Our inner man is being renewed
2 Corinthians 4:16 Despite the trials we may be going through, our faith strengthens and renews us
The apostle Paul writing an epistle to the Corinthians. Painting made in a the style of Renoir on November 22, 2023 by AI powered by Dall-E 3
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:16 NASB1995
Today the Lord picked just the Bible verse to lift me up, which He usually does. When you get to be the age that Barb and I are (in the latter years of our sixties), you definitely feel like “the outer man is decaying”. Every day it seems to be something else; an unexpected ache, a warning from the doctor, or something like having some pre-cancerous skin cells removed (Barb) or having to start using a CPAP when you sleep (me).
Despite all of these benefits of advanced years, I do feel “renewed day by day” on the inside as I read and study the Bible. In the NASB translation, the fourth chapter of Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians is titled “Paul’s Apostolic Ministry”. In it, the apostle describes his bold preaching of the Gospel and encourages those at the church in Corinth to also preach an honest gospel — not something watered down or full of deceit.
He then describes all of the suffering he has gone through in his ministry, including floggings, beatings, stonings, being shipwrecked and robbed, having to put up with perils from his own countrymen, from Gentiles and from false believers; being hungry, cold, and naked at times, and more. Paul expects that his readers will, by this point, ask the question “how can you not lose heart?”
Paul did not lose heart while suffering, because he knew that surviving all of the trials had made for a more effective ministry for the Corinthians. He had been through a lot on the outside, but he was being renewed and blessed daily through his faith in Jesus and his knowledge that the Corinthian church was succeeding.
Whatever we’re going through in our lives, no matter how dire or depressing, with pain or weakness, our Lord will see us through.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I thank You for the hope we have in Christ that our inner man is constantly being renewed and strengthened even as our outward bodies are aging and seemingly falling apart. I pray that I will stay strong as I see my outer man grow old, standing strong in the faith and the hope of a future destiny in heaven. I thank and praise You always, in Jesus’ name. AMEN