Letters

2 Cor 3:2 "You are our epistle (letter) written in our hearts, known and read by all men."

I love this. You can see the heart that Paul had for these people. He loved them. He cared deeply for them. He cherished the relationship that they had. Even though he came down on them in his first letter, the reason he came down so hard was because he had such concern for them, and the reason he was so concerned was because of his love. Frankly, if you don't care about someone, you really don't care about what they are doing with their lives. They can live any way that they want to and you could not give a rip. But watch someone you love make dumb decisions, or engage in a counterproductive lifestyle and you want to do something. You want to warn them. You want to take them by the neck and shake them and say: "I love you. Look at what you are doing with your life. I have to warn you because it hurts too much to watch you destroy yourself." This is how Paul felt about the church at Corinth. He loved them so much he called them his epistle...his letter, that was written in his heart.

I am not good at writing letters. It takes time. It takes thought. It takes mental energy. And once you put it down in writing and send it, it is done. Now when I was dating Georgann letter writing was easy. It was our connection. I loved getting letters from her. It gave me a window into what she was thinking, what she was doing, what her life was like. And...letters are better than e-mails (which did not exist when we were dating). I know that I get e-mails all the time about all kinds of stuff. But when I go to the mailbox and pull out a letter that is addressed to me, something inside says: "Wow. I wonder who this is from? I wonder who cared enough to send me a letter."

Paul was saying: "You are our letter. We cared about you so much that we were willing to invest our time, our energy, our gifts into your lives so that what is written is something that all people can read and know." Others could see these people's lives and read and know that these people had been with Paul.

I ask myself: "Who is like that in my life? Who can I say that I have invested time and energy and effort into so that they are a letter that is written on my heart that other people can read and know. This is what discipleship is all about. This is what building one on one relationships is all about. This is what is meant when Paul told Timothy "The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." 2 Tim 2:2 This is letter writing so that what is revealed in the lives of others is what others have invested in me and others can see it. It is almost like a chain letter. It goes from one to another to another. And, as Paul reveals in the following verses, it is really a letter of Christ written by Holy Spirit in the lives of others.

What letter is God writing through me?