Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 16 - 2 Corinthians 1
Meditation Verses: 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Thought
The Christian faith is neither a simple thing nor an easy thing. This letter and the next show how hard it was for the Corinthians to understand and to live out correctly their faith in Christ. Besides internal confusion, strife and misunderstandings, there are attacks from men and from Satan. So Paul gives this parting command, "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." It is far too easy to drift away from true faith in Christ and the right practice of that faith. It takes strength and resistance and firmness and manliness, all motivated by love, caring for what is best for our fellow believers. And what is best is not always what is desired. The longing for the world and its treasures is strong. The fear of loss, of missing out, of suffering for what is true and right can also lead us astray. Confusing love with an emotion rather than seeking what is best for another so easily leads good intentions off God's track. Holding fast to the truth in Christ and living as He desires takes real effort and struggle to resist the forces that would have us compromise and water down what it means to walk with Jesus.
Application
There are places in the world where the struggle to hold fast to the truth is so much more evident. I can't help but wonder that when it is easy to believe, I am more likely to drift into a safe and comfortable version of Christianity. Jesus was gracious, but He never compromised truth. He said hard things to all who desired to follow Him; He said harsh things to those and about those who thought they knew better. People were offended and many turned back from following Him. Following Jesus in truth, holding fast to true faith in Christ and right living as a Christian requires strength of soul, it requires determination, it requires offending those who want things easy. It requires confronting my own wrong ideas and preference for comfort, and it requires confronting those who have a distorted view of what it means to love others. It requires believing hard things, saying hard things and doing hard things, things that are not comfortable, things that can damage relationships, but things that can save others if they listen.