Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness and again, The Lord knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile. So let no one boast in human leaders, for everything is yours— whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come—everything is yours, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. 1 Corinthians 3:18-23
No Excuses
What comes to your mind when you hear the word gentle? Gentleness means the quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered. In the Bible, gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit that means to be humble and meek, and to have a genuine concern for others. It is a way of thinking about and treating others in a kind, tender, and mild-mannered way - the way Jesus treated people.
We see Jesus model gentleness over and over in the Bible. The woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well, the blind man He healed, the lame man and the ten lepers just to name a few. We see the grace of God on display in Jesus’ life with the greatest gentleness. He did things with gentleness, but He also spoke words of truth in gentleness. He treated those who wronged Him with gentleness. And He treated the outcasts and sinners with gentleness.
In Chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians Paul was writing to the church in Corinth addressing division in the leadership stemming from pride and boastfulness. It was trickling down into the churches and Paul wanted to remind them what God has already given them and who they are in Him. Pastor Jim told us yesterday that as a result of having been given “...everything” and finding our self-worth in God alone, believers no longer have to live in pride or boasting, but in humility and gentleness.
We have been given all things - The world loves what the world loves – a lot of likes or followers on social media, the praise of other people, gifts, and power and influence. As Christians we fight our flesh in some of these areas as well. We seek the praise of other people to feel like we are significant, valued, and even treasured. We have been giving everything we need and it can ONLY be found in Christ. Paul told them they had been given all things ...whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come—everything is yours... There is nothing else we need and we boast in vain if we believe for a second that the gifts and abilities we have we gained in our own power. Paul points out some of the things God has given them: 3 leaders (Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, or Peter); 3 powers relating to their lives (the world, life, and death), and 2 things relating to time (present and to come).
We can be secure in our self-worth - We look to many things to find our identity. It’s possible that we don’t even realizing that’s what we are doing. We find it in seasons of life, our looks, our jobs, other people, social media, our possessions. We should not be getting our self esteem from anyone other than God. His view of us is all that matters. We have to live in some tough times and people can be ruthless and so can Satan. Especially where our self esteem is involved he loves to whisper lies into our ears. He tries to make us feel inadequate to do the work God has for us. He wants nothing more than to dismantle the Kingdom.
We no longer have to boast. – Because we have been given everything, and find our self-worth in Him, we don’t have to boast. God has already given us all we could need, it is not anything we could have done in our power.
We have a gracious Heavenly Father who has been and is so gentle with us. It is His gentleness in us that we can pour out on others. We can correct others with truth and love, not boasting in arrogance. All our words and actions should glorify God and point others towards Him. As Christians we have a responsibility to answer others and treat others with gentleness. We gain nothing by arguing and using harsh words. It is hard because our first reaction to harshness is to be harsh, but we push people further away from God when we do this.It is hard because our flesh does not always want to give a gentle and kind response, but even in the hardest situations we can be gentle because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
When we walk with Jesus we are learning to live and love like Jesus. As believers we have the gift of the Holy Spirit as soon as we become His. We are transformed as we walk with Him and grow. In our transformation we begin to look like Him to everyone around us, showing the fruit of the Spirit in every way we do life. Our human bodies could never do this but with the power of the Holy Spirit we can!
