Our Sufficiency Comes From God

Daily Devotional

2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:5 that our sufficiency is of God. What did he mean by that? What he was communicating was that our existence depends on God and that we cannot live without Him. To illustrate this point Paul highlighted our insufficiency in noting that “we cannot think anything of ourselves”. The essence of what Paul was saying was that thinking is one of the most basic functions that we are able to carry out as humans. Nevertheless, not even that we are able to get right without God’s involvement. We are inclined to think wrong thoughts and make bad decisions when we think anything of ourselves; we need God to correct our thoughts.

One reason we cannot live without God is because he is our source. St. John 15:1-2, in using an analogy, refers to Jesus as the vine and us as the branches; that is important to note. Based on our knowledge of trees, the survival of a branch depends on whether or not it is connected to the tree. If for any reason it is disconnected from the tree, its existence ends. Therefore St. John 15:5 says without me ye can do nothing. 

Another reason our sufficiency is in God is because everything that we need is in God. David made reference to this in Psalms 18:2 when he highlighted 8 things that God was to him: his wisdom, hiding place, deliverer, Lord of his life, protector, source of strength, saviour and defense. When that Psalm was written David had just been delivered from the hands of Saul, but went on to make mention of other things that God was to him to make it known that God was more than just a deliverer.  Everything that David needed could be found in God, it is no different for us today.

Life Application: Acknowledge that your sufficiency is in God and act accordingly by staying connected to Him and look to Him for everything that you need.  

Prayer: Lord, you are my source for everything. My sufficiency is in you. Thank you for being God and all that I need and more. In Jesus’ name, amen.