My Sacrifice

1 Corinthians 7:3

“Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and also likewise the wife to her husband.”

There is no standard checklist of affections due to wives. True to Ephesians 5 I am to nurture her and wash her with the water of the Word, but I am to do this according to the unique needs of my wife in a manner that she can receive. Therefore, husbandry is much more an art than a science. It’s a dance in which I lead but always respond to my partner’s body, position and movements. So marriage is understanding the unique needs, desires, emotions and moods of my bride and responding appropriately. So what are the unique affections due to my bride? What are her unique needs today? I must ask this question daily. If we are not to deprive one another of physical affection but for a time (and only for fasting and prayer. Vs 4-5) then this principle must also hold true for other affections – words of encouragement, acts of service, gifts of love, quality time, tenderness and listening, etc…. I also notice that in this verse Paul addresses the husbands first. Husbands lead the way in affection and need meeting. I sacrifice the needs of my own flesh for the sake of hers - after all, she is my body, we are one flesh. Therefore, I lead and she comes first. I set my own needs, desires, emotions and moods aside for the sake of meeting hers. Ironically, in doing so, I also communicate an immeasurable amount of love and affection for her. This is my calling as a husband.

God – grant me the self-control to be selfless. Grant me the eyes and ears to see and hear the unique needs of my bride. Grant me a tender heart to nurture her according to her needs each day. Grant me the sacrificial attitude of Christ and let me sacrifice for the sake of my wife. Amen.

Good master vs. God Master

1 Corinthians 6:12

"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything."

What good and lawful things have I submitted to as my master instead of God? What hungers do I obey more often than Christ? Have I let my blessings lead me to a sense of entitlement and poor stewardship with my finances? Have I let material blessings lead me to selfishness? Have I let my sexual desires spoil my marriage or lead me to take advantage of my wife? Have I let my hunger and enjoyment of food lead me to gluttony? Have I let comfort lead me to laziness? Have I let logic and reason lead me to arguments and division? Material blessings, comfort, food, sexuality, intellect... these are all good blessings from God that I have allowed to be my master instead of Jesus. I can enjoy these things without letting them lead me to sin if I focus on Christ as my master. I must seek first to honor Him with my time, my thoughts, my attitudes, my heart, my speech and my actions. Everything must be brought before my master and by His authority, brought into submission. My hungers and blessings for that matter, will never submit to me (or Christ) unless I fully submit to Christ first.

God, humble me and be my master... even if by force. Discipline my flesh and bring me into full submission to You. Forgive me for allowing your good blessings to become my master and god. Remove my rebellion and bring my flesh under Your control... even if by force.

Expel Immoral People

1 Corinthians 5:9-13
"I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

These are harsh words of judgement, black and white, cut and dry. God's church is to be holy. A little leaven (sin) leavens (contaminates) the whole lump of dough. I understand the principle here and the purpose behind it, but how can we really practice this? Where do we draw the line with covetousness? How much reviling is too much? How many times must a brother get drunk? Is the principle limited to these sins or do we expel the thief, liar and divider too? Once we throw them out into the world, are we allowed to associate with them again?
I suppose the only way to practice this principle is through prayer - asking God to help judge. After all, prayer is the central point in Matthew's 18th chapter on confronting a sinful brother.

Matthew 18:18-20 "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say[c] to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Prayer is what turns a sinner around and brings restoration. It also advises that if a brother must be expelled, treat him as a pagan, a tax collector or sinner... which would open up a whole new door of relationship and opportunity again. But can I then have a meal with him?

God - make me pray more. May my judgements come from You and not from within me. When you judge, give me words to speak and strength to act. Make me the protector of your church and the children you have entrusted to me. Amen.

Stewards of the Mystery... keeping secrets

1 Corinthians 4:1-2
"Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful."

No servant of God's is common. Each one of us has been trusted with the precious mysteries of God. We've been given charge over a great treasure. This treasure, the mysteries of God, have not been give to us for our own sake. They are not meant to puff us up or bring us honor. These mysteries are unlike other secrets shared with trusted servants in that these secrets are meant to be shared!... proclaimed... shouted even! My worth as a servant and steward of God therefore rests in my ability to share and reveal the wonderful secrets of God. Like the parable of the talents, it won't do to hold onto or keep safe what has been entrusted to me. To be found faithful, I must share.

God, make me more bold in sharing your mysteries with others. Open my eyes to see opportunities and fill me with a desire to share your secrets. Amen.

I am Nothing

1 Corinthians 3:6-7
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

There is no room for pride in working for the Lord. There is no fame or recognition or favor to seek. No amount of planting or watering or hard work will produce even a hint of growth apart from the hand of God. No amount of hard work will produce even a hint of credit for me either. Anyone into awards or "pats on the back" better reconsider working in God's fields. We are not anything... we are nothing.

God, forgive me for taking pride in work You have done. Forgive me for stealing credit from You. Forgive me for boasting about growth. Forgive me for being puffed up about the size of my ministry. Forgive me for pointing to me instead of You. Forgive me for working in my strength and not Yours. Weed out my pride so that You are glorified in Your harvest. Amen.

Spiritual Discernment

1 Corinthians 2:14-16
"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ."

Is it that the natural man does not welcome Truth or that he can not welcome it? Does he hear it and reject it or not even hear it to begin with?
What are the things of God that cannot/will not be received by the natural man? In 1 Corinthians 1 it was the idea of Christ crucified; a stumbling block to the Jew and foolishness to the Gentile. Is it more? Is it also the radically upside-down nature of the Christian life? (love your enemy, turn the cheek, unlimited forgiveness, die to self, give to gain, strength in surrender, life in death....)
If this is true, why do we seek the favor, approval and acceptance from among natural people? If I'm reading this right... it's not so that we can share Christ. Compromise cannot produce conviction in the natural heart, but consistency and character can. Contrast with the natural man clearly demonstrates to him something that he can receive. It must seem foolish and powerless to even be noticed by the natural man. It must contain a confusing contrast that prompts them to wonder what is at work. As Paul said to open this second chapter, he did not come with wisdom or philosophy or lofty knowledge - but only knowing one thing, Christ crucified.
If we are to reach the natural man, we must resolve to knowing this - Christ crucified.
We have the mind of Christ, we must listen to and receive what we hear from Him. We must trust that the same Spirit of God who worked on and in us will also work on and in the natural people around us.

God - make me more Spiritually discerning. Amen.

Christ Crucified

1 Corinthians 1:22-25
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

What am I seeking? Power? Knowledge? Favor? Blessing? Success? When we look at the cross we see nothing like these. we see a man crucified, helpless, cursed, abandoned. The sign was clear to the Jew - no power there; to the Greek - nothing like wisdom. There's no power or knowledge or wisdom in death - but there is life. And in the life Christ gives through His death there is immeasurable power and endless wisdom. Yet the Jews and Greeks couldn't see this because they looked past the cross. They focused on those things past the cross. And therefore, the cross made them stumble and brought confusion. But when our focus is Christ - all else comes into focus.
So, where is my focus? Am I looking past Christ crucified3d for something else?... I'll probably find it (that is, something else - other than what I seek - most likely frustration and foolishness). Am I focused on ministry? favor? kids? making changes?... Can I be content to just focus on Christ crucified and let all else follow according to His will? Will I?

God - help me keep my eyes on You and the cross ever before me. Make me to seek You alone each day and trust You alone for all else. Amen.