Devotional 1 Corinthians 3: Overcoming Divisions and Growing in Faith

Today’s devotional is found in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, and this was what happened.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Paul warns, in his letter to the Corinthians, against divisions in the church caused by jealousy and strife.

Observations

These were my observations.

There should be no divisions in the church because of jealousy and strife. This was the warning that Paul gave to the church in Corinth. The members were arguing and misunderstanding each other for personal reasons (e.g., jealousy and strife). And this distracted them and divided them as a church, because it took their focus away from serving God to serving their own desires. The result was the creation of factions based on which leader they preferred to follow (e.g., Paul, Apollos, Cephas, etc.). For this reason, Paul addressed them as immature and called them out. For they were behaving like infants in Christ due to spiritual immaturity caused by the jealousy and strife among them (1 Corinthians 3:1–4). Furthermore, Paul explained to them that both he and any other Christian who preaches the gospel are on the same level. For they are simply servants of God. In this case, Paul planted and Apollos watered, but only God makes things grow. Therefore, there is no hierarchy among Christians, because we all serve the same Lord. Therefore, it is God whom the church should focus on and serve—not God’s messengers (1 Corinthians 3:5–8). Unfortunately, this happens in our day as well. There are churches that divide and end up splitting for human reasons that do not serve God at all. We must be very careful with these behaviors, because they distort the purpose of the church and drive people away from God (Romans 2:24).