Good Morning Friends,
“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual
but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for
you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still
worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not
worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
The marks of worldliness that Paul saw among
the Corinthians were jealousy and quarreling. The root of both of those sinful
attitudes is selfishness.
When we act with jealousy, we demonstrate
dissatisfaction with what we have compared with what someone else has been
given. Rather than unselfishly rejoicing in their gifts, we are frustrated that
they have what we don’t. That’s not a characteristic of God, but a
characteristic of the world. God calls His followers to ever increasing
selflessness, seeking the best for others around us, not just looking out for
our own interests.
When we quarrel, we seek our own way, what we
want, even at the cost of damaging relationships and hurting our witness. How
much is what we want worth? Is it worth the cost of a relationship that is
damaged or destroyed? Is it worth the cost of turning someone outside of Christ
away from Him because of the way you act? Again, it goes back to selfishness --
I want, so I’ll fight to get.
They were acting like mere men! But what else
can we act like? That’s the point, God is calling us to a higher calling, to
become like Jesus, to act like Him -- to give unselfishly, to seek the best for
those around us, to sacrifice to help others.
His, by Grace, Steve
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