The Reasons Why We Should Depend on God (more than on ourselves)

What Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians

1:4—We receive comfort from God for ourselves and to comfort others

1:9—He’s more powerful than we are

1:10—We set our hope on Him to deliver us

1:11—He graciously answers our prayers

1:20—He’s faithful to His promises

1:22—He owns us and lives in us

1:17—We get distracted and disappointed when things don’t go as we plan

2:1-10—To reconcile relationships rightly when our feelings are hurt

2:5-10—To execute tough love when a Christian is deliberately sinning

2:11—To keep Satan from getting an advantage over us

2:14—He uses us to spread the knowledge of Him

2:17—He sends us to speak for Him

3:3—He writes a letter of recommendation for Himself in our lives

3:4—He gives us confidence to trust Him

3:5—He gives us competence to represent Him

3:16—He takes away the veil over our hearts when we believe

3:18—He transforms us by His Spirit

4:1—To not lose heart

4:6—He makes His light shine in the darkness through us

4:7—He can demonstrate His power through our frailty (jars of clay)

4:8-9—He keeps us from being crushed when we are burdened

4:10—He reveals Jesus’s life in and through us

4:14; 5:1; 5:5—He will give us a new resurrection/heavenly body as a reward

4:16—He can keep us from losing heart

4:16—He renews us inwardly while we outwardly “waste away”

4:18—He gives us an eternal perspective about our “light, momentary troubles”

5:7—Because we must live by faith not by sight

5:8—We will be with Him when this life ends

5:9—To learn how to live to please Him

5:10—He rewards us for our earthly lives

5:15—To live for Him rather than for ourselves

5:17—He’s made us into a new creation

5:19-20—We are His ambassadors and speak for Him

5:21—He exchanges our sin for Christ’s righteousness

6:4—We are His servants

6:4-9—To respond to troubles in a godly manner

6:10—Our lives influence others

6:16-18—We are His children

7:1—To purify ourselves to perfect holiness

7:6—He comforts us when we are downcast

7:9—To rightly respond to sin in our lives

7:12—To see truth in ourselves, in our hearts

8:1—He initiates the grace of giving

8:5—We need Him to direct our giving according to His will

8:9—He makes us spiritually rich so we can give

8:16—He puts into our hearts concerns for us to have

8:23—We are His representatives who honor Christ so can be trusted with money handling

9:8—God blesses us so we can give to others

9:10—God enlarges the harvest of our generosity and good works

9:12—God gives through us to meet the needs of His people

10:1—To treat others with the humility and gentleness of Christ

10:3-4—We need His power to demolish strongholds holding us captive

10:5—We need His power to take captive our thoughts for Him

10:8; 13:10—To use our authority to build others up and not tear them down

10:13—To find our sphere of service He has assigned to us

10:13—To confine our boasting to the Lord and the sphere of service He has assigned to us

10:17—To seek our approval and commendation from Him rather than others

11:3—To keep us from being led astray by false teaching

11:4-5—To help us recognize error in teaching

11:6—To know the truth about God

11:7-9—For financial support that enables us to share Christ and disciple others

11:13-15—To show us those masquerading as His servants and release us from their grip

11:23-27; 32-33—To rescue us from danger

11:30—To teach us the value of boasting about the things that show our weakness and need for Him

11:31—To keep praising God in all our afflictions

11:28—To help us handle the daily pressures of that which concerns us

12:6—To refrain from boasting about personal spiritual experiences

12:7-8—Enduring a thorn in the flesh that God chooses not to heal

12:9—Trusting God’s grace to be sufficient

12:9—Being glad about weaknesses so Christ’s power shines in us

12:10—Trusting Him for strength

12:14—To love others so much you don’t want to “use” them in any way

12:15, 19—To spend ourselves for others to grow spiritually

12:17—To walk by the Spirit consistently with other believers

12:20-21—Facing sin in those we love

13:4—To live by God’s power to deal with people

13:5—To gain assurance that you are in Christ by your faith in Him

13:7—For our disciples to do what is right even though we may fail

13:8—To stand for the truth

13:9—To be fully restored/matured in pure devotion to Christ

13:7, 9—To be concerned for disciples’ growth more than your own personal reputation

13:11—To rejoice, mature, encourage others, be united, and live in peace with other believers