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1 Corinthians 12-13 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 12:1-13:13.

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

I’ve often read this and talked about putting away the childish thing in this passage. However, today the other side of this passage struck me. What must I embrace in order to put on manhood? Love. “The greatest of these is love.” No wonder Peter caps off the list of Christian growth in II Peter 1:5-8 with love.

That’s right. The #1 way to be a man is to love. No, not to have sex. That’s what the world says. God’s way for manhood is to love. To see people as people, not objects of lust. To know they have hopes and dreams, fears and doubts, failures and victories. Then to seek their best and help them accomplish those things. To freely sacrifice self for others, not to gain anything from them or because of a sense of obligation, but simply because their good is our goal.

That’s what Jesus did for us by growing to the cross. He was a real man. I need to follow in His glorious footsteps.

Grow up! Be a man! Love!

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Click Here.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

I Corinthians 8-9 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 8:1-9:27.

“So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26).

What is today going to be about? Do I have an aim in my service to God or am I just beating the air? Am I just trying to slide through another day or am I actually trying to get somewhere today in my spiritual growth?

It’s easy to fill my daily and weekly planner with tasks I have to get done in order to keep my job, make my family happy, keep the creditors off my back. But when that is all I do I’m only keeping time. I’m just checking days off the calendar. I’m doing stuff, but I’m going nowhere. Perhaps I should say I’m growing nowhere.

Paul grew because Paul aimed for growth. He wasn’t running on a treadmill. He was getting out on the spiritual streets and going somewhere with the Lord.

Today, I’m going to ask myself where I’m actually trying to go with the Lord. That’s the only way I will ever get there.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Click Here

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

1 Corinthians 4-5 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 4:1-5:13.

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me” (I Corinthians 4:3-4).

Children constantly seek the approval of their parents. Any critical statement can send a child reeling into feelings of worthlessness and disapproval. So they constantly chase that approval. The problem is we adults often carry that little child with us. Instead of growing to maturity we continue to chase for the approval of parents. Amazingly, that doesn’t just mean our physical parents, but all kinds of people we set up in the parental place. That can be bosses, professors, neighbors, elders, brethren, spouses, even children. If any of these are critical or bring judgment on us we go into depression. But if they approve us, we feel elated.

We don’t have to call any person on earth, “Father,” in this sense. We are adults. We have grown up and put away childish things. While we certainly need to listen to others and hear them out where they disagree, after all we might learn something, we do not have to chase their approval. Their judgment doesn’t mean anything about us as a person.

Amazingly enough, our biggest enemy in this is often ourselves. We are seeking approval from self and every negative thing that doesn’t reach our ideal self causes us fits. In this mode, we either deny the good in us and see ourselves as all bad, leading to despair. Or we deny the bad in us and see ourselves as all good, leading us to stagnation.

Only the Lord is our judge. We do not have to answer to the men around us. We stand before God. Of course, what is great about that, is that “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed” (I Corinthians 5:7). In Him, there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). If we are in Christ, God does not judge us, rather He justifies us, sanctifies us, and glorifies us (Romans 8:28-29). God does not deny either our good or our bad. He sees it all and He works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13). Therefore, we do not have to wallow in self-pity, nor can we bask in self-adulation. Rather, we humbly surrender to Him and reap the fruit of His Spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

The #1 sign of maturity is letting God be your Father and no one else.

Today, I’m going to quit obsessing about those around me who do not approve of me. It is a small matter to be judged by them. Rather, I’m simply going to surrender myself to my Lord and let Him work in me for His good.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click here to add your input.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

I don’t know how many times I have heard people my age (for I am still a youth) and younger whine and moan with I Timothy 4:12 on their tongues. “Oh, you awful old people. You’re not supposed to despise my youth.” But these whiny fits miss the point of Paul’s statement. He was not telling Timothy to direct from on high that no one was allowed to despise him for his youth no matter how youthful he acted. Rather, he was telling Timothy what he needed to do so no one would despise his youth. In fact, he immediately provides 5 keys to keep others from despising his youth.

1) Be an example

Specifically, Paul told Timothy to set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. If we don’t want folks despising our youth then we need to exemplify mature Christianity even though we are young. We need to speak in mature ways, live in mature ways, love in mature ways, believe with maturity and show mature purity. This connects with the command elsewhere to flee youthful lusts. Let’s face it. Paul’s point is if we don’t want people to despise our youth, then don’t act like a youth. 

Here is the key. If we talk rashly and carelessly, without thinking… If we behave impulsively… If we love selfishly… If we believe shallowly… And if we stain our purity with thoughtless arguments about personal liberty, then our older brethren are going to look at us and say, “Your young, you don’t understand.”

2) Give attention to reading, exhortation and teaching the Scripture.

This is a statement about personal humility. Too often, we young people are not actually focused on reading, exhorting or teaching based on the Scripture. Rather, we have a point we want to make because we think we have figured something out that no one before us ever has. Then we go searching about for a Scripture to make it fit.

If we want our older brethren to honor us despite our youth, our words and teaching must be based on Scripture not the latest self-help book or the newest scholarly treatise even if it is from a respected theologian. I know I have been one of the worst violators of this principle. I love self-help books. Certainly, we can gain some insight into scriptural ideas. However, when we teach we have to make sure what we speak is the oracles of God, not Covey, Maxwell, Blanchard or Warren.

3) Use your gifts

Based on my understanding of other texts and the passing on of miraculous gifts through laying on of apostles hands, I do not believe this passage refers to miraculous gifts of the Spirit. Rather, I think this refers to the gift of the ministry and authority that the elders who had charge over Timothy granted him because of the prophecy the Spirit had revealed to them about Timothy. The reason he had the opportunity to be an evangelist and work at Ephesus was because of this gift.

Therefore, I believe Paul’s point is not to squander the opportunity given him. The elders had put trust in him. They expected him to do good work and so they had granted him a measure of authority and ministry. In much the same way that Paul had said deacons who do their job well gain a good standing, if we young people will use the opportunities given to us by our leaders, we will also develop a good standing. Our older counterparts will not despise our youth when they recognize that we use what abilities, opportunities and resources we have been granted well. If we squander what we have now, why should they give us more?

4) Make progress through devotion

Sadly, we young people can sometimes think we have already reached the mountaintop. Oh, we pay lip service to the fact that we have room to grow. However, we have the idea that really we are pretty much as good as it gets and if everyone else no matter their age would be more like us they would be really spiritual. Paul’s statement here demonstrates that we have some real room to grow. It also demonstrates that the older folks have been through exactly what we have been through. They know what we have experienced and they have come out on the other side. They can tell when we are maturing and when we are not.

We need to devote ourselves to the keys Paul is mentioning. When we do, we will grow. We will progress. We will actually climb toward the real mountaintop and those who are already closer will actually be able to see our progress. They will, therefore, no longer despise our youth.

If, on the other hand, we continue in the mindset of our own greatness and maturity, those who really are more mature than us will be able to see our immature pride and arrogance. They will despise our youth, but they won’t be the ones sinning.

5) Watch your teaching

There is something about being young that says we need to come up with something new. The young seem to believe they only justify their existence in the body of Christ if they figure out something no one else has yet been able to realize. Granted, I realize everyone has room to grow and we may in fact have a spiritual breakthrough that is novel and true at the same time. The problem is with this mindset, we can very easily lose sight of what we really need to be teaching. We need to teach the truth that has been passed down to us from the word of God. It is not our job to find new things. It is our job to pay attention to what we are teaching and make sure it is in line with what has been passed on from Paul, the apostles and prophets of the New Testament. 

As young people, we definitely need to take care. If we have studied and believe we have figured out some truth that others have missed, we need to take great care before we go hog wild passing it on. We may not be the first to think the way we do. Some of our older brethren may have already “discovered” our new teaching and in their maturity know why it doesn’t mesh with the word of God.

Again, the point is not that we never branch off with some “new” teaching, but that we take care and watch what we teach. We are not teaching to show off our mental prowess. We are teaching to help folks glorify God and go to heaven. Let’s keep that as our goal and we won’t be enamored with introducing folks to some new teaching, approach or practice unless there is real reason to do so.

Don’t let people despise your youth. But don’t approach it as a demand to simply not despise you no matter how you act. Live in such a way that folks won’t despise you because you are acting youthful. 

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC