Hard-core *

Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.

2nd Corinthians 4:1-2 NLT 

Have you ever met anyone who was hard-core about something? For the most part, it has a negative connotation. It is usually used when referring to someone who seems to be too far gone and will never change. However, the first dictionary definition is; The most dedicated, unfailingly loyal faction of a group.  Roget's Thesaurus lists dedicated, faithful, intense as interchangeable options for hard-core.

Oh, that we would be hard-core for Christ!

Excerpts from further in the chapter where our text for today begins:

 ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

 ⁷ We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

 ⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.

 ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

¹⁰ Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

¹³ But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”

¹⁴ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 

¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Oh, that we would be the most dedicated, unfailingly loyal faction for Christ - that He would return and find us hard-core for Him.

Prayer:

Father,

          Let us not confuse hardened hearts with being hard-core. In no way are they the same. Instead help us to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in You our labor is not in vain. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen