Day 81: Romans 15:1-1 Corinthians 14:40 - 90 Day Challenge

Paul Talks to Corinth

Only one week left in the challenge! Can you believe it?!


The book of Romans ends with Paul explaining that he will eventually visit Rome in person, but that there are places who have no knowledge of Christ, and he has to go to try to save them. He leaves a little shout out to some of his friends to say hi, as well, which is actually super adorable.

Then, he begins talking to the people of Corinth via the first letter--1 Corinthians. So the letter begins with a note of thanksgiving, but then quickly shifts into a few harsh words regarding the divisions among the church. I particularly like 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, where he's saying all the deities people have told them that they follow. Paul himself is one of them. Then he asks, "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?" And I don't know I just think the sentence "baptized in the name of Paul" is hysterical. Paul goes on to mention that he can't exactly remember who all he's baptized, so as of right now, Paul is the most relatable Biblical person.

Paul tells the Corinthians that by arguing over who to worship, they're acting like babies, living by the flesh, instead of being transformed by the Holy Spirit. Basically: don't brag about who you follow, because in the end, we all belong to God.

Everything we have is a gift from God. And we should use those gifts to glorify His name.

We were bought with the life of Christ. He died for each one of us, and whenever we are using our bodies, our talents, our voices to glorify His name, we honor his death. And I think that is a very important point that we leave out when we talk about our bodies being temples. They're not temples for us, they're temples for God. 

Paul reminds the Corinthians of all the good God did in the Old Testament. Remember how He led the Israelites from Egypt? And how they repaid Him by committing massive sin? Well God did a pretty great thing for us now, by sending His one and only son to die for every single person's sins--let's not mess this up again. Let's learn from history. 

To wrap up today's reading, Paul talks about some spiritual gifts, and how we are all members in the body of Christ. However, all of that is meaningless if we cannot execute those gifts and be a part of that body with love. Love never fails. And between faith, hope, and love--Paul says the most important is love. 


Tomorrow's reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-Galatians 3:25
Have a wonderful day!
Jill Jafarace
Director of Student Ministries
New Leaf UMC


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1: Genesis 1:1-Genesis 16:16 - 90 Day Bible Challenge

Image
And so it begins!  Our journey through the Bible begins right here, at the creation of everything.  What a busy  reading. So much happened! Let's break it down... The Earth, heavens, animals, and man were created. The first sin happened and God cursed the first man and the first woman (Adam and Eve). Their child killed his brother and was banished. The generations leading up to Noah became corrupt and made the Earth an evil place. God commanded Noah to build an ark and collect two of each animal. God flooded the Earth to cleanse it of evil, and Noah was trapped on an ark with his family and thousands of animals. God made a covenant to never flood the Earth again. Making rainbows a sign of his covenant. Noah had three sons, and from each of them there was a new nation.  Some of the nations tried to build a tower to reach the heavens and rule over the Earth, so God created many languages to make evil plotting more difficult.  Abram, Sarai, and Lot took a vacation
Read more

Day 35: Nehemiah 1:1-Nehemiah 13:14

Image
A Nation Reborn Nehemiah's Journey to Deliver the People of Israel Maybe you've just been catching up on the Bible through the quick summaries I post, which is fine! But I highly recommend reading Nehemiah when you get the chance.  Nehemiah begins by rebuilding the temple against the will of all the other leaders. He convinces them all to allow the Israelites to rebuild anyway. (Nehemiah 4:14--Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes.)  He helps the poor, who were forced to pay a hefty tax, and give their land to the kings. They continue to rebuild. Nehemiah commissions Ezra (the scribe from yesterday's reading) to read aloud the Book of Law, where we hear, "Do not grieve. For the joy of the Lord is your strength," (Nehemiah 8:10).  Nehemiah 9-10 is what we've all been waiting to hear! The repentance of the Israelites and their
Read more

Day 86: James 3:13-3 John 14

Image
Words of Wisdom  (Not from me) James finishes off with some more advice: Be patient when you suffer--and don't complain about one another! Our Judge is right at our door. Give yourself time to pray when you're down, and time to praise when you're up. Prayers filled with faith, righteousness, and strength are the most powerful weapon.  So then we move on to Peter, who begins his books with a great example of praise--just check out chapter 1.  Remember, Peter and Jesus were like best friends. Peter could have taken his books and written about all the cool things Jesus did, what he did for fun on the weekends, etc. But instead, he took his words and made an example of how to live a Christian life.  It mostly serves as a reminder to follow in Jesus's footsteps (tall order, right?), and let's people know that there will be suffering as a Christian--but if we're living for God, we've got more important things to focus on.  Then, we arrive
Read more