Power and Maturity: 2 Comments on 1 Corinthians

This morning I begin to study Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. I’m struck by two things:

First, Paul reminds his readers in 1 Corinthians 2 that his message and preaching were “not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that [our] faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”

The power of God’s Spirit goes beyond all human intellect or persuasive wording. It’s a humbling reminder and a joyous assurance that God’s work does not depend on our rhetorical tools, no matter how wonderful.

Secondly, I note that Paul claims in the 3rd chapter that two marks of immaturity or “worldliness” are jealousy and quarreling. When I think about the most mature people I know, they rarely, if ever, quarrel with others, and they don’t live in jealously. As I look at my own children, I know that their jealousy and quarreling come along with their immaturity; older, wiser women leave these childish ways behind by the power of God’s spirit. They live in peace as they rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. They live in contentment.

Power and maturity: I love studying Paul’s letters.