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“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13, NIV)

In 17 words, Paul provides the Christian disciple with a challenge for every day, and a charge for each life.

“Do everything in love”: Act for others as one would act for self. Live to please our heavenly Father.

“Be strong”: If the Holy Spirit of God is your strength, you are strong indeed. His strength never flags. His power never fails.

“Be courageous”: Going against “conventional wisdom” with God’s wisdom; swimming upstream; standing alone in one’s convictions; or choosing the narrow gate requires moral, physical, and spiritual courage. Choose — then be!

“Stand firm in the faith”: Conventional wisdom, enlightened self-interest, and fashion are “currents and tides.” Faith is the disciple’s anchor, and the word of God is the anchor’s chain.

“Be on your guard”: Thieves do not steal things that have no value. As a person of inestimable worth and value, there is a bounty on your life. Guard your heart, your thoughts, your motives, and your affections against theft and/or misuse by unworthy agents. – Luther

Tagged discipleship, steadfastness, the book of 1 Corinthians, vigilance

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“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. . .” (I Corinthians 15:9-10, NIV)

What effect has the grace of God had in you?

Has it made you more humble? Has it made you more gracious? Has it made you more compassionate? Has it made you more obedient to the will of our heavenly Father?

Like Paul, we’ve all come into the light of the truth of God from some very dark places. In Paul’s case, he was a former enemy and persecutor of the disciples of Jesus. He took no credit for what he had become: An apostle of the same church that he had previously tried to destroy!

Paul knew that God’s grace had given him another chance to change for the better. He knew that repentance is the desired effect of God’s mercies: To turn from darkness to the light; from death to life; from the faraway or foreign places to our true home. – Luther

Tagged God's grace, mercy, repentance, the book of 1 Corinthians

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“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’” (I Corinthians 15:33, NASB)

. . . or the modern corollary to St. Paul’s maxim: “You can’t soar with eagles when you run with turkeys.”

Lest we think that what is referenced here is our associations (as in, “avoid troubled people because their troubles will rub-off on you”), that is not the case. Young’s Literal Translation of this verse reads: “Be not led astray; evil communications corrupt good manners.”

The J. B. Phillips Translation of this verse gives us even more clarity: “Don’t let yourselves be deceived. Talking about things that are not true is bound to be reflected in practical conduct.”

As disciples of Jesus, if God chooses to put us in dark places (as He may), it is because we are “the light of the world”; our job is to shine for Him! If God chooses to put us in places where the risk of moral decay is imminent (as He will), it is because we are “the salt of the earth”; our job is to be salty — and preserve! (Please see Matthew 5:13-16 for the complete text.)

Today, and everyday, may our personal ambition as “light and salt” be gracious manners in a coarse world; the purest intentions in a jaded and skeptical sphere; and utterances that are scrupulously true in a community where the “truth” is often an amalgam of reality, convenience, and veiled self-interest.

Do not be fooled! While words that are gracious, pure, and truthful bring hope, light, and life to others; when we allow gossip, innuendo, and lies to invade our communications with others, it is our own daily conduct, moral authority, and personal character that is corrupted — and we become the problem instead of the solution. – Luther

Tagged bad company, good morals, J. B. Phillips, morality, the book of 1 Corinthians