Wednesday 22 March, 2017

2 And this was the way it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I didn’t come with fancy words or human wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God’s love. 2 My goal while I was with you was to talk about only one thing. And that was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 3 When I came to you, I was weak and very afraid and trembling all over. 4 I didn’t preach my message with clever and compelling words. Instead, my preaching showed the Holy Spirit’s power. 5 This was so that your faith would be based on God’s power. Your faith would not be based on human wisdom.

This passage gives me a mutual sense of conviction and relief! Reading it makes me think of how many times I have worried about trying to sound intelligent or eloquent or deeply spiritual when I have spoken the message of God, both in larger group settings and also in smaller, everyday conversations. I want to be more like Paul, relying not on my own wisdom but on the mighty power of God, in all that I do.

It is foolish to think that it is my wisdom or way of speaking that will win people to Jesus. It’s also a relief to realise this, and put my faith in God’s power and not my own ability. It doesn’t matter if I am not the most eloquent or the most intelligent. These are good things to be, but without the power of God behind them, they are not capable of bringing the life and freedom that is found in Jesus to others. How wonderful and freeing this truth is! God just needs me to be available and willing, and He will, in His miraculous power, do the rest.

Thank you God that we don’t need to rely on ourselves, rather we can rely on your power and Spirit to enable our speaking, conversations and interactions with others. May our faith be found in you alone!

Written by Madelaine Tarasenko