Pastors and Ministers: Do Not Lose Heart – 2 Corinthians 4.16-18
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4.16-18). I have been working on memorizing these verses when I go jog in the frigid, grey hours of the morning. Last week while jogging and reviewing, the lights came on for me as to some aspect of what Paul was after in these verses. Allow me to take a running head start, and then I will jump to my point. Paul began this chapter by saying “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart” (1). Whilst unpacking what he meant by “this ministry” and all the heart-wrenching aspects of it, he capitalized on the reason...