Competent!

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 ⁵ Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. ⁶ He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The qualities we want in our leaders has been the topic of discussion for at least the last four years. We expect certain things from our leaders. We expect certain behaviors in them even when we don’t do those things ourselves. We want leaders who are better versions of ourselves.

But unfortunately, our leaders are human. And as you notice when you look in the mirror, all of us are broken. None of us achieves everything that our heart desires. We fall short in trying to accomplish some of our goals. And the bigger the goal, the harder it is to reach.

Paul the Apostle had big goals. He wanted to bring the Gospel to people who had never heard the good news of Jesus. And there were lots of people to reach. But he wasn’t equipped to do the job. He had been a persecutor of the Church. He had given his approval for their deaths.

If I was voting for Paul for political office, I would have a hard time electing him. He had lots of skeletons in his closet. And he admitted them openly. I would have to get the spin machine working on overtime.

But when I look at what Paul had accomplished after his conversion, that would be different story. He was competent to accomplish the task of reaching the lost. He knows his competence is not his own doing, that it comes from God. Well, we know he won’t try and go out on a limb and do things without the LORD.

You see, Paul knew the task was too big for him. He needed a competency that only came from God. And that is what happened. The competency that Paul had was not his own. It was the LORD’s competency placed in Paul to accomplish His mission.

The LORD was Paul’s secret weapon. It was the LORD who would show up and confirm the message Paul was preaching. It was the power of the LORD that demonstrated the truthfulness of the message. It was all the LORD.

Paul was just a vessel though whom the LORD spoke in powerful ways. He had nothing to offer. His bucket was empty. Paul was not competent for the task of sharing the Good News, which for those who rejected brought death, but to those who accepted, it brought life. (2:16)

So in your tasks today, rely on the competency which the LORD brings to you, in you, and through you. It isn’t about you. It is about Him. Keep it that way.