MONDAY 2 Corinthians 4:6-10, 16-18
The apostle Paul wrote 2 Corinthians after a painful time. Many Christians in Corinth had turned against him, biased by a set of teachers Paul dubbed (ironically) the “super apostles.” Seeing his own converts reject him was a heartbreaking defeat—but Paul did not let it destroy him. In verse 10, he related his struggles to Jesus’ death (which looked like the worst defeat of all), and how it became a victory when he rose from the dead three days later.
• We often tend to see the plain fact of our mortality as a defeat. We talk about people “fighting an illness.” When a person dies, we’ll say they “lost the battle.” Paul saw it differently: “even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside, the person that we are on the inside is being renewed every day” (verse 16). How can you keep your inner self moving toward victory even when your outer self is hurting or failing? How has the Bible’s teaching that eternity starts now shaped your view of death?
TUESDAY 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
It’s hard to picture any Roman emperor (or most politicians today, for that matter) feeling anything but scorn for the idea that “when I’m weak, then I’m strong” (verse 10). But Paul counted on that principle. He’d written to the Corinthians earlier that “the weakness of God is stronger than human strength … God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians1:25-27).
• So where’s the strength in weakness? The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery observed, “Paul nowhere condones weakness of character, however … Christ has partaken of human weakness but without sin, and his perfect ministry is not without a loving discipline that calls out to ‘strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees’ (Heb 12:12) … Weakness in this case images an opportunity for faith, not for self-pity and a victim mentality.” In what ways are you allowing God’s power to be “made perfect in weakness” in you?
WEDNESDAY Revelation 2:8-11
A pastor and prophet, exiled by Rome on the Mediterranean island of Patmos, wrote perhaps one of the most unexpected uses of Olympic imagery in the New Testament. To support the Christians in the small city of Smyrna, he told them that though they faced hardship, poverty, suffering, prison and perhaps death, God would reward their faithfulness with “the crown of life.” His word for “crown” referred to the wreath of leaves an Olympic champion received.
• After listing all the earthly problems the believers faced, the exiled seer spoke, in verse 11, of “those who emerge victorious.” That phrase echoed Paul’s triumphant words in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, as he waited for the executioner to come for him. Who have you known who faced severe hardship and problems in life, and yet “emerged victorious”? How would you describe the finish line, the victory, for which you aim in your life?
THURSDAY 1 Corinthians 15:51-58
In the first part of this chapter, the apostle Paul insisted to the Christians of Corinth (some of whom were still drawn to Greek philosophy that denied Jesus’ resurrection—see Acts 17:32) that Jesus’ victory over death was central to their whole faith. In these verses, he looked to the future. Based on Jesus’ victory, he boldly proclaimed a divine victory so comprehensive that death itself would be “swallowed up,” and would be no more.
• We’ve met another paradox of faith in this series, and we see it in the final two verses of this passage. Although it takes training and perseverance on our part, our victory is not our own doing, but God’s gift through Jesus Christ (verse 57). Can you recall a time when, facing a failure, God’s grace enabled you to play “your part” by surrendering and enduring, and thus allowed God to grow a stronger character in you?
FRIDAY 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
As he thought about the Greek games, Paul knew that the athletes worked so hard, in good part, because “only one gets the prize.” He also knew that, in the Christian “race,” that part of the analogy didn’t apply—we can all be winners in God’s race. So he did not say that he trained in order to stand alone as the victor. He just said he did not want to be disqualified, knowing that all who finish the race are winners in God’s eyes.
• There’s power in learning lessons from Olympic athletes, ancient and modern, about the Christian life. But there’s also one danger: that we might fall into thinking that, the longer our list of accomplishments, the more we can impress God. 1 John 5:4 put the basis of victory in clear perspective, saying “this is the victory that has defeated the world: our faith.” What helps you, while training spiritually and working to be God’s hands and voice in the world, to keep your trust in God’s goodness, not your own?
SATURDAY Romans 8:31-39
We began this week by reading Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). He
sent the Romans quite a list, too: “trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword.” But these were not complaints. He wrote the list to say, “In all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us” (verse 37). No matter what life throws at us, we, too, can march with Paul and a long line of believers in God’s eternal victory parade.
• Paul asked two compelling questions: “If God is for us, who is against us?” and “Who will separate us from Christ’s love?” Both were phrased in a way that assumed the answer was “Nobody and nothing!” In what ways does that confidence shape your daily life for the better? Stand firm on that assurance, and open your heart to the sweeping victory God offers you!