2 Corinthians 4:10-18

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

(v10, NIV)

So, Jesus is revealed in our body if we carry around in our body the death of Jesus. Jesus did a lot of great things in his lifetime. He was a great teacher and he performed many miracles. However, in his death we hold fast to the most important thing about him. By that I mean his death and resurrection. The two go hand in hand because Jesus conquered death and you can't go talking about his death without talking about his resurrection. We want to give God all the glory. We want Jesus to be known through his workings in us.

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

(v11-12, NIV)

Being given over to death may be part of being perplexed, persecuted or being struck down (v7-8). But that's okay because we won't be crushed. In that we reveal the life of Jesus. So good! This brings about life in others. So we could endure or even face death so that Jesus is revealed through us and someone else may be brought to life through Jesus.

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,

(v13, NIV)

Belief should directly cause us to speak. Because we have come to know and put our faith in God we should therefore tell others about Him. It's like faith and works talked about in James. Faith should cause us to do something. Without our actions, our faith is nothing.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

(James 2:17, NIV)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

(v16-18, NIV)

Who cares about all that is temporary? It does have some usefulness, but that's nothing compared to what is eternal. Clearly, in deciding between something that is eternal and something that is temporary, the winner is the eternal one. So who cares if our temporal bodies are being destroyed? Who cares if we are temporally affected on this temporal earth? What's important is that we live investing in what is eternal. Let us invest in the lives of those seeking for what will be their heavenly bound home.