Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Are you a morning person? I love mornings! My alarm is currently set to "Going the Distance" from Rocky. That song gets me going as soon as I wake up! I get up and cannot wait to attack the day! But nothing gets me more excited in this life than when I read something from God’s Word, and He speaks to me. 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 is such an awesome verse. Paul has it exactly right. “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God”. The quicker we understand this, the better our lives will be. The very best we have to offer in this world are like filthy rags. We are sinners who, despite our very best efforts in this world, 100% deserve a life separate from God. Thank goodness He sent Jesus to live the perfect life and take our place on that cross! ALL good comes from God.

Humility is rare in our society today. But God demands we be humble and understand that all that we have, all that we are capable of, and all that we do in this world is because of Him and His grace. Paul goes on to say in verse 6, “But our sufficiency is from God, who has made us to be ministers of a new covenant.” God has called us to be ministers of a new covenant. What new covenant? The covenant Jesus made at the last supper when he became the sacrificial lamb to wash away all our sins. All we have to do is admit our sins, repent, and follow Him. It's overwhelming to think about the love God showed by sending Jesus. I don’t deserve it in any way, but He died on the cross for me and you! Even more than the song "Going the Distance," which gets me going in the morning! God’s love for me and the fact that he put me on this earth with a purpose to teach others about His covenant excites me and invigorates me every day! The very least I can do is carry out what he commanded. Live for Him and tell others about Him.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence

Reflection:

• Although we don’t deserve it, Jesus died on a cross so that we can have eternal life with Him. Pray that today you will not just concern yourself with your personal agenda, but that you will come alive with pursuing His purpose in your life and get excited about sharing His message with others.

Family Devo: 2 Corinthians 3 

By: Dahlia Landers   

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model. 

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset 

Head

Chapter 3 tells about what the people of God have accomplished. Paul asks if they need a letter of recommendation showing they are doing the work of God. He tells them that those who have been changed show others who they are and what they believe by their actions. Those who know Christ have letters written on their hearts and not on a piece of paper or a tablet made of stone.

Do you need to read a letter to know if someone has a relationship with Jesus? How can you tell?  Paul explains that their confidence in their relationship with Jesus comes from God. He makes it very clear that they can't do this on their own, but that God has made them good ministers of the Gospel through the Spirit. As a family, discuss what this means. Do you think Paul thinks he is reaching people on his own? Or does he give credit to God? 

They compare the Old Covenant(The Law) to the New Covenant(The Gospel). The people are asked if the Old Covenant, a promise with God, was glorious wouldn’t the New Covenant, a new promise with God, be even more so? The Old Covenant brought judgment and punishment for not following the rules. The Old Covenant was considered glorious - worthy of praise. (Discuss what "judgment" and "glorious" mean.) How much more wonderful is the promise that makes us right with God and will last forever! Knowing who Jesus was made His followers bold in sharing the New Covenant, the Gospel!

Heart

In the Old Covenant, Moses and the Israelites used a veil to cover themselves when reading God's Word or talking to God.  When Jesus died on the cross, the veil was taken away. They didn't have to be separated from God! The same is true for each of us who believes in the Lord. The New Covenant that Jesus brought removes the veil from our hearts. We don't need a veil as we think about how awesome God is and read His Bible! He gave us the Holy Spirit, and He is always with us! He wants to be close to you! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

Hands

Prayer:  Father, thank You for Your Word and help us to live by it daily. Thank You for the blessing of the New Covenant. Help us to use our freedom to reach out to others boldly. You have shown us Your glorious love through the New Covenant. Guide us to follow Your ways to live life to the fullest. Thank You for being a Good Father, Amen.