoming prideful about our own competence and significance to His Kingdom cause. We want to boast about our credentials and brag about our qualifications. But Paul knew that he was nothing without the Spirit's work. He knew that he was not qualified or competent to do anything on his own. The ministry of life transformation and redemption was entirely the work of God, not man. Our degrees, diplomas, education, intelligence, gifts, abilities, talents and resumes mean nothing if God is not in it. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on Him. If lives are being changed as a result of anything we have done, it is because God has chosen to work through us. We are not accomplishing great things for God, but instead, He is simply choosing to accomplish His work through us, and oftentimes, in spite of us. God did not need Paul to accomplish His will. But He had chosen and commissioned him to spread the good news about Jesus Christ among the Gentiles. And God's Spirit had clearly worked through Paul, preparing hearts to hear and accept the gospel message. Paul didn't need any other proof than the transformed lives of the Corinthian believers. He knew that God was at work, because he could see it. Paul had no reason to brag, but he also had no reason to doubt. It could have been easy for him to question whether or not what he had been doing was truly of God, but the evidence was undeniable and irrefutable. Lives had been changed, and only God can bring about true, long-lasting life transformation. Only the Spirit can give life. So Paul was confident and content that what he was doing had God's blessing and complete recommendation.

Father, we need to look for life transformation. We need to learn to see where Your Spirit is at work in our midst. Too often we base our success based on our own qualifications and efforts. But the true criteria for success in Your work is changed lives. And only You can bring that about. Open our eyes so that we might see where You are at work. Don't let us focus on what we are doing, but on what You are doing through us. We can measure programs and we can count heads and think we are making a difference. But if lives are not being changed and if people are not being saved, our work is in vain. Remove from us any desire to please or prove our significance to men. Let us be content with the proof of changed lives as Your Spirit works among us. Amen.