BACKGROUND
Paul wanted the Corinthians to see their leaders as servants; subordinate and responsible to God, their Master, who will judge them in the end. The Corinthians were not to take pride in any one spiritual leader and to walk in humility. This would be the cure for the division that existed among them.
Humility was a difficult concept for the Greeks because humility was believed to be a trait of a slave and a sign of weakness (Plato Laws 6. 774c). Paul called on them to "imitate" him as an example of humility (4:16) and to listen to his spiritual child, Timothy, who would show them how to walk in Christ Jesus.
REFLECTION
The Corinthians thought they were "hot stuff" like the church in Laodicea:
Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy,
and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
Revelation 3:17
Praying we can all walk in humility and dependence on God today realizing we are nothing without Him!
APPLICATION
The book Learning Humility is Richard Foster's musings about this subject. Here is his most recent podcast on the subject:
PRAYER
We are nothing without You God. We repent of our pride. In Jesus' name, who humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross. Amen.
1 comment:
I had to humble myself last night. A friend misunderstood me regarding the dates we were going to come and visit. She made other plans. I had to know that regardless of how well I think I communicated (I looked back on the text, and I believe I did), she misunderstood me, and I had to humbly accept that and move on. I did!
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