Paul repeatedly speaks directly to the congregation of Corinth. He speaks to them in a way that everybody can understand. It’s so practical that we don’t have to say much more to understand it ourselves and to make it part of our lives. Take verse one of Chapter 7: 1With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.

About which promises is Paul talking? Clever guys who know the Bible well say that this verse actually fits into the previous chapter. The promise appears in verse 18 of Chapter 6: 18”I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.” The Word of the Master, God. Wow, what a wonderful promise from God. That He will be our Father. He will do everything and more for us. He will take care of us. He wants only the best for us. He will protect us. He will always be with us. He will guide us along the right road. And much more.

This promise is for each of us and we must make it part of ourselves. We must hold onto it and believe it with everything we have. I am a child of God, therefore God is my Father, my Dad, the one whose hand is over me always. Believe it. Hold onto it. Live it.

When we make this part of our existence something happens inside. We cannot remain untouched and keep on going down the same old road. Our road will obviously have to change, because we now want to go down the road that the Father shows us. We must break consciously with wrongdoing: 1… let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us …

Every person has a “right or wrong” bell. It bothers us when we do things on the wrong side of the line. We feel uncomfortable and we know things are happening that are not right. When we acknowledge God’s Fatherhood the bell rings louder and louder as we near the line that we shouldn’t cross. We must consciously get rid of the wrong practises in our lives. We must consciously decide 1… Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples …

You see, when we start thinking about doing the wrong thing, we’re already starting the engine and before we know it, we’re speeding, we hit a wall and all is chaos. Look back at your life, go back on all the paths of destruction and hurt. Where did everything start? There where a small seed was planted in your thoughts. Therefore: Begin at the beginning. Delete it from your thoughts. Don’t even start thinking about it. No seed, no plant.

Let’s rather use all our energy to do as follows: 1… let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God. We must honour God. We have to strive with everything in us to do what He asks us to do. We always want our earthly father to be proud of us. Shouldn’t we try even harder to live in a way that will make our heavenly Father proud of the way we are living here on earth?

Come on! The message is perfectly simple. Live right. At home. Do not sow dissension. Do not be angry. No, be the least. At work and among your friends. Live like our big Brother did. Yes, look at the way that Jesus lived and do exactly the same as He did. Let go of sin and live a life that honours your Father. Live a life that will not make God ashamed to be your Father, but a life that will make God so proud that he will say: Look! That is my child!

Click here to go to the Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:1

Reflection

Where is the wrong bell ringing?

What are you doing about it?

How and where can God be glorified by your actions?

Prayer

Lord, thank you that I can know that You are my Father. I do not want to continue living the way I do now. I want to eradicate everything that is wrong. But it’s not so easy, because I regress all the time. Please help me to take a stand against what is wrong and walk Your road. I really want to make You proud of the way I’m living my life. Amen