Tag: 1 Corinthians

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 29

July 29, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

In this last chapter of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses a few final issues before giving them some closing instructions. He reminds them to be collecting funds to send to the needy brothers and sisters back in Judea and tells them that he plans on coming to them soon and spending some time with them. He also tells them that the evangelist Apollos plans to come to them at some point in the future, before launching into his final instructions for them.

Paul urges them to “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong,” and “Let all that you do be done in love” (v.13-14). He instructs them to submit themselves to the authority of the church elders and cries out for Jesus to return soon! 

As we await the return of our Lord and Savior, Paul urges us to do the same. As he points out throughout the letter, all that we do should be done in love, in selfless consideration of the needs of others, and to the glory of God. We must maintain a steady watchfulness so that we do not drift towards false doctrine or into complacency concerning sin, as the Corinthians did. We must stand firm in our faith in spite of opposition and be strong and courageous in the Lord!

When we live this way as the body of Christ, God uses us to put His glory, His wisdom, His power, and His love on display through us. May we each do our part in letting Him use us to this end!

1 Corinthians 16

The Collection for the Saints

16 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

Plans for Travel

5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

10 When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Final Instructions

12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— 16 be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.

Greetings

19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Which of these final commands of Paul to the Corinthians do you need to apply most right now? How can you take steps today to live it out?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 28

July 28, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

Paul now turns his attention to yet another issue he had heard of which was plaguing the Corinthian church. Apparently there were some of them who were denying that there will be an actual, physical resurrection from the dead. Paul asserts that if this claim is true then our believing is in vain, for that would mean that Jesus was not raised from the dead either! 

But, Paul asserts, Jesus was raised from the dead, and the hope of His resurrection is that we will also experience the resurrection of our bodies! The historicity of Christ’s resurrection from the dead is the hinge on which our entire faith swings. If it is not true, then all of us have believed and been faithful for absolutely nothing! But if it is true (and it is), then we also will get to share in Christ’s resurrection with Him when He returns! 

Paul elaborates on the nature of the resurrected body when it comes and reminds the Corinthians that God has already given us the victory in and through Jesus! When Jesus rose from the dead He rose in victory, and now we who live by faith in Him also get to walk in the victory that He has already won! This should fill us with such awe, such wonder, and such genuine, passionate worship!

This chapter ends with a practical application of these truths about the resurrection for us: because Jesus has already won the victory and because we, solely by the grace of God, get to share with Him in His victory, we are to be steadfast, immovable, and abounding in the work of God’s Kingdom. We do this because we know, based on the fact that Jesus has already won the victory in His resurrection, that nothing we do for the Lord will is ever wasted, but will bring repercussions that will last into eternity!

1 Corinthians 15

The Resurrection of Christ

15 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does it change the way we live to understand and believe that we have been given the ability to live our lives in the very victory which Jesus has already won on our behalf? How does that spur us on to abound in the work of God’s Kingdom?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 27

July 27, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

After urging the Corinthians to pursue love above any spiritual gift, Paul turns his attention back to the gifts themselves as well as their use in corporate worship. Paul commends the gift of speaking in tongues and its usefulness for building up the person who does it, but commends the gift of prophecy even more because it does not build up the individual who prophesies but rather the whole church. He goes on to explain how corporate worship ought to be conducted in an orderly fashion so that everyone present is built up.

Paul’s point in all of this is that the building up of the church as a whole is of far greater importance than the building up of the individual. When we gather together for corporate worship our goal ought not to be to see what spiritual benefit we can get out of it, but rather how God can use us to see everyone else built up in their faith! This flies in the face of everything our culture tells us and, far too frequently, what our church culture here in America tells us too. But God’s Word is clear, and we are to put others before ourselves that they may be built up, following the self-sacrificing way of Jesus in corporate worship as in everything else!

Paul, in describing how the supernatural way of the gathered body of Christ ought to affect unbelievers who witness our worship services, says that it ought to cause them to fall on their faces, worship God, and acknowledge that God is really among the church (v.24-25). What would it look like if, in our corporate worship services, our devotion to the Lord was so undivided, our worship so passionate, our desire to see God move on behalf of others so fervent, our prayers so zealous, and our dependence upon the Holy Spirit so real, that it would force people who don’t even believe to acknowledge the presence of God among us? What would it look like for our corporate worship to look this supernatural to the outside world?

When the citizens of God’s kingdom, those who live in the world but do not belong to the world, gather together to worship the One whose kingdom is not of this world, shouldn’t it look otherworldly?

1 Corinthians 14

Prophecy and Tongues

14 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Orderly Worship

26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But all things should be done decently and in order.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • If we serve a supernatural Lord and are empowered by a supernatural Spirit, why don’t we expect our gathered times of worship to look more supernatural to the outside world? How can we pursue this vision for corporate worship when we gather together, a vision of selfless giving so that everyone else is built up and a vision of supernaturally empowered worship?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 26

July 26, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

In this chapter Paul outlines for us the way of love, which he says is far greater than any spiritual gift we can possess or any righteous act we can perform. Paul says that if we have every spiritual gift and use it to its maximum potential, or if we possess the greatest faith and even give up our lives and ourselves in martyrdom, but do it without love in our hearts, all we are doing is making a bunch of noise: nothing is gained in the end. 

Paul tells us what genuine love looks like and that, in the end, love will be all that remains. As the church, we are to look to the coming kingdom with eager anticipation, and Paul reminds us here that all the spiritual gifts of this present age will pass away when the kingdom comes, because they will no longer be necessary. But love will endure forever, and we will live forever in the full light of God’s love. Even faith and hope will no longer be necessary in that day; we won’t have to hold on to belief or to hope, because we will be with the Lord! But love will endure.

Love is meant to characterize the entirety of our lives as believers. If our actions, words, and lives are not motivated by love for God and for others, we are not fulfilling the law of Christ. Those who have encountered the love of God in Jesus Christ show that love to other people, and Paul calls us here to the way of love!

1 Corinthians 13

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 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. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Assess the way that you love God and others by Paul’s list of loves characteristics in verses 4-7. In what ways could your love look more like Christ’s?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 25

July 25, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

Paul now turns his attention to a third aspect of the life of the church in corporate worship, namely the exercise of the spiritual gifts. The Corinthians seem to have been elevating the gift of tongues above the others, as it was more “showy” or impressive in their eyes than the others. Paul rebukes this kind of thinking and reminds them that all the gifts are empowered by one and the same Spirit, that every one of the gifts is necessary for the overall health and upbuilding of the church, and that the entire point of the gifts in the first place is to use them to build others up, not ourselves. 

This, once again, goes back to the way in which we approach corporate worship and the church in general. So many of us approach the life of the church looking to see what we can get out of it, how we can be “fed” or benefitted, and we buy into this consumeristic mindset that is worldly and unspiritual. Paul reminds us here that if all you are doing is consuming and never contributing you are being a leech on the body of Christ!

The metaphor Paul uses of the church being like a body is one of the most vivid and beautiful descriptions in the Bible of what the church is meant to be and how it is meant to function. Like a body with all its individual members, the building up of one builds up the whole. If one is harmed, the whole body suffers. Each member is absolutely necessary to the whole. This picture of mutual care and upbuilding and love is something we miss so frequently in the church today, and something we need to strive for!

1 Corinthians 12

Spiritual Gifts

12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

One Body with Many Members

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Do you feel that your contribution to the life of the church is necessary to its overall health and growth? Why or why not? How can we strive to better embody the idea of the church that Paul lays out here?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 24

July 24, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

In the next section of his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul applies the truths he has been discussing about putting others in the church before ourselves to the ways we participate in corporate worship. He lays out the principle we are to follow in this regard in verse 1, that we are to “Be imitators of [Paul], as [he is] of Christ.” In this chapter he applies this principle to two aspects of corporate worship: head coverings worn by women and partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

Paul’s first instructions about corporate worship concern the wearing of head coverings by women in the church. The wearing of a head covering by a woman in first century Roman society was a symbol that she was married and under the authority of her husband; to remove her head covering would bring shame on her husband, and Paul therefore instructs that they should not remove it even when praying or prophesying in the church. 

Though we may initially gawk at what Paul seems to be saying here, it is vitally important to note that Paul is not in any way demeaning women, their role in the church, or their worth in relation to men. Paul actually goes on to affirm the mutual interdependence of men and women and to say that the church should be a place where the differences between men and women, their distinct but equally valuable and necessary roles in family, church, and society, should be celebrated  rather than diminished or demeaned (v.11-16). 

The principle at play here is the same as it was in chapters 8-10: the wife should, out of respect for her husband, lay aside what she believes to be her right for the spiritual good of others! While the cultural form varies (we, thankfully, do not expect married women to wear head coverings now), the principle remains the same, and wives are to honor their husbands even as husbands are to love their wives sacrificially and provide for all their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs (Ephesians 5:22-33)

Paul’s next set of instructions for corporate worship involve abuse and social snobbery taking place during the Lord’s Supper. The Corinthians, in their characteristic arrogance and disregard for others, had been partaking of the Lord’s Supper in a way which excluded the poor and needy and allowed the rich to go first and over-indulge themselves. Paul says that what they are doing falls so short of what the Lord’s Supper is and represents that they cannot even truly call what they are doing the Lord’s Supper at all!

Paul sternly warns them that having such a casual, selfish approach to the Lord’s Supper leads to judgment and discipline from the Lord. Instead, those who have much ought to leave more of the bread for those who have less, thereby following in the selfless and sacrificially loving example which Christ left for us!

The way in which we relate to one another in the church as we gather for corporate worship is of huge significance. We cannot treat it casually, and when we gather we had better make sure that the way we treat one another resembles the way that Jesus treated us! If we don’t, we could find ourselves under God’s discipline!

1 Corinthians 11

11 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Head Coverings

2 Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.

The Lord’s Supper

17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • If the gathering of the body of Christ for corporate worship and to celebrate the Lord’s Table is such a sacred thing, why do we often treat it so casually? How do our attitudes towards others in the church expose our irreverence for Christ Himself?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 23

July 23, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

Paul begins this chapter with a strict warning against idolatry. Apparently some of the Corinthian Christians had been eating in pagan temples the things that had been sacrificed to those particular gods. Paul makes a distinction between eating these things inside the temple and eating the meat of a sacrifice sold in the marketplace, because eating it inside the pagan temple is to participate in the sacrifice to a false god! He draws on the example of the Israelites and their fall into idolatry to warn the Corinthians against this and to remind them that God is always faithful to provide a righteous path for us to take when we are tempted.

Paul then turns his attention to meat sold in the marketplaces and the consciences of weaker brothers and sisters in the faith. He applies the truths he has spoken of in chapters 8 and 9 to this situation as well, commanding the Corinthians in verse 24 “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” This, along with what Paul says in verse 31 (“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”) is the ethic of the life that we are too live in Christ!

God calls us to flee from worldly and idolatrous ways, ways that would draw us deeper into sin as well as bringing reproach and shame on the church and on the gospel. He calls us to make a clean break with the ways of the world, for “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons” (v.21). He calls us to live in such a way as to, as much as possible, avoid offending anyone so that the gospel can go forward unhindered. Are you living this way?

1 Corinthians 10

Warning Against Idolatry

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food,4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Do All to the Glory of God

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How can we flee from situations that would even make it appear as though we approve of any form of idolatry or worldliness? What does it look like in our day to day lives to seek not our own good but the good of our neighbor, and to do all things to the glory of God?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 22

July 22, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

In this chapter Paul presents himself as an example of the sort of self-sacrifice and others-centered living that he called the Corinthians to in the previous chapter. Paul reminds the Corinthians how he has laid aside his own rights to a wife, to eating and drinking as he pleases, to receiving financial compensation for his apostolic ministry rather than having to work for a living, along with many others. Paul laid all of these things that were rightfully his, he says, in order that he would present no hindrance whatsoever to the advancement of the gospel through him!

Paul’s singular focus in life was the advancement of the gospel, the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth and the spiritual upbuilding of the churches, and this singular focus led him to willingly give up many things that he had a fully legitimate claim to as his rights. He refused to do anything that would present a barrier to the gospel moving forward in the lives and hearts of other people. It is an example of the Christlike, selfless, others-centered living that we are called to as Christ’s body.

Many of us approach our lives with a consumer mindset, looking only to what we can receive, what we can get out of it. Paul commands a very different way here: our focus must be, as his was, to see the gospel advance and to see others built up spiritually. What would the church look like if, instead of clinging to the things we deign our “rights”, we looked for ways that we could give up these rights so that others might come to know Jesus or to see Him more clearly?

1 Corinthians 9

Paul Surrenders His Rights

9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3 This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same?9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Why do we have such a hard time with this? How can we be people this week who look for ways to love sacrificially, who are on the lookout for ways we can lay aside our rights for the spiritual good of others?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 21

July 21, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

Paul is here distinguishing between the supposed “knowledge” the Corinthians possess, which he says only puffs up in arrogance, and love, which builds others up. Paul’s point here is that, even though there is nothing inherently sinful about eating the food offered to idols, since idols are not true gods, it becomes wrong as soon as it becomes a stumbling block in the spiritual life of another believer.

The problem is not that the Corinthians were wrong in their knowledge or that they did not have the right to do as they pleased in this matter. The problem was that they were asserting their rights in a way which hindered the growth of other believers! In the church, we are to be those who put the interests of others before our own, and sometimes that means laying down our rights for the edification of our brothers and sisters. 

We who live in a culture obsessed with having our rights acknowledged and honored by others. In the midst of this, we are called to follow after the One who laid aside all His rights, even His rights as God, to serve and to love and to give His life for the good of others (Philippians 2:5-11).

May we be a church full of people who look to the good and the upbuilding of others before ourselves, who take our eyes off of ourselves and lay down the rights we cling to so tightly for the sake of seeing the gospel advance in other’s lives! 

1 Corinthians 8

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How do we live this way in a culture so obsessed with asserting our rights? How can we live as citizens of a heavenly kingdom in this way rather than citizens of an earthly one?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 20

July 20, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

In this chapter Paul gives principles concerning marriage, singleness, and not necessarily seeking to escape from the life situations in which the Lord has, in His sovereignty, placed us. Paul’s main concern in all of these things is that our undivided allegiance, loyalty, and devotion belong solely to the Lord in all things!

Jesus made the same point in Luke 14:25 that Paul makes here. In light of what God has done for us in Christ, that He has bought us with a price, our devotion to Him must be of an entirely higher and different kind than our devotion to anything and everything else. God calls us to give ourselves completely to Him, with no division in our devotion or our allegiance.

Jesus will not stand for any competition for our devotion, our affections, or our worship. Jesus is not interested in being important in your life; He will only be ultimatein your life. Let’s surrender it all to Him and hold nothing back!

1 Corinthians 7

Principles for Marriage

7 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

6 Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. 7 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. 9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

10 To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.21 Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

25 Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38 So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Are there things in your life that compete for the allegiance of your heart and the devotion of your time and energy? How might the Lord be asking you to surrender those things to Him in repentance?