Weapons of Righteousness
Momentary & Light Afflictions
In 2 Corinthians 4:17, the Apostle Paul refers to his afflictions as "momentary & light."
Yet, let's read a little more about them:
"But in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger..."
2 Corinthians 6:4-5.
Wow! Do those sound "momentary and light" to you, dear reader?
Let's look at verses 6 & 7 to help shed some light:
"....in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right and left."
Paul and others could endure the terrible hardships they faced by the purity, knowledge, patience and kindness of the Holy Spirit. They didn't fight their attackers with earthly tools. They had genuine love, the word of truth, the power of God...and the weapons of righteousness!
How about you dear ones? Will you respond to your attackers, or the hardships you are facing, in the flesh, with fleshly tools? Or will you respond with the weapons of righteousness?
Perhaps you wonder, what is a weapon of "righteousness"?
When referring to the relationship between person and person, The New Concise Bible Dictionary, defines righteousness in this way: "An action which conforms to the requirement of relationship and promotes well-being and peace."
Are you feeling like your circumstances are too hard? Too overwhelming? Too unfair to respond in righteousness?
Listen to all the "yets" in verses 8-10.
"By glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report;
regarded as deceivers and YET true;
as unknown YET well-known,
as dying YET behold, we live;
as punished YET not put to death,
as sorrowful YET making many rich,
as having nothing YET possessing all things."
Remember, dear ones! The afflictions are temporary, the glory they are producing in us, eternal!
Will you respond in righteousness today?
