This verse left me thinking this morning:

“Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love…” (2 Corinthians 8:24).

Not my gifts. Not my understanding. Not my wisdom. Not my spirituality. Not my anything else.

My love.

If I wanted to show the proof of my love, what would I show?

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Love — living for the good of another.

I wonder how this is supposed to touch my relationship with So-And-So.

Once in a while, someone rebukes me. I find out something I’m doing wrong or something I’m not doing right. That kind of correction hurts.

What kind of result(s) does that produce in me?

Anger? Defensiveness? Excuses? Counterattack? Pouting? Correction? Improvement? Thankfulness?

God had Paul write 1 Corinthians to point out and correct some problems in the church at Corinth.

Later (about halfway through 2 Corinthians), Paul wrote this to them:

“Now I rejoice…that ye sorrowed to repentance” (7:9).

When someone points out an error or fault that I have, God wants me to repent.

I want my heart open to that.