Today's Scripture
Emptying our lives – 1 Corinthians 1: 10-17
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: 1 Corinthians 1-4 (CEB)
10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
What does this passage mean to me/us
Paul pleas to the church that the church should “be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”
He later says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor 3:6), which means that both Apollos and him were united in the same purpose.
What is our purpose? Paul says, that ‘the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.’
The purspoe is fulfilled, only when the power of the cross is strengthen and we are empited.
We remember, from yesterday’s devotion, how Apollos was teachable.
He was willing to empty himself, his expereince, and his ways, for Christ to be stronger in him.
In the same way, we need to empty ourselves, for Christ to dwell in us.
Prayer
Lord, empty me so you may grow stronger in me. In Christ name, we pray, AMEN.
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