Judge One Another?
1 Corinthians 5
Building a Community centered on Love
This blog is where I do a Bible Reading. I read a passage from the Bible and then I write down my own thoughts on what I read. I would love to know your thoughts as well!
Showing posts with label 1 Corinthians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1 Corinthians. Show all posts
Saturday, 14 May 2016
Bible Reading #178 - Judge One Another?
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Daily Bible Reading with DragNate #79
Nothing Without Love
1 Corinthians 13
 |
| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 1-3) "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
My Thoughts
One of my most favorite songs, The Proof of Your Love by For King and Country, is all about this chapter of 1 Corinthians. If you haven't heard that song before, you should, it is amazing. This chapter is absolutely true. What do we gain if we have not love? We are truly nothing without love.
I honestly think that 1 Corinthians 13 is pretty self-explanatory. God is love, remember. If God is love and we do not love, we do not have God in us. You can believe all you want that God exists. Faith that He is real and that He is powerful and that He can do all things is not enough for you i you do not have love.
Love is such a beautiful thing, and versatile. There are many different kinds of love. The love you have for family is different than that for your friends, and both are different than that for your pets. There's a different kind of love for your siblings than your cousins, your parents and grandparents, your partner/spouse and your children. We are even supposed to have love for our enemies, which will be different than that for strangers.
It is even possible to have an unhealthy kind of love, which would be something like a love of money or other possessions. That's not where our love is supposed to be. There's also how we say "I love (insert food/movie/game/color/whatever here.) When we say this, unless we mean that we devote our lives to whatever it is, it is not really bad. It is a figure of speech and a stronger way to say that you really, really like or enjoy something. I don't believe there is anything wrong that.
The love that God has put in us; the love that is so powerful and versatile, is for living beings and nature. It is not meant for material things. We are to love God's creations, which means the animals, our planet, and each other. To love your enemies means to love them like Jesus loves those who are against Him, and believe me, He does. We don't need to go and give them a hug or anything, but we need to acknowledge that they are God's children too and respect them as such.
Practice love. A little bit of love goes a very long way and can make the world a little better. Show love to someone in some way, even if it is just a simple smile or a kind word. These small things make a big difference.
I honestly think that 1 Corinthians 13 is pretty self-explanatory. God is love, remember. If God is love and we do not love, we do not have God in us. You can believe all you want that God exists. Faith that He is real and that He is powerful and that He can do all things is not enough for you i you do not have love.
Love is such a beautiful thing, and versatile. There are many different kinds of love. The love you have for family is different than that for your friends, and both are different than that for your pets. There's a different kind of love for your siblings than your cousins, your parents and grandparents, your partner/spouse and your children. We are even supposed to have love for our enemies, which will be different than that for strangers.
It is even possible to have an unhealthy kind of love, which would be something like a love of money or other possessions. That's not where our love is supposed to be. There's also how we say "I love (insert food/movie/game/color/whatever here.) When we say this, unless we mean that we devote our lives to whatever it is, it is not really bad. It is a figure of speech and a stronger way to say that you really, really like or enjoy something. I don't believe there is anything wrong that.
The love that God has put in us; the love that is so powerful and versatile, is for living beings and nature. It is not meant for material things. We are to love God's creations, which means the animals, our planet, and each other. To love your enemies means to love them like Jesus loves those who are against Him, and believe me, He does. We don't need to go and give them a hug or anything, but we need to acknowledge that they are God's children too and respect them as such.
Practice love. A little bit of love goes a very long way and can make the world a little better. Show love to someone in some way, even if it is just a simple smile or a kind word. These small things make a big difference.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Friday, 13 November 2015
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #54
Stand Firm in Your Faith
1 Corinthians 16
 |
| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 13-14) "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love."
My Thoughts
Paul is telling us here of ways we can maintain, and even increase, our spiritual strength. It is very important for us to continue to grow spiritually because the stronger we are in God, the stronger God will be in us. We are God's doors in this world for His love to walk through. Just like the song,
Be on your guard against the enemy, Satan. Satan will try to discourage us and hurt us and break us down. He will whisper lies in our ears to make us believe that we are worthless, or sometimes even to elevate us. Who doesn't like being elevated right? Don't let it go to your head or change who you really are in Christ. That leads us into the next one, to stand firm in the faith.
To stand firm in the faith means to not let anything or anyone take your faith in God away. No matter what happens, hold onto God because He is all powerful. Nothing else can ever truly hurt us. Hold on to your convictions as well. Don't let anything change who you are, as I said above, and don't let your values change. Whether you are in a mediocre position or in one of authority, your values should not change, but your attitude should reflect them.
The next is to be courageous. Have courage to do what is right even when it may be hard. There are going to be times when you will want to speak up about something, but you will be discouraged. There will be times were you be starting something, and you will be discouraged. The people you expect to get the most support from may very well be the ones you get the least support from. If that isn't discouraging, I don't know what is. Don't let it stop you though. Especially if it something that you have talked to God about about and He is leading you towards. Push even harder and those people will be kicking themselves later on for not supporting you.
Be strong. Be strong in everything. That's vague isn't it? It's true though. Be strong in the things mentioned above, be strong in who you are, be strong in God and in what you believe in. You need big muscles or toned muscles to be strong. You don't need to not cry or laugh or feel hurt by others' words. To be strong means that you don't let it stop you and that you let it weigh you down. When you think of strong, you'd think that it would mean to be able to carry all those burdens. It is, in fact, the other way around: to drop all those burdens.
Lastly, do everything in love. God is love and Jesus lives in your heart. So put your heart into everything that you do and center your actions on God. By doing this, you are putting love into everything that you do, which means that God is there and that means that you are making it easy for God to act in what you are doing. Put your heart into everything that you do rather than just doing it. Even if it is something that you need to do, but don't necessarily want to do, put your heart into it. You will feel much better about doing it than you would otherwise.
Be on your guard against the enemy, Satan. Satan will try to discourage us and hurt us and break us down. He will whisper lies in our ears to make us believe that we are worthless, or sometimes even to elevate us. Who doesn't like being elevated right? Don't let it go to your head or change who you really are in Christ. That leads us into the next one, to stand firm in the faith.
To stand firm in the faith means to not let anything or anyone take your faith in God away. No matter what happens, hold onto God because He is all powerful. Nothing else can ever truly hurt us. Hold on to your convictions as well. Don't let anything change who you are, as I said above, and don't let your values change. Whether you are in a mediocre position or in one of authority, your values should not change, but your attitude should reflect them.
The next is to be courageous. Have courage to do what is right even when it may be hard. There are going to be times when you will want to speak up about something, but you will be discouraged. There will be times were you be starting something, and you will be discouraged. The people you expect to get the most support from may very well be the ones you get the least support from. If that isn't discouraging, I don't know what is. Don't let it stop you though. Especially if it something that you have talked to God about about and He is leading you towards. Push even harder and those people will be kicking themselves later on for not supporting you.
Be strong. Be strong in everything. That's vague isn't it? It's true though. Be strong in the things mentioned above, be strong in who you are, be strong in God and in what you believe in. You need big muscles or toned muscles to be strong. You don't need to not cry or laugh or feel hurt by others' words. To be strong means that you don't let it stop you and that you let it weigh you down. When you think of strong, you'd think that it would mean to be able to carry all those burdens. It is, in fact, the other way around: to drop all those burdens.
Lastly, do everything in love. God is love and Jesus lives in your heart. So put your heart into everything that you do and center your actions on God. By doing this, you are putting love into everything that you do, which means that God is there and that means that you are making it easy for God to act in what you are doing. Put your heart into everything that you do rather than just doing it. Even if it is something that you need to do, but don't necessarily want to do, put your heart into it. You will feel much better about doing it than you would otherwise.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
