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.

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 6:1-7:40.

Men love I Corinthians 7:1-5. They love to look at these verses and talk about how wives are supposed to take care of their sexual needs. “See, hon, you have to have sex with me whenever I want.”

Here’s the thing men, this passage wasn’t written to tell you what to tell your wives to do. This passage was written to you to tell you that you don’t have authority over your own body, but your wife does. Sadly, men often respond, “She doesn’t have to worry about that. I’ll have sex with her whenever she wants.” That just means you are missing the point. When this is your approach, you aren’t trying to submit to your wife, you are trying to force her to submit to you. When this is your approach you are actually depriving her of what she most needs, a gentle husband who is more concerned about her emotional needs and physical pleasure. Instead, you are only thinking about your own body. But remember, your body isn’t under your control. It is under your wife’s.

The main point I hope we can get from this, is this passage, like every other, is not written so we can tell anyone else what to do. It is written to teach us what to do. Quit browbeating your wife with this verse and start trying to figure out how you can fulfill your role within it.

***Question: What is the role of husband?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is I Corinthians 6:1-7:40.

I don’t know how many times I’ve read I Corinthians 7:1-5. I’ve heard it preached. I’ve heard numerous points about how the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body and likewise the wife over hers. I’ve heard points about not depriving each other because of temptations to lack of self-control. I’ve even heard lessons that point out the only exception is perhaps by agreement for a limited time to devote to prayer (at this point, please imagine hearing a screeching noise much like a record needle being dragged across a record).

WHAT!?

I’ve heard these lessons. But then I had to ask if I’ve ever heard of anyone actually doing that. Have you ever known any couple who was so devoted to prayer that even for just one day they agreed that today instead of having sex with each other, they would devote themselves to prayer? No doubt, there is no description given for what the limited period of time is. Maybe it’s just a day. Maybe it’s a week. Maybe it’s a month. Maybe it’s a year. Perhaps it would be different for different people depending on where they are spiritually with their sexual desires. 

Have you ever known anyone to say, “For this period of time, any time I am sexually aroused instead of pursuing sex, I’ll pray. And anytime we think about having sex, instead we’ll get on our knees and pray together.”

You know what I think? I think if any of us ever actually did that, over the long haul both our prayer lives and our sex lives would improve.

By the way, do not make this decision unilaterally for your marriage. Remember, the text says by mutual agreement. But still, maybe some of us should mutually discuss that with our spouses.

Just something to think about.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?