2 Corinthians 3:1-3 (Written on My Heart)

Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! ² The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. ³ Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

Paul is once again trying to convince his fellow Christians of his authority given by Christ.  False teachers had begun carrying "letters of authority" (many of them forged) to authenticate their authority as teachers of the law.  But Paul is saying that he needs no such letter, because the proof that God was working in and through him and those around him were their very lives -- their CHANGED lives.

Think about the ways both big and small that you have changed since knowing Christ.  No, REALLY think about how you have changed.  What kind of person were you 1 year ago? 5? 10?  We do not become believers and better Christ-follwers by reading some man-written manual on how to become better people.  No human being can take credit for this conversion!  Our conversion is the result of God placing His Spirit within us, which gives us the power to understand His Word (the Bible) and then live in a new way for Him.  How incredible that is!?  Do we really think about this?  It's like we all have that super-power we've always wanted to have.  We have a power in us that is way beyond ourselves -- the power to be less like our human nature and more like the God of the Universe (though we are still incredibly far from being exactly like Him).

I really love this thought that God's letter to us is written on our hearts through the Holy Spirit.  How personal, how intimate.  It could have been that God would scribe some words on large stone tablets and place one in each church -- that would still be pretty intimate if He made one for each church in the world!  But He goes way beyond that and says, No, I want a personal, one-on-one relationship with you.  I want my Word and ways to be in the deepest part of you where no one can touch it but you and I, where the center of your emotions, your longings, your desires, and your decisions reside.  I want to write My Spirit into your heart.

What an incredible gift.  What an incredible love.  What an incredible opportunity I have to listen to this new Spirit inside me and be lead in unimaginable ways today.