Day 335

Is There Harmony in Your Church?

Read: 1 Corinthians 1-4

Corinth, a city in Achaia (southern Greece), was known for its immorality. In that environment Paul had planted a church and left. Now he hears that they are struggling with problems, so he writes this letter giving solutions to these problems, one by one.

The first problem was lack of unity. One characteristic of a healthy church is a spirit of harmony. Is your church characterized by harmony? If not, a top priority ought to be to work for such unity. In the Corinthian congregation, instead of being united in Christ, some people considered themselves followers of Paul, some of Apollos, the pastor they had after Paul left. The Corinthian Christians considered themselves very “spiritual,” but Paul tells them that this forming into cliques proves they are very unspiritual. All must realize that, while God used Paul to found the church and Apollos to nurture the church, it was God himself who caused many good things that happened among them.

The one foundation upon which to build the church is Christ. Each one who works in the church must build on that foundation. The judgment day will reveal how effective that work has been, and God will give rewards accordingly. Our abilities have been given by God and we are accountable to him.

PRAYER
Father, give us love and wisdom to deal with the problems that exist in our congregation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.