Lovely Soldiers (1 Corinthians 15-16)

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

My focus of today’s reading…

Paul includes this as part of the last sentiments he sends to the church in Corinth in this letter. I think it aptly sums up what we should be doing in our day to day lives as well. I just talked about love the other day, so I find it appropriate that he includes it here. It is sort of the “soft” part of the command, and the “hard” part is that we must be watchful and stand firm. Gentle, caring actions contrasted with ones that more befit a soldier. But that’s just it – we are supposed to be both! We cannot neglect either aspect of our calling as they intertwine together to make a balanced whole. Lovingly, we act out what God has commanded us as we remember the faith which we stand upon. All other ground is sinking sand.

Advertisement

Love (1 Corinthians 13-14)

Having recently done a whole project for this bootcamp thing on tongues/1 Corinthians 12-14 … I’m going to go ahead and just talk about chapter 13.

My first year at camp I found this Max Lucado book in the Dollar General (weird, right?), and decided to buy it to use for my personal devotions while at camp. It’s called “A Love Worth Giving”. It was really good and super challenging at that time in my life. This passage in Corinthians is where he bases most of the book off of. I still remember the forward of the book (I think it was the forward) where he talks about how when he reads verses 4-7, he puts his name in. I tried it, and it was (and still is) a little horrifying to think of. Let me demonstrate:

“Christy is patient and kind; Christy does not envy or boast, she is not arrogant or rude.” etc.

When I think about that, I am reminded that I still have so much room to grow to have a love that is worth giving to others.

However discouraging it is that I’m not “there”, it is encouraging to remember that God IS. He IS patient and kind, does not envy or boast, he is not arrogant or rude. He his holy and he deserves all my praise and worship. He deserves my striving to become more like him every day; in love.

 

Broken Finger (1 Corinthians 11-12)

I’m going to go ahead and skip over these wonderfully controversial passages … and go right to the latter half of Chapter 12.

I, like many people, often struggle with figuring out where I fit in this whole body of Christ and how I’m worth something etc. but I also find myself trying to figure out what it actually means for us to all be a part of a body together. We are called to bear each other’s burdens, rejoice with each other, “live together” through our lives, but what does that look like?

Let me illustrate with my best friend from elementary school. She got in her fair share of accidents resulting in bodily harm, but most memorable to me is when she broke her finger from falling off a couch. She was a regularly active girl, but when her finger broke, her entire body focused on healing it. She couldn’t do certain things because her hand/arm was in a cast, like partaking in gym class for a while. And, according to science class, her body was focusing on healing it as well. Similar to when we’re sick and our body focuses on getting better, not on running a marathon. I think this is like what we should be like as the body. We should be caring for each other, and when we “bear burdens” together, we walk through it together. We don’t just leave the broken finger by itself and try to play piano the next day. We rest and make sure we allow it to heal, slowly strengthening it back to its former state.

We should be taking time to genuinely focus on helping each other – and that way when one is honoured or blessed, we are all blessed in the same way. It’s a huge call to think of others before ourselves, but just like a broken finger or an illness, we need to care for each other as we strive together to honour God.

A Rant and a Thought (1 Corinthians 9-10)

Two things stood out to me today: the reoccurrence of Old Testament references, and the reason we do all things for Christ (10:31-33)

1. I’ve heard 9:9 referenced before because it ties the epistles to the old testament and authority etc. but Paul also uses the Old Testament to teach lessons in chapter 10. I really like the old testament. I think that so much can be learned from it, but I know that lots of people shy away from it more/prefer New Testament for it’s more direct approach. All I’m saying is that if Paul can use OT to help illustrate his points, maybe we should too? (Ok this the rant part …)

2. I noted today the whole set around 10:31, and it sort of changed how I interpret the verse (big surprise there). Mostly verse 33 stood out; that we do things not for ourselves but so that others can be saved. It gives a little more direction to verse 31 where we do everything for the glory of God because it gives a little more of a practical edge. I think the last few posts I’ve done have had this sort of theme – living life for Christ. I think it’s because it’s hard to do completely, there is always growth needed. Regardless, how are you living for Christ so that others may see the Glory of God and be saved?

Your Called Life (1 Corinthians 7-8)

As one who is not married/betrothed/in the midst of courting/dating, it is kind of nice to hear Paul say that it is beneficial to be single. Mostly because I know part of me desires to have said relationship. But realizing I can do so much more and focus on God whilst single is always a well needed reminder that it’s ok to be single. However, after the comfort point, I realize that I also have to react to this. I should be doing things in my single-hood to serve God. In no way, shape, or form should I be wasting my time.  I think Paul adequately talks about how we should be living – married or single – in the beginning of verse 17:

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God as called him”

So this life — don’t waste it, and live it out in the way that God has called you to live. Your story is different from everyone else’s story.

Insert Catchy Title Here (1 Corinthians 5-6)

Paul spends the bulk of these two chapters speaking against sexual immorality. It’s interesting that he chooses to spend a long time addressing the issue, because I thought it was a fairly obvious topic. When I think about it though, it is definitely referenced a lot. I guess it must have been a big issue then (not that I’m surprised given my general knowledge on Corinth) – sort of like it is now.

I also thought the section on settling disputes within the church interesting. I must have always skipped that part before. I’m not particularly sure what it means for today, but it is an interesting concept. We probably should be going to more mature Christians to settle our little problems instead of non Christians…but I’m not sure what they categorize as disputes. Something to think about and investigate further, I guess.

In Love (1 Corinthians 3-4)

Paul goes on reprimanding the people of Corinth, and I feel bad even though I wasn’t there. But Paul writes in love. He writes to them to “admonish [them] as [his] beloved children” (4:14). Paul cares so deeply for these people that he is willing to tell them what they’re doing wrong, even though it could potentially result in some of them hating him. Technically, he cared enough to even share the gospel with some of them in the first place. Sometimes I fear telling people my thoughts because I can’t foolproof-ly back them up with theology etc., or I don’t think that they will appreciate what I have to say. However, if done in love, we can help brothers and sisters see new ways to grow. But it must be done in love. Always in love.

Spiritual Unity (1 Corinthians 1-2)

I love how Paul begins this letter to Corinth addressing the disunity they have among them. Instead, he talks about how they should focus on their unity in the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. This concept was really hard for me to grasp onto for a while, but I started doing a study on 1 Corinthians and it started to make a little more sense. It is pretty cool how we can all be united under Christ, even if we do have differences. Paul even goes so far as to talk about how they should not be boasting in anything, but revelling in their weaknesses so that Christ can be magnified through them. To deny themselves and live together in worship to God.