To God be the Glory ~ 1 Corinthians 4.6-13 2.12.10

To God be the Glory

“All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.”

As I read today’s passage, these words to one of the first pop gospel songs ran through my mind. Take a look at Paul’s writing-

“Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures, you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? [or as John the Baptist put it, ‘A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from Heaven’, John 3.27] And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?

You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you. Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.” 1 Corinthians 4.6-13, NLT

From the proud to the ridiculed, Paul moves us. From those who would wrongly elevate their leaders to Paul’s honest admission of being made the fool, harshly and wrongly treated, hungry and cold, so Paul paints his autobiography. He accepted all as from the hand of the Lord. Job of old said, ‘the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away—blessed be the name of the Lord.’1 Whether Paul was hungry or well fed, he thanked God, and was content.2 ‘You? ‘Me?

See, Friends, here’s the thing—if we believe that God our Father is unalterably good, then we can trust him. If we believe that God’s nature and very character is good, and that toward us, then we can say, ‘thank you, Lord for your good gifts’ and ‘thank you for this rough time’, too.

And so we see in this passage that Paul seemed to see it all—he had a handle on what continued to plague the young church, and he saw how the worldly wise mocked him, and the authorities were able to punish him, but Paul remained true to his calling. And somehow, I have to believe one of the things that kept him strong was that he always gave thanks to God—no matter the circumstance.

One of my friends was telling me that the other day, on the heels of bad news from several sources, her and her husband sat down in the sunshine of their front porch. After a little bit, she spoke out ‘thanks’ to God for something, and he followed with a ‘thank you’ about something else, and back and forth they continued for a good, long while. Later, she noticed that the heavy feeling she had been carrying had lifted, and her attitude had changed. Gratitude changes us, and it certainly changes our mood and outlook on life. Paul knew that, and he knew the God who was deserving of our thanks and praise—so do we.

Giving thanks today,

Christine

podcast:www.pastorwoman.com

p.s. The song was Andre Crouch’s “My Tribute” or ‘To God be the Glory”

1 - Job 1.21 2 - Philippians 4.11-12