Scripture:
1 Corinthians 6:1-8 ESV
[1] When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? [2] Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? [3] Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! [4] So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? [5] I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, [6] but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? [7] To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? [8] But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
Observation:
As I was talking to a brother of mine yesterday, I was reminded of this scripture. Paul was teaching the Corinthians what it looks like to love like Jesus loves. He had been watching those in Corinth, taking each other to court. It’s over stuff that really wasn’t going to help either party. The major part of the problem was that they were taking their problems to people who were not part of the church. So, people who were not educated in the ways of the church were making calls on things inside the church. In verse 2, Paul goes a little deeper. Saying if you can’t handle the small trivial things here on earth, how are you going to handle the deeper things of heaven? The point of what Paul is saying is they needed to get it right here on earth. At some point, the responsibility is going to be much bigger than what they were facing here. Handling the matters of the church inside the church… without division. They needed to come together. As we saw in the first chapter, the Corinthians had problems they were divided. Some were following one teacher, and some were following another… all this was being drug out into the street for the world to see, and not just see but make decisions on. The last 2 verses of today’s scripture bring me to the point. Would it be better to make a hard stand or… let GOD work it out? Paul says it like this… “Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not just be defrauded? It’s a good question… and honestly, it brings me to the application.
Application:
What does it honestly look like to love like Jesus? I know this may seem a little off-base, but let’s look at how it went down on the day he went to the cross… not a word was said, and all the lies were spoken, and the blows were thrown. But HE found no reason to defend HIMSELF. There was no reason to plead HIS case. All too often in life, when someone offends us, we feel like we have to defend ourselves. We tell those who are in our lives. Doing our best to get them to agree with us. See things the way we see them. But what happens to grace when that is our reaction to being wronged? It seems offense is one of the main ways the enemy wiggles his way into the church. The old saying divide and conquer still works. Separating those who are meant to stand together and fight will cause our shield to not be locked together. As long as the church is divided, it will struggle. So what I’m saying in all this is, let’s not allow an offense to separate what GOD has brought together for HIS kingdom. Why not rather suffer wrong? Show others the same grace you have been given. We are a family, and when we allow the enemy a the foothold of division, we give bitterness room to set in, and honestly, that is one thing that can keep our prayers from being answered. I know you might be looking at this SOAP, wondering how I got from having lawsuits against each other to showing grace to our brothers and sisters. But let’s think about all this. How much would this world change if we gave grace to all? If we would just love first. What needs to be said rather than “I hope they get what they deserve.” is ” thank GOD I don’t get what I deserve.” When we look at life with a heart that is willing to forgive no matter what, we just wouldn’t have lawsuits. We would show the very same grace that was given to us. Bitterness would not be an issue. Because we would love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Letting offense roll off our back like water off a duck, but. A question was put out there years ago wwjd What would Jesus do… well, the answer is HE would love first the question: Are you willing to do what Jesus did?
Prayer:
Father, we love you, and we see that you want us to love our neighbors as ourselves. That can only be done if we are empowered by your Holy Spirit. So we are asking for a fresh anointing. One that is covered in love. Let forgiveness be our first thought, not our last resort. Help us to pray for those who we feel have done us wrong. We want to be led by a heart of love. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray amen.