1 Corinthians 16:13-14

13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love. -1 Corinthians 16:13-14

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Many people think that to love means being weak and vulnerable.  The thinking goes when you love, you open yourself up to others which allow them the opportunity to hurt you.  This is actually true.  There is a tremendous risk in love.  You do open yourself up to be hurt and it’s highly likely you will be hurt.  That’s because you’re a sinner and you’re trying to be friends with a sinner.  Sinners hurt one another.

If that’s the case, why then does the Apostle Paul group “love” with strength?  Check out this passage here.  He talks about standing guard, standing firm, be courageous, be strong... and then to love.  It seems like “love” doesn’t fit into this list.

But of course it does!  You can only truly love if you’re strong.  Because love requires vulnerable and exposing yourself to potential hurt, only a strong person can truly love.

How do you become a strong person who is able to love others despite the risks?  You find your identity in Christ.  When you receive your purpose and your sense of self-worth solely in God, you become invincible.  If someone hurts you, you can forgive because though what they did hurt, it didn’t destroy your identity or your sense of self worth—you are completely rooted in Christ.  This is why I believe only when we are secure in our identity in God can we truly, truly love someone else.

Maria and I hurt each other all the time.  It’s because we’re sinners.  But also because we both have a relationship with Jesus, we are able to forgive and to keep loving one another.  Christ helps us in our marriage.

Are you loving people by finding your identity and sense of self-worth in Christ?

1 Corinthians 16:8-9

8 But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. -1 Corinthians 16:8-9

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Has it been kind of tough to pursue your faith?  Have there been obstacles or barriers preventing you from growing in God?  Check out what the Apostle Paul’s sentence here tells us about what you’re going through.

I love this sentence because Paul is reminding us of something super important whenever we try to follow God or serve God.  He mentions that God has opened a door for him to do ministry at Ephesus, and the reason why he knows that is because he’s facing a lot of opposition.  Doing God’s work and facing opposition go together.  That’s what Paul is remind us of!

So if you’re struggling through something and your faith feels more like a crawl than a walk, it’s probably because you’re on the right path and Satan and other demonic spiritual forces at work are trying to hinder you and stop you from growing.  Opposition is one of the signs that you’re probably on the right track.

How do you get through that opposition though?  You fall back on the good spiritual habits that you’ve developed during the easy times of faith.  If during the easy times you’ve been developing a habit of reading God’s Word and of praying, the habit will just kick in during the difficult times, even when you don’t feel like doing any of those things.

Are you in a spiritually easy time or a spiritually difficult time?  If you’re in an easy time, keep building up those spiritual disciplines, you will need them in the tough times.  If you’re in that difficult time right now, depend on that good habit that you’ve developed and keep engaging in spiritual activities that help you to think about God.

1 Corinthians 16:5-7

5 After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. -1 Corinthians 16:5-7

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Relationships are important.  We can see that the Apostle Paul didn’t see the people of Corinth as projects—people he had to minister to—but as friends; people who he got to share life with.  This is why Paul wrote that he didn’t want to just drop by and say “hi,” but he wanted to stay much longer with them and enjoy their friendship.

Think of a few friendships that you have that have been invaluable to you.  Think of friends who have helped you through a difficult time and friends who have helped you to grow in your faith.  As the African proverb says: “Hold on to a true friend with both hands.”  Don’t let these friendships die or deteriorate.  Good friends are hard to find!

And as we think about friendships, let us not forget our truest and most faithful friend—Jesus Christ.  For every Christian, Jesus ought to be our best friend.  His friendship ought to be the most important.

Are you holding on to Jesus with both hands?

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

16 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. -1 Corinthians 16:1-4

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Are you using your money to help others?  The Apostle Paul’s advice to the church is to set money aside every week for the purpose of helping others.

I know what you’re thinking, “I’m just in high school; I don’t make any money yet.”  That may be true, but you can still get in the habit of setting aside some of your money for God’s work.  If you get birthday money, set some aside to donate to a good cause.  If you’re working a job, you should be setting some money aside from your paycheck to tithe to your church on a regular basis.

Setting money aside to help others reminds us that “our” money is really not our own.  It all belongs to God and He has allowed us to have the material possessions we have to further His Kingdom.  I earn a salary as a teacher and as a Young Life leader.  It is by God’s grace that I even have those jobs.  These are jobs God gave me.  So my salaries are really God’s salaries.

God doesn’t just own a percentage of your money.  God owns all of your money.  It’s His money, His bank account, His stuff, and you’re just managing it for Him.  

Are you being a good manager of God’s money?  Are you spending it on His Kingdom or are you just spending it on yourself?

1 Corinthians 15:58

58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

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When we try to follow Jesus and when we try to serve him or others, there will opposition and disappointments.  There are opposite spiritual forces at work opposing God’s plans for the world.  They are constantly working to discourage us and to convince us to give up following God or helping others.

The Apostle Paul faced discouragements and obstacles.  There are people who he helped who no longer follow God.  There are those who abandoned him when things got dicey.  There are those who use to be his friends but now speak out against him.  It’s rough being a Christian and trying to serve God and His people!

I don’t think I’ve experience a fraction of what Paul gone through, but I’ve had my share of disappointments.  There have been teenagers I’ve invested a lot of my life with who no longer want anything to do with God.  There are still a lot of people, even Christians, who don’t understand what Harvesters or AYL is about and have gross misconceptions about these two ministries that I’ve poured my life into.  It can be discouraging.

But here, the Apostle Paul reminds us that ultimately we have an audience of one.  The only person whose opinions that matter is God’s.  And God sees what you do.  And God sees what I do.  He sees the trials.  He sees the opposition.  He sees our wounds from our service.  And our service to Him pleases Him and that should be enough for us to keep going.  Our work is not in vain because God sees it.

Have you been discouraged by something God is asking you to do?  Have you been discouraged in a ministry that God has asked you to serve in?  Stand firm.  Remember, your labor in the Lord is not in vain!

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. -1 Corinthians 15:45-49

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Adam was suppose to set the example and show us how to live, but because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, they also brought sin into the world.

In this passage, the Apostle Paul is telling us that Jesus is the better “Adam.”  Just as through Adam we are given physical life, through Jesus we are given eternal spiritual life.

Jesus is the better Adam because Jesus was able to live a life in perfect obedience to God the Father.  Not only that, but Jesus’ life undid the sin that Adam and Eve brought into the world.  His obedience on the Cross saved us from the sin introduced to the world through Adam and Eve.  Jesus is the better Adam because he fixed Adam’s mistake.

Let’s take a moment today to thank Jesus for what he’s done for you, for me, and for the world.

1 Corinthians 15:35-44

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised 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.

-1 Corinthians 15:35-44

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Maria and I are doing the keto diet.  It’s pretty rough.  We have to cut out as much carbs as we possibly can and carbs taste so good!  The reason why we are doing this is because as we are getting older, our bodies are beginning to change.  They burn a lot less energy than they use to which means they are storing a lot of fat.  So we’re on this keto diet to try to stay healthy and keep our earthly body strong.

This passage tells us that we have an even better body awaiting us when we get to heaven.  It’s so amazing that the Apostle Paul can’t even describe it in words.  We know some things about this new body.  You won’t need to go on a keto diet.  It will be imperishable.  It will be glorious.  It will be powerful.

The purpose to why the Apostle Paul wrote this and why it’s in the Bible, is to remind us that we don’t belong in this world.  The body you have now, with all its imperfections, that’s temporary.  Yes, you need to take care of it, but don’t get hung up on it.  This is not the last body you will have.  You are promised a better body, one you can’t even imagine at the moment.

May God’s promises help you to grab onto the promises of heaven and to let go of the things of this world.