2 Corinthians 3: Letters of Recommendation

I love it when I see new things in Scripture.

Here's a new thing that stood out to me this evening:
In chapter 3, Paul asks, ". . . do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?"

In other words, do we need someone to write you a letter providing reasons why we are qualified to say the things we say? Or do we need you to write a letter to someone else?

No, he says, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody."

When people see you, the Corinthians, they will know that what we say is true.
To use a more familiar metaphor, you are the fruit of our ministry, produced by Christ.

Letters of recommendation are good, but they can be forged, and they can be "fudged."
How much better to have a letter from Christ, "written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

I want to live my life in such a way as to produce such letters in the lives of the people I encounter.

How sad to think I often put other goals ahead of this one.