Our inner self is being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:16
Perhaps when you were a child you heard that the cells in your body are replaced every seven years. You might think, if that were true, you would be a new person each time another seventh year rolled around. It does not work that way. Yet cells do change. They grow old and worn out, die, are discarded and replaced with new ones to begin the cycle again. Cells in your stomach lining, for example, might be replaced as fast as every two days. Skin cells turn over every two to three weeks. Red blood cells, if your body is healthy, last about four months. But your fat cells have a ten-year lifespan!
The full text of today’s verse says, “So do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” Your inner self, the part that connects regularly to God, needs regular renewal. A day of hope will replace a day of disappointment. A day of feeling spiritually strong should take the place of one that was weak. A day of confusion needs to be exchanged for one of confidence. You can name your own needs and the places where God is bringing daily renewal.
In Psalm 51:10, David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” He was looking for change. Remember to pray this for yourself! As you consider the people of the United States and those who serve in leadership positions, ask that God would draw them to pray, as David did, for hearts that are clean before Him, and spirits that are right with one another.
Today’s Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:16
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: 2 Corinthians 4:6-12, 16-18
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 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.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
