Gospel Reading Plan: Acts 3-4
Paul’s First Letter to
the Corinthians: DAY 9
READ 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
In your journal, write
down the things that stick out to you from today’s Bible reading. Respond to
what God shows you as you feel led.
Paul moves on to address a third issue – that of lawsuits
among believers. People in the church were suing one another over specific
issues, going to pagan magistrates to settle their disputes. Paul is speaking
to a particular issue in the Corinthian church here, and is not saying that a
Christian must never go to court against another Christian. The greater point
here was that the Corinthian believers were misrepresenting Christ by going
before pagan courts to settle these disputes. They were acting like
unbelievers. Rather they were supposed to settle their differences with the
help of the leaders of the church. Paul goes on to point out that it is not
just the sexually immoral who will not inherit the kingdom of God. In other
words, though they may have judged the immoral brother who has taken his
father’s wife (5:1), those who are greedy, deceptive, undisciplined, etc.
(including those who were participating in these lawsuits) are no better off
than he.
PRAYER AND MEDITATION
1.
Ask God to show you any ways that you
have misrepresented Christ in the past week through behaviors and attitudes.
Confess these things to the Lord and ask Him if there is anything you need to
make right with the people you were interacting with.
2.
Ask God to reveal an area of
unforgiveness in your heart. Are you willing to forgive this person? Ask God to
help you, and to forgive you for your unforgiveness. Pray a blessing for this
person. If you don’t know how to do this, just pray for them all the good
things you would ask God to do for you in your life.
3.
It seems that the Corinthian church
might have been lacking competent leaders to oversee such disputes. We all have
people following us and we all need to be peacemakers. Jesus said “Blessed are
the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Ask God what it looks
like for you to be a peacemaker today.
