A few of my teammates and I have been studying through 1 Corinthians and it has been really cool to learn and study with my team. Here is some of what I’ve learned in the first seven chapters:
In verse 1:16 Paul says that he comes “not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of power”, and here I am struggling to figure out how to put together the most basic of sentences in Spanish. This verse reminded me that the Gospel is so much bigger than me and my words, that even in my broken Spanish the Word of God is powerful and does not return to Him empty (Isaiah 55:11).
1:25 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. “ Okay, so God is never foolish or weak, but what I think Paul is saying here is that in our wisest moments we don’t even come close to God’s thoughts, and sometimes I need to be reminded of that. I generally really like my plans, and when God goes and reminds me (sometimes not so gently) that He has a much greater plan for me, to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11) I can get a little cranky. Its great to remember that we have a good and faithful Father, thanks Paul.
3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers”…wait, what?! How cool is that? Okay, so maybe he was just talking about himself and Apollo, but I’m taking a slightly generous version and saying that he was talking about all believers. I just really really really liked this.
4:7 “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” Dang, that is pretty convicting. Not only are all my material possessions the Lord’s but also the spiritual gifts I have, my time, every bit of myself belongs to the Lord. Pretty cool, that.
6:11 “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” Awesome, awesome, so awesome. It is such a basic tenant of our faith but I really think sometimes we forget that not only are we forgiven of our sins because of the cross but that we are covered in His righteousness as well. We are washed, sanctified, and justified. Thank you Lord!
7:23 “For you were bought with a price, do not become slaves of men.” Not only are we washed, sanctified, and justified (I get chills every time I write that, our God is so good!) but we are bought with the blood of the Son, why would we ever choose to belong to the ways of the world? We are to be in the world, but not of it, we are to be a city on a hill, a light for all the world!
I thank God for teammates that study the Word with me, for my own precious copy of the Word, and for the time to spend in it. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Love y’all
Lindsey
