1 CORINTHIANS 4

Heart Issues

I talk about the power of God a lot, but I don’t see it very often. The kingdom of God in my life is often times way too much about talk and not as much about power. It has been easy in our time to believe that God is all about blessing us with stuff, making our life easy, and doing what we want. We lose sight so easily that this story is not all about us, but all about God. I am challenged today as I think about God testing my heart in all things that I do. I do not want to be motivated so much by pride that I do good things, but I want my sole motivation to be love and worship. I want to love the people I am sharing with and I want God to get all the praise because I would not be doing these things if he did not enable me by His grace to do them. It is not an issue of how good I am, but how GREAT He is!

Notes
-Paul starts with so, referring to the last chapter dealing with divisions and knowing who we are by knowing whose we are. He opens by showing that we shouldn’t place so much faith in men, but should only be known as servants of Christ. As servants, we are entrusted with the secret things of God. Wow, that is huge we are secret agents for God.
-We should be trustworthy and the true judge of our character is not man, but God. Even we are partial judges, but God judges impartially and knows the true nature of each man’s heart. This is radical that God may praise us as he reveals our heart. I know that many times my heart has not been praiseworthy. It is not only our deeds that will be judged, but our hearts as well. I want my heart to be humble and always giving praise to God and not myself. That is challenging to know that God will reveal my heart.
-Paul reveals that he and Apollos are only gifted by God and that there is no room for boasting. He is also confronting an issue in the Corinthian church which was very boastful and hypocritical in their use of their gifts.
-Verses 8-13 bash the prosperity gospel. It seems that this is already an issue as the Corinthians had become “kings” and that the apostles were still enduring hunger, homelessness, hard work, persecution, and pain. God does not call us all to prosperity, he calls us to obedience and proclaiming Him as the king and not ourselves. Paul compares and contrasts how they had become fools, weak, and dishonored, yet the Corinthians were strong, wise, and honored. There was some disconnect in their view of following God.
-Verses 14-21 – I’m your daddy, don’t forget that!! Paul urges them to imitate him and to listen to Timothy as he sends him in his stead. Paul is going to challenge the arrogant ones of Corinth and will do whatever it takes to bring them back to humility. He longs for them so much that he is zealous to see them follow Christ humbly and allow the power of God to continue to move and not simply be talked about.