Let’s look at 1 Corinthians
16:13-14
13 Be
on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
14 Do everything in love.
If you read the verse in its full context, it seems a little
out of place. Paul is in the middle of telling the church at Corinth about his
planned trip to Macedonia, an update on Apollos and Timothy, and then he throws
in this pearl of wisdom. One of the things that made this verse jump out at me
is that it is full of verbs: Be, stand, be, be, do. It is not theoretical or
rhetorical, rather simple words that any of us can understand and importantly,
apply. The other quality it has that I’m hoping we can explore is that it is
distinctly masculine. This isn’t a verse for sissies but for real men.
Things to think about:
·
Be on your guard – this presupposes we are to be
alert and aware of attacks. Nobody needs to be on guard for something good
coming their way!
o Jesus
tells the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane to “Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak.”
o Let’s
get specific about what you’re on guard about
o What
are you primary forms of defense?
·
Stand firm in the faith
o People
and events can conspire to challenge our faith. Admittedly, it can get rough
sometimes whether it’s a series of things happening or the magnitude or
duration of a single event is just too much to handle
o How
do you see God’s hand either as the author of what’s happening or His hand as
your form of rescue?
·
Be courageous; be strong
o Now
Paul is going from staying in place (be on guard, stand firm) to moving forward
o A
quick search on Bible Gateway for “be strong” yielded 36 hits that almost
invariably included “be strong and courageous”. Clearly these go together.
o Courage
has us going into uncharted territory where it’s risky
o Is
courage the absence of fear or something else? See Psalm 27:1
o Do
you sense that God is asking you to take a risk or do something that makes you
uncomfortable?
o 2
Samuel 22:33, 35
·
Do everything in love
o Of
course, we have to look only a few chapters earlier in 1 Corinthians 13
§ Absent
love Paul says we are a noisy gong, nothing, profitless
o How
does Jesus, himself love incarnate, instruct us with respect to love?
§ Matthew
22:37-39
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