We all have times in our lives when we were less mature than we are now. Just think back to middle school and it’ll probably prove the point. We all have to grow up sometime. We can’t act like we’re in kindergarten if we’re actually an adult.
The same goes for how we grow as Christians. We should move past how we acted, thought, and spoke when we first started following Jesus.
Grab a pen and paper and spend a few minutes writing about when you first believed in Jesus.
What kinds of things have changed in the way you live since then?
Who has set an example for you of how to think about other people?
Where do you see room to improve in the way you treat others?
The problem comes when we stay put—when we don’t grow up as Christians. That’s part of the Corinthians’ problem and Paul calls them out on it. Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-23.
While you’re reading, jot down the signs that point to the Corinthians’ immaturity.
1Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 4When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? 5After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. 10Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 12Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. 16Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 18Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.” 20And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.” 21So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you—22whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
(NLT – New Living Translation version)
The Corinthians wanted both the Christian life and the worldly life everyone else had in the city. Remember that, at that time, people lifted wisdom—particularly wise leaders— onto a pedestal. The Corinthians arguing about which leader they follow would have been the cultural norm in Corinth.
So, in this section, Paul attacks their need to rally behind, rely on, and brag about certain leaders.
Paul has harsh words for the Corinthians. He calls them childish and worldly. They’re too immature to recognize God’s role in their growth. And they’re too arrogant to see that what they’re doing goes against the life God’s called them to. They’ve mistaken God’s work for human work. They’ve idolized human leaders over God.
And we can do the same. We can look at how our lives have unfolded and easily forget God’s role in all of it. When we neglect to remember that God’s in the middle of it all with us, we worry.
Sometimes when we’re worried, our immediate reaction is to go looking for comfort. For some people that could be alcohol, shopping, social media, video games, or a TV show. But if we think that’s the best way to live the Christian life, we’re just like the Corinthians. We’re deceiving ourselves.
Pause for a few minutes to be honest before God. Confess any ways you might be turning to something—or someone—else besides God with your worries. Tell him what you’re worried about. Ask him for opportunities to go to him with your worries this week.
When we allow God to dig up the deep-rooted ways we resist the selfless life God’s called us into, we grow. Or rather, he grows us. Let’s praise him for that.
Looking back from when you first know Jesus until now, what can you praise God about for the changes He made in you?
Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and/or share it as a comment below
I’m very thankful for College Christian clubs like Interversity. They guided me through my first year of college, keeping me accountable, and learning more about God. I also thankful for Poster Bumble, Poster John, and Jenney for mentoring me and answering my questions about God. They changed the way I live. I could feel the spirit of God within their heart. I use to having trouble with lust and angry issues. These people helped me out of that. And now I learned to be patient with people around me. However, I think I could have served more for my community, for my church. They have given a lot for me. But I don’t think have give same amount of support to them. I very thankful for their unconditional support. Most importantly, I’m thankful for God’s work that have done on me.
I think one of the ways I am thankful that God has changed in me is the simplifying of my life. When I was young I had so many wants and desires but when I came to know God, all of the worldly things I desired became meaningless and God changed my heart. I always try to remind myself of this so that I do not fall back into old ways of life.
Like a lot of kids I grew up in church with a family that was very actively involved in church so i thought i already knew Jesus and there was nothing else I needed to do. However, I was still clinging onto my sinful life by saying things that wouldn’t be pleasing to God like cussing when i was outside of a church environment due to all the influence from my classmates. After coming to Christ and laying my sins at his feet, I’ve let go of the foul language I used to have and started caring more for others rather than myself. God has opened my eyes to be more selfless and allowed me to not have my behavior controlled through peer pressure by others.