1 Corinthians 13:5

“It does not dishonor others...” -1 Corinthians 13:5

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The Christian is so satisfied in God’s love for her that she does not need to find her sense of self-worth from others.  When we diss people, talk behind their backs, or damage the reputations of others, we’re doing so to build up our sense of self-worth.  They think, “At least I’m better than this person because...”  You can fill in the blank.

And that cycle of sin continues because when we dishonor someone, they get hurt and start to feel insecure and start to question their sense of self-worth so they start damaging other people’s reputation to feel better.  It’s a vicious cycle and as a youth leader, I’ve seen it so many times.  It’s heartbreaking.

You can break that cycle and the only way you can do it is to first receive God’s love and second, to channel God’s love toward others.  When you receive God’s love you feel completely satisfied despite your flaws and shortcomings.  Your blemishes don’t scare you or make you insecure anymore because you know you are fully loved by the God of the universe!  And we stop feeling insecure, that is when you can channel God’s love toward others.  Your desire is to build people up because you’re no longer comparing yourself to them to fulfill your sense of self-worth.  You know and believe you are already worthy in God’s sight.

Have you received God’s love?  Have you accepted God’s love?  Are you channeling His love toward others?

1 Corinthians 13:4

“...it does not boast, it is not proud.” -1 Corinthians 13:4

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There is no boasting in the Christian life.  We know that anything and everything we possess from our material positions to our abilities came from the hands of a loving God.  How can we boast about something that was really never ours but lent to us by God?

True love starts with the author of love—God Himself.  Out of His love He blesses us with gifts.  Only when we see our possessions and our talents as gifts from God are we able to love properly.   

First, we recognize that what we have doesn’t belong to just us.  As we learned in the last chapter of 1 Corinthians, God gives us things to be a blessing to the community.  Seeing our talents and possessions as God’s talents and possessions helps us to have a communal perspective on our gifts.

Second, it helps us in practicing humility.  If you’re athletic, it’s because God blessed you with that.  If you’re smart, it’s because God blessed you with that.  If you have a lot of material possessions or wealth, it’s because God blessed you with that.  When you begin to recognize that everything you have is from God, it eliminates pride.  You begin to realize that you’re not the source of your own glory, God is.  If God is the source of everything great about you, there’s no boasting about yourself since it’s all God.

Do you struggle with humility?  How do you see your abilities, talents and possessions?  Do you see them as gifts from God?

1 Corinthians 13:4

It does not envy... -1 Corinthians 13:4

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Love does not envy.  True love doesn’t think of itself.  Love’s concern is always for the other.  Envy is the focus on what one is lacking in comparison to others.  When envy someone else’s stuff, or position, or abilities, what we’re really doing is casting a spotlight on our own hearts and our own insecurities.

How do we combat envy?  By filling our hearts and minds with the love of Christ.  Jesus tells us that we are more loved as we are than we ever dare hope.  When we know and believe that we are fully accepted by God, the creator of the universe, our deficiencies and insecurities melt away.  We have nothing to prove because God already loves us.

Only when we know we are fully loved are we able to turn our eyes away from ourselves and onto others.

Do you know and believe that you are fully loved?  If this is something that you struggle with, bring it up with God.  Tell Him your insecurities.  Pray through your insecurities.  Give Him space to fill your heart and to heal you.

1 Corinthians 13:4

“...love is kind...” -1 Corinthians 13:4

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Kindness is in short supply these days.  It is especially in short supply in the public discourse.  There’s a lot of talk these days about justice and fighting for justice.  There’s a lot of talk these days about the importance of racial reconciliation and gender equality.  There’s a lot of talk these days about  climate change.  But those discussion oftentimes filled with negativity and meanness.

As Christians we are called to engage everyone with kindness, even those who don’t agree with us—especially those who don’t agree with us.

Jesus displayed the ultimate kindness on the Cross.  The pastor from the 1800s named Octavius Winslow wrote this:

“So completely was Jesus bent upon saving sinners by the sacrifice of Himself, He created the tree upon which He was to die, and nurtured from infancy the men who were to nail Him to the accursed wood.”

If anyone should be angry and filled with negativity, it would be Jesus.  He made the very people who cried out “Crucify him!” and condemned him to death.  Yet, his prayer was of kindness.  He prayed to God, the Father, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

We need Jesus’ kindness in our lives and in the way we live our lives.  People won’t be changed by being yelled out and called names.  They will only be transformed by the way we love them.

Are you kind on social media?  Are you kind in what you’re posting on your Insta stories?  Are you kind in the way you defend what you believe or support?

Love is kind.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. -1 Corinthians 13:1-3

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We can do all these things for God or for others, but if our actions are not backed by love, then it’s meaningless.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a Harvesters leader, on your church’s praise team, or even a pastor.  If how you serve others is not motivated by love then it is just empty noise.

For those of us who are serving or who have some type of leadership role at church, we need to examine our own hearts.  In prayer, we need to ask God to reveal our true motivations and ask Him to help us surrender our ulterior motives to God.

To be fair, we know that while on earth we will always have to wrestle with our motivations.  Nothing we do will ever be 100% pure.  But our desire should be to strive for a purity of heart and that can only happen through time with Jesus.  He reveals to us our selfish wants, forgives us, heals us, and frees us.

In what ways are you serving others these days?  Are your actions out of love or out of some self-serving motive?

1 Corinthians 12:27-31

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

-1 Corinthians 12:27-31

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Spiritual pride is dangerous for the Christian.  The reason why the Apostle Paul is reminding the believers in Corinth that they need one another is because there are some who think they are better than others because they have certain types of spiritual gifts that make them better.  One of those gifts for example is the ability to speak in tongues—it’s the ability to speak the language of angels that humans cannot understand.

To be able to speak in tongues was seen as a sign that you must be godly so everyone wanted to have this gift.  It good comparison today would be like people at church wanting to be on the praise team because it makes them look godly or they get to be the center of attention.  That’s what’s happening with this speaking of tongues thing.  It’s not about God anymore, it’s a selfish desire to make yourself look better than others.

So Paul is reminding them and us that each member of our faith community is important.  Every job is important, not just the praise team playing music, but also the people who fold the chairs after church is over.  I would argue that folding chairs and cleaning up away from the spotlight can be more godly than being up front on the praise team.

In the end the most important gift we should all strive to have is the gift of love.  That’s going to be the next thing Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13, but this whole section is leading up to that.  People are fighting over who has the better spiritual gift but instead they are lacking the most important gift—love.

Are you struggling with spiritual pride?  Do you have a desire to serve God and to serve others in any position?  Would you clean bathrooms for Jesus?  Or do you pick how you served based upon how it will improve your social standing or status?

1 Corinthians 12:21-26

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. -1 Corinthians 12:21-26

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Our understanding of what it means to be part of God’s people is revealed by the way we treat our “weakest” or least popular member.  It’s easy to be friends at church or even at Harvesters with the most amiable, kind, nicest member.  But what if there is someone at your church who’s just super difficult to get along with?  What if there is someone at Harvesters who happens to be going through rough time faith-wise and perhaps even making unwise choices in his or her life?

Part of being the body means that we go out of our way to help, assist, and honor every member of our spiritual family—even the ones that are hard to honor.  I’ll be candid with you, as a Young Life leader, I’m human, too.  And just like everyone else, there are students I get along famously with and there are others that are much harder for me to connect with.  But God has called me to love everyone.  Every student, regardless of my own personal chemistry with him or her, is valuable in God’s sight and so I serve them in whatever capacity I can given my relationship with them.

I’m a sinner and I’m not perfect so there are definitely times when I fall short of this.  But God doesn’t give up on me.  Even though I’ve failed Him and failed the “body of Christ” over and over again, He still picks up and helps me to continue to seek Him.  This is what God wants us to help others to do.

Do you care about every member at church or at Harvesters OR do you only care about who is in your clique?  God calls us to do our best in loving each and every person that’s part of our faith community.