Corinth Or Christ?
"Watch, stand fast in the faith, be
brave,
be strong. Let all that you do be done
with love."
1 Corinthians 16: 13-14
Two of Paul’s longest letters were written to the church
at Corinth. The length of these letters reflects problems
to Christians by the city of Corinth itself. It was a huge
city of more than half a million inhabitants, a crossroads
of trade and cultures, overflowing with pagan religious
activity.
One of the dozen temples in
the city honored Aphrodite,
the Greek goddess of love. It comes as no surprise that
Paul dedicated a treatise to true love in 1 Corinthians 13
in order to counter pagan perceptions of love.
In his concluding words to the Corinthians, he summarized
all that he had written in his letter: “Watch, stand fast in the
faith, be brave, be strong.” And then he summarized that
summary saying, “Let all that you do be done with
love.”
That statement reflects his lengthy teaching in chapter 13
about the nature of true love where he said that nothing in
the spiritual life has value unless it is accompanied by
selfless, others-centered, Godlike love (verses 1-3).
Be
aware of your actions today—
are they Corinth-like or Christlike?
"Love is the queen of
all the Christian graces."
A. W. Pink
