Not for Sale: Speaking in Christ
When the Word isn’t for sale, the space becomes sacred.
📚 Devotional Credit
Excerpt from In Christ by E. Stanley Jones
📸 Photo Credit
Unsplash.
There’s a sobering line Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “We are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s Word…” In E. Stanley Jones’s reflection for today, this phrase slices through the veneer of ministry motives. He contrasts those who peddle God's Word for attention, ego, or livelihood with those who speak in Christ—from a place of sincerity, sentness, and accountability before God.
It’s a confrontation to our modern ministry culture. Are we proclaiming the Word to share the life of Christ or to build our own platforms? When we speak in Christ, we are not drawing from ourselves or for ourselves—we are vessels of a message that originates in heaven and lands in hearts through us. This is the difference between foraging from the cross and abiding in it.
The abiding life teaches us that ministry is never ours to manage, brand, or perform. It is Christ’s life flowing through us, often quietly, humbly, without recognition. In daily conversation, in writing, in the silence between tasks—when our speech is birthed from union, not ambition, the aroma is Christ.
💡 Real-Life Application Integration
Like when you’re tempted to post something spiritual online, hoping for affirmation. Or you feel pressure to speak eloquently in a Bible study to be perceived as wise. In that moment, you pause. You look within—not for better phrasing, but for Christ’s leading. And you choose sincerity over spotlight. That quiet yielding may never be applauded—but in heaven’s eyes, you just refused to peddle the Word.
📓 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I did not call you to market Me. I called you to abide in Me.
The Word I planted in you is not merchandise—it is a treasure, and I entrusted it to you not for performance, but for proclamation.
When you speak from Me, there is life. When you speak for self, even the truth becomes hollow.
Remain in Me, and let your words carry the fragrance of My presence. Let your tone reflect the grace you have received. Let your silence be filled with reverence, and your speech be clothed in sincerity.
You are not required to dazzle—only to dwell. You are not assigned to defend Me—I am your defender. You are commissioned to express Me, and I will do the convincing.
Speak as one who has nothing to prove and nothing to sell. Speak as one who has already died and now lives through Me. In that place, you are not a peddler—you are My voice.
(Scripture references: 2 Corinthians 2:17; Galatians 2:20; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; Colossians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 4:5)
🧂 Real-Life Analogy
It’s like reaching for your favorite mug in the morning. You instinctively know which one fits your hand best, which holds the warmth just right. You don’t think about it, you just use it—because it’s become familiar, available, and useful. That’s how I want to live today—not as something ornate and admired on a shelf, but as a vessel the Lord reaches for because I’m yielded, present, and shaped to His touch.
🙏 Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that I don’t need to impress anyone with Your Word. I don’t need to curate the gospel. I simply yield to Christ in me, trusting that Your truth will be spoken in love, in grace, and in sincerity. You’ve already commissioned me—not to be clever, but to be connected. May every word today carry the aroma of Christ. And if no one notices, let me rest in the joy of knowing that You did.