The Secret to Not Losing Heart - Pt 2

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 ESV).

Now we can ask for the answer. How do we face every calamity of life and not lose heart? There are two kinds of clues, one from outside the text and one from inside. First, consider the one from outside. He says we are being “renewed.” Paul uses the verb “renew” one other place in all his writings (cf. Colossians 3:9-10). The clue is the phrase “in knowledge” in that passage. Our inner selves, our new regenerated, faith-filled hearts are being renewed “in knowledge.” Being renewed day by day comes through what we put in our heads. God has designed the glory of the human being such that the condition of our heart is profoundly influenced by the content of our head. This is simply what we consciously focus on. Notice, I’m saying this carefully so as not to overstate it. Knowledge alone, without the Holy Spirit applying that knowledge by miraculous illumination, produces pride. I know that there are many people whose minds are full of true statements about God and the Bible, who are, in fact, children of hell. But I don’t know any Christian who is being renewed day by day so as not to lose heart without putting biblical truth in their heads. In other words, it takes more than knowing to be renewed day by day, but not less. God has designed the glory of the human being such that the condition of our heart is profoundly influenced by the content of our head. The issue here is not losing heart; and our first clue says, Not losing heart is profoundly connected to not losing truth. Fresh strength in the heart is profoundly connected to fresh knowledge in the head. The second clue is, then, exactly what you would expect. It points to the same thing: the head of knowing serving the heart of feeling. The first word in our reading is “so” (connecting it with the knowledge of what went before), and the first word after it is “for” (connecting it with the knowledge that comes after). “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.” Another word for “so” is “therefore”; and another word for “for” is “because.” You know how these words work. You use them everyday: “I am hungry, so — therefore — I am going to eat.” I am going to eat, for — because — I am hungry. My hunger is the reason I am going to eat. So, if the reason comes first you follow it with “so” or “therefore.” If the reason comes second, you introduce it with “for” or “because.” It is the knowledge of the death of our bodies that causes us to not lose heart. Let that sink in until tomorrow when we will see more.