“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by bay.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16
To lose heart is to lose the strength of living. It’s when the harsh realities of life so overwhelm us that we have little power to draw from in order to live joyously. In this passage, the apostle Paul describes suffering as “our outward man perishing.” By that he doesn’t mean simply our physical bodies. He’s speaking of everything that is outside of the spirit.
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:18
The outward man consists of “what is seen,” and that is temporary. It’s what is not seen that is eternal, and that is our spirit.
Paul is saying that our real strength is found in our spiritual awareness of who and what we are now in Christ Jesus. If we focus only on the outward, than we shall eventually lose heart. Even if we’ve lived a prosperous life, we shall one day grow old and face the end of our days. We will need something greater than the outward man.
That doesn’t have to be our lot! He said our “inward man is being renewed day by day,” and that means an ever increasing strength is being given to us if we’ll make the things of the spirit our reality. He says we must look at what is not seen, but how does one look at something they can’t see?
For we walk by faith, not by sight. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7
We live and walk by faith, and that means a total awareness of the things of the spirit. We “see” by believing what we’ve heard—and if we believe what we’ve heard, we’ll walk accordingly. You always live what you truly believe.
You don’t have to lose heart in life if your focus is on the glorious realities you have right now and the glorious ones you’ll receive in eternity:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:17
