Christian Devotional – May 5, 2021

Corinthians, Day 24

Perception is reality. Read 2 Corinthians 8.

Paul is explaining a situation that came up in the early church that impacted the Corinthians. There were churches and members that were struggling from a financial standpoint. And there were other churches where the members had enough and wanted to help the struggling churches. The question became, how do you get the money from one church to another church?

This is a situation that created a lot of questions around the integrity of the process and the integrity of the people. Paul understood how vitally important it was to ensure that there is integrity in everything the early church did. As a result, they wanted to make sure that believers and non believers alike recognized the offering that was given and the way in which it was given.

Do we seek to act with integrity in everything we do? Are we transparent? Do we communicate? Do we seek the Lord in every situation not only about what we are to do, but how we are to do it? Paul went through explaining the importance of acknowledging the perception of the people around us and realizing that perception will influence what others think about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Are we, as believers, recognizing and understanding the way in which we are being perceived by the lost world around us? Are we working with integrity in everything we do?