We have this treasure in jars of clay

Truth out of balance is not any longer truth! This quotation from the 2nd Corinthians 4:7, is easy to get wrong. The treasurer it is talking about is the Holy Spirit who lives within us, and jars of clay refer to our bodies which are elsewhere referred to as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

So you can see a jar of clay as being worthless, or you can see a jar of clay as a container of something very precious. I wonder what percentage of Christians think of themselves as worthless. From my experience it must be fairly high. And part of the problem here, is that many about churches are shame-based. In particular in such a church it is not a good sermon if you don’t come out feeling guilty. This is not the gospel, his Pharisaism and legalism.

We can go to the other extreme, and in so doing imitate our culture, coming to a place where nothing is wrong, everything is permissible! I like what a friend of mine tells of what he heard from God “Incomplete, but accepted!” Incomplete: you are a jar of clay. Accepted: you are precious in the sight of God, He loves you so much that he sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in you.

When we think of God calling us jars of clay, and get it right, it helps to keep us humble. Humility is having a realistic view of who we are. Humility is not thinking less of ourselves than we are, nor thinking more of ourselves than we are. It’s helpful to me to remember that God is my loving father. And just as in a loving family the child is loved and accepted even when he or she falls short of perfection, so we too are cherished and loved and accepted even when we fall short, as we inevitably do from time to time.

Father, thank you for your promise that when we see You, we will be like You. In the meantime grant me true humility, neither thinking more nor less of who You say I am. Thank You that You have given me Your Holy Spirit to guide lead and direct, and to witness to my spirit that I am your child in Jesus Name Amen