9.24.2026 - Jody Duncan

September 24, 2026

God Builds his Church through Mercy

2 Corinthians 4:1

Today we read 2 Corinthians 4:1. Read the passage now or at the end of this devotion. Let the scripture speak to you as you connect to God, the Father.

After having described the Old Covenant in chapter three of 2 Corinthians (a covenant etched in stone), Paul offers a vision of the New Covenant as one etched on our hearts. He states that God in his mercy has given him a ministry in which to spread the word of this New Covenant, and so he does not lose heart, despite persecutions and suffering.

Paul sees his ministry as a privilege and a gift bestowed upon him through God’s mercy, despite his own past as a persecutor of the church. He did not deserve the gift, but a merciful God gave it to him anyway.

We did not deserve the gift of the New Covenant, but a merciful God gave it to us anyway.

The New Covenant is the ultimate illustration of God’s mercy. Whereas the Old Covenant often led to punishment and condemnation, the New Covenant offers hope and eternal life. Through Jesus Christ, the veil separating us from God is torn away, and we can see the glory of God in all its brilliant light and fullness.

Paul built the church despite persecution and resistance because his ministry wasn’t fueled by his own strength or stamina – it was fueled, rather, by the grace and mercy of God.

How often do we foolishly rely on our own feeble strength to accomplish a hard thing? How often do we fail? How much wiser would we be to rely on God’s strength, God’s power, God’s love and mercy?

Like everybody, I have faced difficult challenges. Like many, I have been guilty of confronting those challenges alone, thinking MY strength, MY will, MY smarts were enough to handle them.

Oh, boy, was I wrong. I face nothing, fix nothing, accomplish nothing without the love, grace and mercy of God. It is a lesson I have had to learn repeatedly.

Let us be thankful today for God’s mercy and grace, by which all things are possible. Let us be thankful for the church that grew out of Paul’s ministry, and for the New Covenant, which has given us a relationship with God, through his Son, Jesus.