Walking in Love
(I Thessalonians 2:7 )
|
LOVE IS A GOOD HABIT Would you do it any differently? One father summed it up this way. He said, "My family's all grown, and the kids are all gone. But, if I had to do it all over again, this is what I'd do: I would love my wife more in front of my children. I would laugh with my children more--at our mistakes and our joys. I would listen more, even to the littlest child. I would be more honest about my own weaknesses, never pretending perfection. I would pray differently for my family--instead of focusing on them, I'd focus on me. I would do more things together with my children. I would encourage them more and bestow more praise. I would pay more attention to little things, like deeds and words of thoughtfulness. And then, finally, if I had to do it all over again, I would share God more intimately with my family; every ordinary thing that happened in every ordinary day I would use to direct them to God."
Let's take a trip to the 1st Century world and find out why their love was lacking. Then after seeing the struggles of Century one, stop in our town today...To see the best photo of the ancient way of life let's look at I Corinthians. More than any other city we have insight into this one. If we were to scan this epistle in a couple of minutes and grab the big problems they faced in 1st century Christianity, these would be the "sins of the saints at Corinth":
- DIVISIVENESS I Cor. 1:10 divisiveness = following men and movements more than truth.
- ARROGANCE I Cor 1:18-20 arrogance = hung up on high-brow human philosophy rather than the simple gospel,
- WORLDLINESS I Cor. 1:26 worldly = pursuing cultural, societal worldly fame and prestige. Temporal over eternal.
- FLESHLINESS I Cor. 3:1-3 fleshly = carnality, the entertainment mentality of the Christian life.
- INDULGENCE I Cor 5:1 morally lax = toleration of sexual promiscuity, especially seen in the list of 6:9-11.
To continue reading about the "sins of the saints at Corinth" please click here.
|
Yours Because His, John Barnett, Pastor and the entire DTBM Staff
© 2009 Discover The Book Ministries | A Nonprofit 501C3 Bible Teaching Ministry |