Bible Reading Challenge #9
Read all of 1 Corinthians 4
Focus on verses 14–21
What do we learn about God?
Paul is clear with the Corinthians—justice is coming. It reminds me of kids who get left home alone. Things can spiral quickly, rules get ignored, and before long, it feels like no one’s watching. That’s what was happening in Corinth. People were living however they wanted, even arrogantly believing they’d get away with it. But God isn’t blind to sin. He sees, He knows, and His justice will come.
That’s heavy, but here’s where it lands for me today: I need grace just as much as anyone else. It’s easy to point at the wrongs of others, but if I truly appealed to God for justice alone, I’d be ruined. My only hope is His grace through Jesus—the substitute who took the judgment I deserve. That means when justice finally comes, I’m covered—not by my effort, but by His work on the cross.
How this can change today:
I need to take a hard look at where I’m living arrogantly, like I don’t really need God. Here are a few places I see it in me (maybe you’ll connect with some too):
I put too much trust in my own strength.
I live like I’m the one in control.
I feel like I have to solve everything myself.
I get caught up in the busyness and miss God’s presence.
I talk about faith but struggle to actually live it.
I get consumed with what feels urgent and lose sight of eternity.
Today I want to slow down, confess these things, and live in God’s grace instead of my arrogance.
Bible Reading Challenge #8
Overview of this passage
In the church of Corinth, there was great division over who to follow and whether Paul—who seemed unimpressive in society’s eyes—was truly worthy of being called a leader. Paul begins this section with biting sarcasm, pointing out how the Corinthians believed they already had everything they needed. The remaining verses reveal what Paul actually experienced as a preacher of the Good News.
1 Corinthians 4:8–13
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
How can this change my day?
That opening line from Paul is deeply convicting: “Already you have all you want!” The church in Corinth was content to live the life they loved—with just a splash of Jesus added in. Over the next few chapters, Paul will expose their failures, but today I’m struck by how easy it is to drift into spiritual passivity when life feels easy.
When I have everything I want, do I really sense my need for God? Do I truly trust Him? Do I genuinely pray to Him? While none of us like walking through hard times, it is often in those valleys that God draws us closest to Himself.
What does this teach me about God?
God wants us to trust Him and rely on Him—and often that trust grows when life shows us how little control we truly have. For Paul, that meant hunger, exhausting work, and constant opposition. We admire Paul’s commitment to Christ, but very few of us desire his circumstances.
Yet Paul’s life wasn’t hard because God had forgotten him, ignored him, or punished him. His hardships came because he was faithfully living out God’s mission in a broken world. And through it all, Paul endured because God was with him every step of the way.
The God of all comfort was present with Paul so that in his weakness, God’s strength could be revealed.
Is what you are walking through right now drawing you closer to God?
Bible Reading Challenge #7
What does this teach me about my daily life?
For the last few years, the opening line of 1 Corinthians 4 has been a personal mission statement for me. Two things stand out:
Servant of Christ – As a follower of Jesus, I am to live my life in response to the One who gives me life. Without Christ, I am hopeless and helpless, so it is only right to willingly submit my life to God. Being a servant of Christ means daily striving to live out what John the Baptist said: “Less of me and more of You!”
Steward of the mystery – On Sunday, we talked about being good stewards of all that we have received from God. To steward is to wisely manage someone else’s treasure. We are called to steward our finances in a way that honors God, realizing that everything we have is received—only by His blessing. But not just finances: as followers of Jesus, we are called to steward the “mysteries of God.” While this phrase may sound cryptic, it simply means handling well the revealed truth that God loves all people, that Jesus came for all people, and that by believing in the work of the Cross and the Empty Tomb, life is offered to all.
If we do these two things well—serve Christ and steward the gospel—we can be confident that God will be honored through our lives.
What does this teach me about God?
Nothing is hidden from God. There are no secrets, no misdirection, no tricks that can conceal our sin. God sees all: our hearts, our desires, our thoughts, and our deeds.
In any other religion, this would create a terrible problem—leaving us unable to stand before God. But in Christianity, though we have many acts of rebellion against His will and way, our sin does not have the final word. The Good News—the very message we are called to steward—is also the message we must personally receive!
God is not deceived, but He is also not out to destroy us. The God who knows every thought and deed is the same God who loved us enough to send His only Son, so that through Him we might be made right and live with Him forever.
Bible Reading Challenge #6
There is so much to learn and be challenged by in this chapter. I encourage you to spend some extra time today rereading the text and considering our questions below and answering them multiple times in a journal or in your thoughts. I will give you the answers that stuck out to me the most for the sake of time.
What does this teach me about God?
The most glaring reminder in this text for me today was that Jesus is the foundation of our lives and especially He is the foundation of His Church. The Church is not rooted in any man or woman, Bible translation, style of worship, song selection, preaching talent, lighting setup, chairs vs pews, color of carpet, insert anything here!
Only Jesus is the foundation of the Church!
I cannot write firmly enough about how important this is, because if we miss this it will fundamentally change everything about how we think about and approach church.
The most important consequence of us misplacing the foundation is that we will fail in our mission of spreading God’s Kingdom, because we will be more concerned about how we are building up the church with “precious stones”, or “hay, straw” (I read here for our context, the various programs that make up a church’s calendar and the various arguments we have over minor issues that distract us) than we will be with worshiping God together, helping each other walk with Jesus, and serving our community with physical needs and by sharing the gospel with them. If we hold Jesus as our foundation of His Church, then we are not distracted by such issues from the work we have been called to.
How can I live in response to this?
I think our response is simple. Let us be those who build onto the church’s foundation (Jesus) with faithful and good work that He calls us to in His Word, not with the less important things of this world that easily distract us. And when we stand before God, and “the fire” (metaphor) tests our work, let it reveal…
lives rooted in God’s Word and in prayer
lives focused on sharing the gospel with and loving those around us well
lives focused on building up our Christian brothers and sisters in the faith
lives built around using the resources, gifts, and talents that God has given us for His glory and for His Kingdom to grow
Bible Reading Challenge #5
What does this teach me about God?
Today I am reminded that God’s ways, thoughts, and actions are far higher than mine—or anyone else’s. While we operate under the limitations of what we know and perceive, God has no such limitations. He is above all things, in all things, and works through all things.
As Job confessed in Job 42:2–3:
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
No one can fully comprehend the thoughts of God.
How can I live in response to this?
While God’s ways are higher, He has given His Spirit to all who believe. The Spirit teaches us the things of God—truths that human reasoning alone could never uncover. Through Him, we are given glimpses of God’s goodness and His plan, things we would remain blind to apart from Christ.
I appreciate that Paul makes clear Christianity is not an ignorant submission to God, but a growing trust and understanding of the One we follow. Today I am reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit at work within me—a power I so often overlook.
On a personal note, I was confronted with temptation in a few areas of my life today. But thanks be to God, the Spirit within me actually detests the sin that once seemed so appealing. That is not from me—that is the newness of the Spirit’s work in my life.
Have you experienced that newness?
Have you felt the Spirit grow in you a holy hatred for an old sinful habit?