1 Corinthians 4:14-20 (NRSV)
Reign of God depends not on talk but power
I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me. For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church. But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.
Reflection
I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me. For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church. But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.
Reflection
A guardian would take the student to school. There are many guides or guardians but few fathers. Maybe there were even too many guardians willing to take young Christians to school and teach their values. The father was closer to the student and the teaching. The father's actions exhibited the teachings.
As we learn and grow in God's Word our actions become more than just talk or conversation. Our faith deepens and our actions exhibit our belief through a joyful love towards God and one another. This is the power of God at work in and through us. Sometimes we know what to do but we need to wait on that power to fill us and action is taken. It's God's action in and through his children with the power of the Spirit. Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Lord, as I study your Word and hear it spoken and as I see evidence of your activity in the sacraments; fill me with knowledge and the joyful power of the Spirit that I may go out into this world in love towards you and loving service towards others...today...tomorrow...and forever. --- Amen
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