Category: 1 Corinthians

Training for a Crown

1 Corinthians 9

June 10

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize. (1 Corinthians 9: 24)

Being competitive is sometimes presented in a negative light.  Probably because competition can bring out the ‘jerk’ in people.  That’s too bad, because in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul is telling them (and us) to lean into that competitive spirit.

Paul is using this as an analogy, by the way, he’s not telling us that we are in competition with other believers.  He uses two phrases that I hope will inspire you as you run your race.

“strict training”

Athletes preparing for a big competition don’t eat whatever they want and binge Netflix all day.  What do they do instead?  They do things that will help them succeed in their goal.  (Winning!)  Paul’s goal, and ours, is “a crown that will last forever.”

How do we train for eternal life?

The word obey comes to mind.  In order to obey we need to really know Scripture.  If we want to hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant,” we need to know what the Master expects of us.  And we need to do it, even when it’s hard.  Just like the athlete in training gets off the couch and goes to practice, even when he’s tired, we need to obey even when it doesn’t make sense to our human sensibilities.

“do not run aimlessly”

If you’ve ever been to a kid’s sporting event, you know that there are players that do not have their head in the game.  They are wandering around the field, chatting with friends, maybe even picking flowers in the grass.  Adorable.

Not so adorable when it’s adults in an Olympic competition and not cute when we’re talking about forever.

So many of us say that we are sharing our faith by the way that we live our lives.  But how much of that is a cop-out because we’re not comfortable evangelizing?  If we are actively sharing our faith through our life, we will be intentional in planning ways to do it.  We won’t just be going about our life, wandering aimlessly along.

I encourage you today to make a training plan.  How are you getting ready for Christ’s return?  I also encourage you to make a game plan.  How are you looking for ways to share your faith with those around you?

-Susan Landry

(Editor’s Note: Sorry this was sent out later today. It’s been fun hearing from a variety of writers this week, but today’s scheduled writer ran into a health issue and was unable to write. So, we went back in time and found this great devotion from 2019 – thank you, Susan – definitely good enough to read again. God bless you as you Seek, Grow and Love!)

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. How often do you remember that you are training for a crown that will last forever? If we remembered this more often how might it change our hearts, our schedules, our free time, our priorities, our training routine? What could you do differently this week, remembering the goal of your training and perhaps making it a little more “strict” than it has been lately?
  2. Are there any ways in which God may say you have been running aimlessly? What adjustments do you think Paul would suggest? Are you willing to do them?
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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

1 Corinthians 8

June 9

While we now live in an era where information is at the tips of our fingers, just a few swipes and searches away, knowledge still holds as much power as ever. At the beginning of this chapter, Paul reminds us of this crucial fact when he says, “… But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.” (1 Corinthians 8:1b-3) Here, Paul highlights how gaining knowledge can lead to becoming arrogant and result in divisions between people. He then explains the flip side of this coin: love. By using what we do know for the benefit of others, we can become better leaders in the church and set an example for how to live a life like Christ. To better elaborate on this concept, Paul addresses a question the people of Corinth had for him concerning eating food sacrificed to idols.

Later in the chapter, Paul states, “… yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live But not everyone possesses this knowledge…” (1 Corinthians 8:6-7a) Since Christians are aware that all things come from God, it was clear at the time that the meat in the markets was just meat, despite its old use in rituals to idols past. As more experienced Christians were aware of this fact, they would eat the meat casually as they should; however, as Paul states, not everyone knows this information. To the average individual, seeing the meat could still serve as a reminder of the idols of the past, and witnessing Christians eating this same meat could cause confusion and make one deviate in their faith. It’s here where Paul warns us, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” (1 Corinthians 8:9)

The rest of the chapter really speaks for itself as Paul describes how wounding someone with knowledge by being that stumbling block also hurts yourself. In verses 11-13, Paul writes, “So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.” The result of not being responsible with our knowledge is devastating because not only do we sin against the individuals concerned, but we also sin against Christ. However, as mentioned previously, there is a flip side to all of this. If we are responsible with this powerful knowledge and use it lovingly, then we can build upon one another. It’s no easy feat of course—like giving up meat for good, as Paul describes—but by preventing the fall of those around us, we can continue to raise our commitment to Christ together.

— Austin Kizer

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. How do you use your knowledge to grow closer to Christ? Do your actions and applications of this knowledge show other people your firmness in faith, or are you sending mixed signals? 
  2. A unique phrase in this chapter was “stumbling block for the weak”. What are different stumbling blocks that the world throws at us, and how can we combat them to stay firm in our faith?
  3. With knowledge about Christianity becoming more accessible to people worldwide, it’s important to hone in on the areas that we can directly impact. Discuss how Christians in this modern day can share their knowledge and build relationships with people in their community.
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Our Bodies Belong to God

1 Corinthians 7

June 8

1st Corinthians chapter 7 presents us with Paul explaining to the church the importance of Christian liberty in marital relations. This chapter is all about the importance of the Christian concept of marriage and how it needed to be established in the early church.

            In Paul’s letter he writes about the principles of marriage, but he also writes about singleness, in 1st Corinthians 7:4 Paul says,

            “A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.”

In a marital relationship, the husband and wife belong to one another, just as we belong to God in our relationship with him. We can also see this in how Elihu speaks to Job in Job 33:6.

            “Look, you and I both belong to God. I, too, was formed from clay.”

We all belong to God in everything we do. We are to trust God in his decisions for our lives and the places we are to go, just as our spouse is to rely on us in our relationships.

            Paul also speaks of singleness in chapter 7. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 7:8-9, and verses 32-35.

            “I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am. But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire.”

            “I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord. How he may please the Lord. But the married man is concerned with the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned with the things of the world, and how she may please her husband. I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.”

Paul isn’t saying we shouldn’t be married or have relationships, but he is saying, that when we are in them it is important to not lose sight of your faith, and to devote yourself to God first. Sometimes our seasons of singleness are God’s way of pulling us closer to him, and that is one of the most important periods in our life. We have an opportunity to be devoted to only God and spend time learning who he wants us to be.

This is where I have been in my life lately. I’m realizing that my relationship with God must come first before I am able to have a relationship with someone else, so that we can strengthen each other through our faith in Christ. God wants a relationship with us, and for us to trust in him first and foremost.

-Hannah Eldred

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. Whether you are single or married, how can you deepen your devotion to God?
  2. What is the person to do who is married to an unbeliever? Why?
  3. If you will be choosing a spouse, what does Paul say he/she has to be? Why?
  4. If you are married, how can you work (ideally, together, with your mate) at keeping God first?

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So Many Questions

1 Corinthians 6

June 7

Paul is full of questions.  Should you go to court against your neighbor?  Is it possible that you are capable of judging in even a small court?  Can you not as brothers in Christ decide your own lawsuits against one another?  Is it not better to be cheated or wronged?  These are just a few questions you will discover in this chapter.  Paul was just getting started when he asked: (9) “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?”  Now, unrighteous covers a lot of territory.  Self-examination is encouraged for each of us. Are you ready?  Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, and those who are effeminate will not inherit the kingdom of God. But wait there’s more behaviors that are pointed out.  Thievery, or covetous, that’s a given already covered in the 10 Commandments. Should I keep going?  Drunkards, revilers, or swindlers are excluded from the kingdom too. I had to look revilers up in the dictionary. I am sure I used to know its meaning, but my memory failed me today. A reviler is someone who is verbally abusive, criticizing in anger.                                         

Here comes the good part.  Paul reminds them that some have turned away from evil and have been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus and in the Spirit of God.  How wonderful to be redeemed!                 

There are several other important points that Paul goes on to make in chapter 6 and they shouldn’t be missed.  For instance, you can eat whatever you want, but is it healthy for you.  A carton of ice cream (butter pecan) is legal to eat in one sitting, but it would not be the right thing for anyone.    Paul goes on to say that the same is true in other aspects of an individual’s life.  As Christians, we are to flee immorality.  Joining with a prostitute makes you one with her.  We are to be in one spirit with the Lord.  Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.  Remember, in Christ we have been bought with a price and we are to glorify God in our body.

-Bob Collier

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. What were some of the questions Paul asked the church at Corinth?
  2. Can you think of some life actions unacceptable to God that are not mentioned in this chapter?
  3. What will you pray about today?
  4. Knowing what you read today, what needs changing in your life?    

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A Brother in Sin

1 Corinthians 5

June 6

As we continue past the previous chapters of 1 Corinthians, that of leadership in the church and the nature of true apostleship, we enter a new section that is initially and seemingly unrelated to the current mood of Paul’s letter. It feels kind of awkward to talk about certain sins and topics, today’s being incest, because it is so obviously horrendous that it almost feels like a waste of breath to talk about. However, this negligence is precisely why we need to discuss such things, so that they do not become the normative culture. (As is seen with a plethora of “hot-button” issues the modern church has just accepted due to ignorant doctrine.) Additionally, as we’ll see with what Paul wrote, these topics are also excellent gateways for further understanding other applications of the word: true faith in action.

Paul begins by calling out the sin of incest between two members of the Corinthian church, fixating the blame on the man responsible, and seems to be most uproarious about how proud the offenders are in their sin. Verse 2 reads, “And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?” It appears as though, while the act of incest itself is an egregious sin, being boastful in it simply exacerbates its severity. This claim is supported by the next six verses and subsequent pseudo-parable. Verses 6-7 read, “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” A little yeast, the parabolic equivalence of humility (i.e., the absence of excessive boasting), is sufficient to make useful bread. Old yeast is to be thrown out, as it makes bad bread and is useful for nothing; just as we need not boast at all, Jesus is our supplement for humility. We are called not to boast in our accomplishment or our sins, but to attribute all that we have done that is good to God.

Returning to Paul’s initial command to extradite the man from the church, does that not seem antithetical to the accepting nature of faith? Perhaps upon an initial reading it may, but Paul acknowledges this and says in verses 9-11, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolator or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.” Paul is entirely aware that man is a sinful being, and that there was only one man to walk the earth who was blameless: Christ. Instead, in this passage, he makes the clarification that the people we are to not associate ourselves with are those who claim to be brothers and sisters in the faith, and STILL are boastful in their sin, unapologetic about their openly sinful life, perhaps even going as far as claiming that their actions are biblically justifiable. These are the people we are to lovingly rebuke, as they claim to live by the word and yet blatantly do not. So often, Christians are seen as judgmental toward outsiders. Unfortunately, this is not wholly unreasonable. Our issue is that we judge those who do not live by the law for not living by the law, while simultaneously turning a blind eye to those who CLAIM to live by the law and openly do not. Paul writes in verses 12 and 13, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked person from among you’.” Our responsibility is to spread the good news to those who do not have it, and to lovingly keep ourselves accountable.

-Mason Kiel

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. Sin is sin. Why is there a difference between how we view, judge or treat various sinners?
  2. Are you personally more apt to spread more judgment to those outside the church or load on the mercy to those inside than Paul would recommend? What is the danger in each of these?
  3. What is the purpose of expelling a brother in sin?
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Paul’s Job

1 Corinthians 4

June 5

The life story of Paul is always a fascinating read. Bad guy turned good. And it even has a cool name change from Saul to Paul. But more importantly it’s a story about how God used our brokenness and yet found a beautiful way to restore us and give us a purpose through Him. And throughout his letters it is evident that God was working through him. There is nothing that Paul did to deserve being “put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries.” (1 Corinthians 4:1) The important part is that he answered the call and gave God all the glory – as He deserves.

Paul makes it clear that his desire is to visit Corinth again. But he tells them that when he gets there they will inevitably receive praise or discipline from him. Because while he was away they were either following God or they weren’t. In the same way, everything we do either brings us closer to God or pushes us away. The Corinthians were given a chance to turn from their sin and follow God. Paul warns them to change before they have to face the consequences of their choices. We may never have Paul sending us emails or posting his wisdom on Instagram but we still have the same choice as the Corinthians 2000 years later. And thankfully God still has other ways to communicate with us and warn us when we find ourselves going down a slippery slope. Whether through our conscience, a godly mentor, or even a timeless letter from good ol’ Paul. Thankfully we can read the same words that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and we have a chance to learn from them.

God is love. But we often forget this attribute is still being displayed when it’s time to be disciplined. He loves us enough to warn us countless times when we choose to walk down the wrong path. His justice and love compliment each other in ways that we cannot understand. But we can know for certain that God loves us and has our eternal interest in mind. He wants us to be in His Kingdom, but we ultimately have to make the decision to accept God’s gift of eternal life. 

The concept of Paul sending Timothy whom he refers to as his beloved and faithful child in the Lord is strikingly similar to God sending His only begotten Son Jesus, on behalf of Him. The connection between Paul and his mentee Timothy makes me think about the nature of the relationship between God and Jesus. Since Paul was preaching the message to other cities he sent Timothy ahead of him to Corinth to continue his ministry. In a similar way, since God is not able to be in the presence of sinful humans (aka the earth) he sent a man, His Son, Jesus to represent God. Jesus’ mission from his father was to proclaim the gospel (the name of Jesus and the message of the Kingdom of God) and die on the cross for the sins of the world. This ultimately will eventually allow God to come to the earth after the earth has been judged from its sin. The big picture shows the importance of being on the right side, God’s side. So learn from God’s discipline now before the world is judged for not following God. 

-Makayla Railton

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. How is discipline an important part of God’s love? Where have you seen or witnessed his discipline and justice at work for good?
  2. Who has God sent to reveal/explain His mysteries to you? To whom can you share what you have learned and how you live?
  3. If Paul were to be writing to you and your church, or even stopping in to visit this Sunday morning – what words do you think he would bring?

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God Gives the Growth

1 Corinthians 3

June 4

One of the greatest examples of humble service in the Bible is that of John the Baptist. John knew that his role was not to be the savior of the world, but to point people to the savior of the world. John’s vocation was to make a clear and unhindered path that leads to Jesus Christ. We now share in the same work as John the Baptist. Our job in this life is to point people to the Lord of glory and to show the magnitude of having a personal relationship with him. John said it best in the phrase “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John knew that he was simply to give the world more of Jesus and less of himself.


This ideal of leading people to Jesus and not to ourselves is something we always have to keep in the forefront of our mind. Paul addresses this very issue in 1 Corinthians 3. The church at Corinth was interested in making divisions by which person they were following.


“For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?” (1 Corinthians 3:4).


Paul and Apollos, for all intents and purposes, were celebrity pastors in the first century. People were bragging about following Paul or Apollos, and they lost sight of what both Paul and Apollos were doing and their roles in the church. The roles of both Paul and Apollos were to share the gospel message and to realize that it was God that was working through them.


Paul makes it clear by saying: “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:5-7).


Whatever our work and role is in the church, we should not be asking people to follow us, but rather we should lead them to God. What we do in the church and for the church is nothing without God providing the growth. Our job is not to change hearts and save lives, but to lead people to the one who can. Our role is not to draw attention to ourselves or lift ourselves high, but rather exalt the Lord Jesus. We must decrease and he must increase. We must plant and water, but remember that God causes the growth.


Let us not fall into the trap of saying we follow this person or this person. Let us follow Christ and lead people to him. Let us make sure that we realize all the work that we do is supplemented by the growth that can only be caused by God. Let’s live our lives in such a way where we always point towards God and never to ourselves.

-Nathan Massie


Application:

  1. Realize that our job is to point to Christ and to the work that he is doing and not to ourselves.
  2. Realize that our work in the church is important, but it is ultimately God that causes the growth to occur in the church.
  3. To make sure we are following Christ and his teachings and to not get caught up by the earthly people that we follow.
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A Scary Word

1 Corinthians 2

June 3

Here at the Oregon church we have really been focusing on evangelistic outreach. No other word puts quite the fear in the heart of a Christian like the world evangelism. There are many anxieties that come with the idea of evangelism: sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. There is the fear of rejection. There is the worry that you might look foolish. There is maybe a concern that you won’t say the right things. Maybe there’s a worry that you don’t know enough about the Bible and therefore you aren’t qualified to reach out to people about Jesus and the kingdom. There is just a lot of worry that goes into it.


A lot of the fear and anxiety that comes from sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with people is that we can make it about us. Look above at what was said about the fear of sharing the gospel: every fear and anxiety that was mentioned about sharing the gospel is because we focus on how it affects us. We make it about our rejection, or our feelings or our knowledge. God has made the gospel so simple and yet we can be so afraid of it. And when I say we are afraid, I’m talking about me too. Just because I’m a pastor doesn’t mean that I don’t have fear and anxiety about sharing the gospel. You don’t need a PhD in theology to share the gospel with people. You don’t need to have a deep understanding of Levitical dietary laws, or a complete understanding of ancient Greek. The gospel was made understandable so that no matter who we talk to they can grasp it. We tend to make it more complicated than it has to be.


Paul makes this very point in 1 Corinthians 2. He says: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).


Paul was an extremely well educated man. He was well studied and well read. He knew the Hebrew Bible in profound detail. He was someone that could have really made the gospel presentation more complicated than it should have been. But instead of making a mess of things he says to the Corinthian church that he didn’t come with lofty speech or wisdom. He decided to know nothing besides Christ and him crucified. What Christ accomplished on the cross is of chief importance. Christ died as a substitute for you and me and he rose on the third day. He did this so that one day we can be in the kingdom of God forever. The components of the gospel are easy to remember this way: the kingdom, the cross and the resurrection. The other doctrines of the Bible are important but only believing the gospel is what saves us. The good news of the kingdom of God and our entrance being purchased by the death and resurrection of Jesus is what matters above all else.


Paul continues in the section by saying that we don’t use lofty wisdom and persuasive arguments in order that we aren’t relying on the wisdom of man. Wisdom is important, but ultimately the best and truest wisdom comes from God. The gospel is simple in order that we can fully rely on the power of God to work through us to share to those around us. God is saving the world through His gospel and we should want to be a part of that.


We don’t need to make the gospel more complicated than it is. The simple message of the death and resurrection of Jesus purchasing our gift of eternal life if we believe in him is as easy as it gets. Sharing the gospel doesn’t have to be scary either. It comes from the concern and urgency of wanting people to be in God’s kingdom. It comes from the outpour of our lives as a demonstration of the saving power of God working wondrously through us. Let’s choose to know nothing but Christ and him crucified and share that to a hurt and broken world. Let’s be the people that God works through to reconcile His creation back to Himself.

-Nathan Massie


Application:

  1. To remember that the gospel has been made simple so that we can share with everyone: the kingdom, the cross and the resurrection.
  2. To realize that God is the one who is working through us to share the gospel to the world. It’s His power and not our wisdom that makes the gospel effective.
  3. To realize that the gospel is the power of God and it is of chief importance since believing the gospel is what saves us.
  4. To pray about our anxieties and fears about sharing the gospel and to ask God to give us the strength to share even when we are afraid.
  5. To recognize that when we share the gospel we are making an eternal difference in the life of the hearer.
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Foolishness – to Those Perishing

1 Corinthians 1

June 2

Wisdom is a concept that has been found in all cultures for all time. Wisdom in the ancient biblical sense is to reflect on God and obey Him with reverential awe. Wisdom in the 21st century western world stresses wise money investing in stocks with a look towards retirement. “Wise” thoughts have shifted from contemplating who God is, to “how can I make my life as comfortable as possible?” I’m not suggesting that wise investing is bad by any means, but there is a wisdom that goes beyond our capabilities to reason. True understanding and wisdom comes from God Himself, and is vastly superior to earthly human wisdom. This is a concept Paul explores in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians.


“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). There has never been a clearer distinction made in the Bible between wisdom and folly. The good news of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection and the coming kingdom of God, is foolishness to a world that is dying. There’s a total lack of understanding of the meaning of the cross to a world that doesn’t receive it. When we don’t understand something, our general first reaction is to pass it off as foolish. I fell into this trap for many years of my life.

I was raised in church, but my family stopped regularly attending when I was nine. It eventually turned from a sporadic attendance to not attending at all. As I grew older I was informed of things that were happening at the church that I grew up in that shouldn’t have been happening: misconduct to say the least. I grew cold towards God because of actions that I wasn’t even aware of. Not being aware was somehow worse to me. I audibly said “if that’s how Christians are going to act, then I don’t want to be a part of the church”. I became lukewarm at best, and I was essentially an agnostic in all but name. The word of the cross became folly to me.


When I was a sophomore in High School, I met Josiah Cain. We became friends very quickly, but it didn’t take me long to find out that his dad was a pastor. I was skeptical, but I remained friends with him. For three years, God worked on me through Josiah, and after those three years I eventually agreed to attend a single service at his church: Lawrenceville. The service at Lawrenceville was a refreshing church experience. The message was relatable, the pastor was down to earth, the environment was relaxed. It felt right and I was thankful that I was there. It didn’t take me long to realize that I had based all of my assumptions on church and putting my faith in God on a bad experience that I had. That in and of itself branded me as foolish.


I began to attend Lawrenceville regularly. I came forward and accepted an altar call on Resurrection Sunday in 2013. The next month I was baptized. I was beginning to realize the word of the cross and what Jesus accomplished for me. With my original church experience I was only thinking of myself. I realized after being baptized that the good news of Jesus is not about what I feel and about what I can get out of it, but what God has accomplished through his son. The word of the cross ceased to be folly to me, and it became the power of God that was saving me. Nine years later, I’m a pastor (which is still wild to me) and it’s because of the faithfulness of God and the intentionality of Josiah. Folly was worked out of me and wisdom into me.


It is easy to lose patience with those that don’t understand the power of God through the cross. We must be patient, for the good news about Jesus is foolishness to a world that doesn’t understand. When something doesn’t make sense to us, we resent it and want nothing to do with it. When the patient understanding of a friend comes alongside us, there comes understanding. God is working through us to reach the lost around us. We must realize that God has the power to change a folly mind to a mind that gives Him reverential awe. Let’s be the people through whom God blesses the world through His wondrous working power.

-Nathan Massie


Application:

  1. God is working in and through us to reach the world. We as God’s people need to be ready to come alongside those who think the good news of Jesus is folly.
  2. Only God can change the minds and hearts of people, but God has chosen us to be His instruments. We must be ready to share the good news of Jesus with those around us. Who will you share the good news with?
  3. Reflect on God and be thankful for what He has accomplished through the cross of Jesus Christ for us. The word of the cross is the power unto salvation for all those who believe.
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Tough Love

1 Corinthians 13

The simplest truth about human relationships is that if we just loved one another a bit more, we would have fewer problems.  I know, it is a bit cliche, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Our focus would be consistently outward.  We would be ready to listen and meet the needs of others. God has made it pretty clear that the most hardened heart can soften by showing the quality that embodies who He is, yet it is a weapon we often leave unwelded.  We often list our harshness or judgements under the guise of “tough love”, and this may or may not be true on a case-by-case basis. However, we must stick closely to the prescribed path in 1 Corinthians 13.  It actually might be simpler to love “toughly”, but if you simply write people off, or find a way to punish them, or speak your mind without backing it up with the many other qualities listed here, you are a hollow box and a lot of noise.  What’s tough love, really tough love, is to love someone who isn’t concerned in the slightest with being like God at the moment, or even ever. Love never fails. So you must love. You absolutely must.  And your love must be like God’s love.  Below I reworded one of the most famous passages of scriptures (v.4-7) that coincides with our reading and, most likely, one of the last handful of weddings you attended.  My goal isn’t to add to the list, only to reword it to give it novelty in hopes to make it challenging or convicting instead of a rehearsal of familiar words.  If it helps tune your mind to God’s love, wonderful.  If it is a confusing mess, don’t read it.  My concern is that you know loving is tough, especially those whose actions betray your love.  That shouldn’t stop you.  But THAT is tough love.  And THAT is what God shows to each one of us on the daily.

For God to come in and change the “unlovable” (mind you, this can be and has been you), you must sit and listen. Listen to their problems and hear them say what they think, even if you don’t agree. You have to include them, share with them, and treat them with dignity, even if they are not concerned in the slightest about having any.  To love, you have to let others be great and cheer them on.  Sometimes this means the spotlight will come off of you, or you are treated as less important.  If you are loving, you’re not concerned with that, because in love, others come first.  Love holds back the insults, name-calling, and doesn’t attack a person made in the image of God.  True love can be shown without expecting anything in return and can be left unreciprocated.  On rare occasions, you can have angry love.  You can be mad at someone because they are doing some serious sin damage to others or even him/herself.  But you don’t start there.  You don’t live there.  You are truthful with someone, because lying is not loving.  But you retreat quickly from the fight, and fill the space with mercy, more patience, and more kindness.  That means love is forgiveness, and not holding grudges.  We can love those who have wronged us.  We can love those who have besmirched our reputation, injured our family through carelessness, or hate us because of our beliefs. We may know their wrong to us as a historical account, but not as an emotional one, and we thank God we have an opportunity to show love to them in such a way.  In fact, loving like God means that you would actually stand-up for this person who has done you the greatest harm.  Loving someone means that you are trusting without “but.” And that can be so hard. But trusting in God first and foremost allows you to do that.  Believe in people.  Never give up on people.  Much easier said than done. It’s tough. So tough. But don’t let it stop you from trying. Your efforts are to help others see God, and they will know His love because it has been extended to and shown through you.

-Aaron Winner

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Esther 1-2 and 1 Corinthians 13

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