There are things that are technically legal and even culturally permissible, but not necessarily beneficial or helpful. The Apostle Paul wanted believers to know that God's way is the best way to live. We considered how to stay on guard from being cheated in our study of 1 Corinthians 7:1-9.

We are not what we once were, so why should we live as we once lived? In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul encourages the believers in Corinth to stop behaving according to who they were and to start behaving to who they are in Christ—a great encouragement for us too. Listen to our study of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 & be encouraged!

There’s a difference between loving correction and just fighting with someone to win. There is a difference between having a heart that is broken for how someone is being ripped off by sin and just fighting for your right to be right.

Unfortunately, the Corinthians took the wrong way of handling these things to the extreme, as we saw in our study of 1 Corinthians 6:1-11.

​What is the church’s responsibility for willful, continual, habitual, unrepentant sin in the life of someone who claims to be a Christian? As a pastor, church discipline was part and parcel of Paul’s calling. Since he was a faithful steward, he couldn’t shy away from his duty. The situation in the Corinthian church had come to a point where Paul needed to address the sin and not allow it to continue. Listen to our study of 1 Corinthians 5 as we considered the difficult, yet important purpose of church discipline.

When Pastor Paul heard that the church in Corinth was being dismissive and disrespectful to leadership, he wrote to them to address the issues that needed correcting. He did this not because he took delight in finding faults, but because he was accountable to God as a steward for the health of this church.

Yes, Paul was a servant—an errand boy for Jesus. But he was also a steward—responsible for something that wasn’t his (the church in Corinth). 

Like Paul, God has called us to be servants and has asked us to be His stewards of the things He has entrusted to our care. Here are some questions to think about as you meditate on your role as servant and steward in the areas God has called you to:

1. What has been entrusted to your care?
2. Who entrusted it to you?
3. Who are you accountable to?
4. What does it mean to be found faithful?
5. Why is it so important to be a servant-leader?
6. How are humility and honesty connected?
7. How can you serve Christ AND submit to others?

Why was Paul so concerned about believers in Corinth being less Corinthian and more Christian? Listen to our study from yesterday evening as we considered what it means to take off our former way of life and to put on the new self—created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

​The Apostle Paul wrote letters to the church in Corinth to correct their behavior. They were now citizens of a different city with a new loyalty and identity. 

As believers in Jesus, they were no longer to behave as Corinthians, who promoted factions, divisions, and contentions and attempted to impress others with intellect, oratory mastery, and wise-sounding words.

But the way of Jesus is different. The Christian way is earning respect through quiet faith, others-centered service, and trusting the power of the Holy Spirit. 

In 1 Corinthians 1:14-31, we considered Paul’s desire to simply tell others about the cross of Christ through quiet, consistent, and humble sacrificial service.