Your Life Is A Letter
Ian Revie
‘Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you.’
2 Corinthians 3:2 (MSG)
Recently I have been listening to Paul’s letters on my commute to and from Blackpool for work, and I heard something that I had never heard or read before. I realise I have read Corinthians many times but never recognised what was being written by Paul, who wrote to the Corinthian believers:
‘You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it - not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives - and we publish it. We couldn't be more sure of ourselves in this - that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation.’
2 Corinthians 3:1-4 (MSG)
Wow, our lives are a letter! Every day, people ’read’ us. I was challenged to think, what kind of message are they getting? I think, if I am honest, my letter would record key moments in my life - ‘became a Christian, married, had kids, great at my job, maybe job changes, house changes, church changes and other significant events to me’. What about the rest in between?
In our housegroup we are working through Keys to Freedom which is taking us through our development of our personality, morals, principles the ‘who we really are in Christ’. Those core values are what someone reading our letter should see:
‘We… are being transformed into his image’ (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)
‘We have renounced secret and shameful ways’ (2 Corinthians 4:2, NIV)
‘...the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!’ (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)
In other words, your letter should make it clear that you’re no longer the person you once were because:
Christ has changed you spiritually. Once you didn’t enjoy God’s Word or obey His commands. Now you hear, receive, love, and obey His Word.
Christ has changed you morally. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul lists many of the sins that once characterised our lives. He mentions those who are immoral, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers. God has transformed your character qualities.
Christ has changed you mentally. ‘Be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2, NIV). Now you look at life, yourself, others, your challenges, your options, and opportunities in the light of God’s thoughts instead of your own. You see possibilities, where before you saw only problems. Your mind, which was once frazzled by worry, is now filled with confidence and peace. We are learning in housegroup that this is our choice - God will help us, but we need to choose to lean into the life He has prepared for us.
I have often used the phases that we are salt and light, however this has been a new revelation to me. Your life is a letter that should transmit the message to the people you meet: ‘Christ has changed my life for the better!’
My challenge to myself, and to you, is - how does your letter read?
