25 Oct November 26th Daily Devotional

A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON PAUL’S SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

STOP JUDGING BY APPEARANCES

2 Corinthians 10:7,12,17-18 “You are judging by appearances . . . We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. . .  “Let the one 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.”

It is said you should not judge a book by its cover.  Jesus exhorted, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24) In other words, you shouldn’t judge someone’s character by their appearance but rather by their actions.  This brings to mind yet another saying that “beauty is only skin deep” which means that a person’s physical appearance does not determine who the individual is.

St. Paul was concerned about how his ministry was being received by the members of the church in Corinth.  There were outside agitators, enemies of Paul and of the gospel message he proclaimed who were stirring up the people against him and his message of salvation solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  They were attempting to convince the people that they had to continue to obey the long time Jewish observance of laws, rules, and regulations in order to be loved by God and forgiven of their sins.

Apparently, Paul’s physical appearance was not appealing (verse 7).  Others were comparing Paul’s message with the message of his enemies and debating which message was correct.  (verse 12.)  Paul calls them out for their conduct.  He commends them instead to the message he proclaimed.  He wrote, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

In today’s technological world of sophisticated messaging, carefully developed media presentations, slick marketing, enhancement of physical appearances, etc., St. Paul’s words today are also for you.  In worship it is not the lively music, nor the insertion of media, or a sophisticated presentation of a message from the pulpit that is spiritually beneficial.  It is the message that matters.  It is imperative you hear the Good News of God’s love for you in Christ Jesus.  However it is presented, and by whom it is presented matters little if it is not the one and only message of the gospel.

Prayer:  Grant me, O Lord, a discerning heart, soul, and mind to be able to sort through the attempts of Satan to insert false messages into the only, real, and true message of Your love for me through Christ Jesus my Lord.  In His holy name.  Amen.

Praise the One who breaks the darkness

With a liberating light;

Praise the One who frees the pris’ners,

Turing blindness into sight.

Praise the One who preached the Gospel,

Healing ev’ry dread disease,

Calming storms, and feeding thousands

With the very Bread of peace.

Praise the One who blessed the children

With a strong, yet gentle, word;

Praise the One who drove out demons

With the piercing; two-edged sword.

Praise the One who brings cool water

To the desert’s burning sand/

From this Well comes living water,

Quenching thirst in ev’ry land.

Let us praise the Word Incarnate,

Christ, who suffered in our place.

Jesus died and rose victorious

That we may know God by grace.

Let us sing for joy and gladness,

Seeing what our God has done;

Let us praise the true Redeemer,

Praise the One who makes us one.

(LSB 849)