Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 31; 2 Corinthians 2-3
“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, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.”
There are few attitudes I think I would point to as being more important to a healthy Christian life than this. I know that’s kind of a bold statement to make, but I’ve been sitting here thinking about it for a bit and I really think it’s true.
If you see yourself as sufficient, then even if you have set yourself to actively pursuing the Lord’s work, you will be doing it under your own power. If you are sufficient, why would you need to rely on the Spirit for wisdom, power, ability, etc.? In the best case scenario, this just means you will be far less effective for Jesus than you could be. Even if your motives are right and you are throwing yourself into the right work, you are infinitely less equipped and capable than the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. No matter how capable you may be from a worldly standpoint, you are not as capable as God at carrying out His work.
But that is only the best case scenario, and even if things start there, that is not generally where they stay. Our flesh is at enmity with God and does not want to share its glory with Him. If you view yourself as sufficient for the work you are engaging in, and if it is you doing it under your power, then clearly you should be recognized and rewarded for your contribution. More than that, as you continue on in the ministry the Lord has before you, you gain more experience, you become more practiced, and you only become increasingly capable and sufficient and therefore deserving of glory as time wears on. The result is that, even if you continue pursuing the Lord’s work, you pursue it more and more for your own glory rather than His, and that is not a recipe for a long, healthy Christian life.
But if we, like Paul, actively choose to recognize our sufficiency as coming only from the Lord, this sets us on a very different trajectory. When “capable” is not equal to “sufficient” then no matter how capable I may feel, or truly be, for a given task, I will still lean heavily on the Spirit to see it through. In one sense, the more capable I am in an area, with this attitude, the more it should drive me to dependence on the Spirit lest I begin to rely on my own power rather than His and seek my own glory rather than His. This attitude also keeps us rooted in a place of humble gratitude for the opportunity to be included in the eternally purposeful work God is doing in this world. When I recognize that God has provided the opportunity, and the sufficiency, and then also rewards me for faithfully being available for His Spirit to work through, there is truly no response I can possibly have other than constantly deepening gratitude.
All that to say, actively cultivating a recognition of our sufficiency as coming only from the Lord is a key ingredient to a faithful, life-long pursuit of the Lord.
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