2 Corinthians 3 - Humble Confidence, Veils and Freedom

Humility versus Pride and Fear versus Confidence
In Christ Jesus, Paul says that he is confident but that he doesn't claim that he is either sufficient in himself nor that anything comes from himself: our sufficiency is from God (vs 4-6).   It isn't a fearful or false humility that says that we have nothing and can do nothing, nor is it a proud confidence that thinks we can do anything and that we are sufficient in ourselves.  This description is a humble confidence, one that recognizes that all we have that is of value comes from God, not ourselves, but that he has made us sufficient and capable ministers of Christ.

Veil of Moses
Paul's comments about the veil of Moses that still covers the hearts whenever Moses is read (that is the Scripture) (verses 14 and 15).  I've known a number of people who have said that before they came to Christ, they couldn't understand the Bible when they read it.  In fact, some have said that the pages of the Bible looked blank and they couldn't even see words on them at times.  But then after they put their trust in Jesus Christ and gave their lives to him, then they could not only see all of the words but they could understand and were given a desire to know and read more and more.  Shortly after I gave my life to Christ I felt a physical hunger in my body that wouldn't be affected by eating food, but would feel satisfied after I would read the Bible.  Paul is describing a spiritual condition of having the veil that covers the heart, but there are sometimes physical effects of the spiritual reality.

Freedom in Christ
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17
This verse has many applications.  Not only does it tell us about the freedom that we have in Christ in understanding his word, but it helps us at times to discern when God is speaking and working versus Satan. Jesus said that those who sin are a slave to sin (Jn 8:34) and Paul said that the elementary principles - demonic forces - used to hold us in slavery and want to make us slaves again (Gal 4:9,5:1).  Paul also says in 1 Cor 14:32 that the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets. So when a person is feeling a compulsion to say or do something, especially when there are feelings of condemnation if they don't speak or act, then this is usually a sign that it isn't God speaking or working in a person's life.  Jesus brings freedom, not compulsion or slavery.  He also brings conviction not condemnation (2 Cor 7:3,10).

Thank you Lord Jesus, that you set us free, give us new lives and open our eyes to see, know and understand the truth of who you are and the new life we have in you!

Glory to Glory
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
As God sets us free to see him, we are transformed to look like him ("the same image") and this transformation process goes gradually from one degree of glory to the next.  John describes this sanctification process as "the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." (1 Jn 2:8) and  Proverbs 4:8 says "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day."

Lord Jesus, shine your light on us and transform us that we can reflect your goodness and glory.  Let our lives be changed into your image so that we show your goodness and love in our actions that you may be glorified and that the world may know that you are God.

2 Corinthians 2 - Forgiveness, Restoration and Fragrance is in the nose of the smeller

Forgiveness and restoration are topics that are critical to both understand and practice as we follow Christ Jesus.  When we read 1 Corinthians 5 the need to remove from the fellowship of the church those who are living in open and unrepentant sin.  This practice is rarely followed by churches but then the second half of this is even more important.  Here we read in verses 5-11 of the need to forgive and restore fellowship after someone who has been removed from fellowship repents.  I think that the critical part of this is that it is done officially and in public.  Note that Paul's letter was read to the whole church, not just to the leaders or a select few.  So his instructions to bring back and forgive the repentant sinner is being done in a public way.  These issues need to be approached head on and publicly or the rumor mill will be in full force and people won't know for sure what is true and what to think.

As painful as a disfellowshipping situation is, as Paul says, the forgiveness and restoration must be public.  This reminds me of the story in 2 Samuel 14 regarding Absalom, king David's son.  Absalom had murdered his half brother because he had raped his sister and he fled to a distant city banished from David's presence and from the capital city of Jerusalem.  After some time David wanted to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem, saying that he forgave him, but didn't want to see him.  David may have forgiven Absalom, but he didn't know how or if he should restore the relationship.  After three years, Absalom still hadn't seen his father and felt the separation and asked David'd general why he had been brought back if he couldn't see his father.  He said, if I'm guilty, then let me be put to death.  So David was told and Absalom was brought back to the king and their relationship was restored.  In a parallel to this, if someone is brought back into fellowship but not publicly announced as restored, they would be like Absalom, feeling guilty and left out.  Absalom's pain was so much that he was willing to be put to death.  When restoration is not complete, it leaves an ambiguity which becomes isolation and condemnation and leads to depression to the point of death because Satan will be bringing accusations and whispering them in the ears and putting them on the heart and mind.  That is what Paul was warning about in verse 11.

Fragrance is in the nose of the smeller
Paul's discussion about being the aroma of Christ in verses 15-17 is always interesting to me.  We see an unusual situation where the same item smells great to one person and terrible to another.  I guess this is not that uncommon.  For instance, I like the smell of gasoline and others find it horrible.  Some people love the smell and taste of foods such as brussels sprouts and others hate them.  A common saying is "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and in this case, "Fragrance is in the nose of the smeller" :) Here Paul says that as we are the aroma of Christ, for those who are being saved, we are a beautiful fragrance of life, but to those who are perishing apart from Christ, we are the stench of death.  It takes the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life to change their smelling ability so that they aren't put off by the stench of death, but can begin to smell the aroma of life.

This reminds me of two things: 1) we shouldn't expect to please everyone all the time 2) there will be opposition to us as we follow Jesus completely.  Paul himself is a good example of one who was very opposed to Christ Jesus for a period of time.  He smelled the aroma of death.  But then Jesus interrupted his life and the Holy Spirit changed his heart and "smell capability" he was changed, found life and began to preach the good news about Jesus Christ.

Thank you Lord Jesus, that you change our minds, our hearts and the way that we see and experience the world around us.  Continue to change me and make me more like you!

2 Corinthians 1 - Suffering and Comfort, Amen and Establishing

We all face sufferings, trials and burdens of various kinds.  Paul and the Corinthian believers faced sufferings that were even to the point of being beaten and killed by others. The great news is that God the Father is the God of all comfort and the Father of mercy/compassion.  He not only expresses these attributes, but he is the origin of them!  He loves us, cares about us and feels with us our struggles. In the ESV, the word comfort (or comforts or comforted) is used 9 times between verses 3-7.  Part of the comfort comes from the body of Christ, for God comforts us that we can comfort others (v 4).  The implied parallel is that we also go through some sufferings to be able to comfort those experiencing similar problems.  As the writer of Hebrews says, Jesus was made perfect/complete in what he suffered so that he is a high priest who understands our weakness and suffering (Heb 2:10,17-18).

Thank you Father God for your love and compassion!  Thank you that you care about us and our struggles and our pain.  Help us to look to you and trust you and find strength and help in you.  And help us to see the needs and struggles of those around us that we can comfort them with the comfort we've received!

Amen
Amen is one of those words that Christians use often without fully understanding.  Most will end their prayers with an "Amen" without understanding why or what it means.  Jesus would often begin his teachings with  "Amen, I say to you", which is often translated "Truly I say to you".  So a basic translation of "Amen" might be "It is true", "Truly" or "I agree with the truth of this".  Paul, Peter, Jude and John all have prayers in the letters that they wrote that end with "Amen" (Rom 1:25,9:5, Gal 1:5, 1 Peter 4:11, Jude 1:25, Rev 7:12). Here Paul clarifies that all God's promises are "Yes" in Christ Jesus (v 20).  He both is the fulfillment and he brings them to fulfillment.  He is trustworthy and true.  And as Jesus said when we ask in his name, we shall have what we ask for (John 14:13-14).  From this we get the common prayer ending of "In Jesus name, Amen." Clearly though simply add the "in Jesus name" is not what it means when Jesus told us to pray in his name.  When we do something in someone's name, we are doing it for them, and doing something that they would both agree with and do or say themselves.  So we want to pray things that Jesus would want and then we know that he will fulfill the prayers.  Then we say "Amen" and agree with Jesus and bring glory to God (v 20).

There is much more that can be said about prayer such as "How do we know if we are praying something that Jesus would agree with?" and "Will God always answer our prayers?" etc. but we'll have to wait for another time to talk about these.

Establishing, anointing, sealing and giving!
I am struck by the statement in verses 21-22.  "It is God who establishes you in Christ" - it is God who makes us stand and who strengthens us and makes us grow and prosper in Christ.   He has anointed us, sealed us and given us his Holy Spirit.  Anointing was done for prophets, priests and kings in the Old Testament to set them apart, prepare them and commission them for their task.  The sealing is done both to make secure and put an identity upon us.  Both the anointing and sealing is done by the Holy Spirit - God himself who lives within us - and who is a guarantee of eternal life, adoption into the family of God and a relationship that we have with God.

Thank you Father God for listening to and answering our prayers!  Thank you for establishing, anointing, sealing us and giving us your Holy Spirit to live in our hearts!  This is all too wonderful to ask or imagine and all I can do is say thank you, thank you and thank you!!  You are so good to us!!  I love you!

2 Corinthians - Brief Intro

Paul wrote this second letter to the Corinthians around AD 57 or 58 and probably shortly after he wrote his first letter to the Corinthians while on his third missionary trip.  He may have written this while still in Ephesus where he spent two years (see this prior post for timelines and maps) or after he left Ephesus and went on to Macedonia (either Thessalonica or Philippi).  He had originally visited Corinth, a major city in Greece, on his second missionary journey and had spent over 18 months there which was his first long stay in a city on one of his trips.  

There have been several letters back and forth between the believers in Corinth and Paul who is in Ephesus and it seems based on his comment in 2 Corinthians 12:14 and 13:1 that he must have visited them after his first letter and before this letter (He says that his next visit will be the third visit).  We see in Acts 20:3 that Paul goes back to Greece for 3 months after being in Ephesus and Corinth is the main city in Greece that Paul spent time in.  In this letter Paul talks about wanting to go back to Corinth by way of Macedonia as in chapter 1 verses 16-19, so he does in fact do that.

In the first letter, he was answering questions that they had and addressing some problems in the church in Corinth that he had heard about.  In this letter, he continues this discussion and is happy to see that the Corinthian believers took to heart what he had said in the first letter, repented, changed and he now encourages them to continue on in Christ.

1 Corinthians 16 - Giving, Humility and Leadership

Several things of interest in this chapter:
1) Practical instructions on providing for those in need
2) Relationships in the Body of Christ - Humility and Leadership

Planning to Give
Paul makes a short comment about how the people should be regularly planning and preparing to give to others.  We've read in Acts how the church in Judea had suffered a famine and the believers in other regions were sending money to help (Acts 11:28-29). As Paul describes in greater detail in his second letter to the Corinthians, this gift is not required, but should be freely given as each desires and is able (2 Cor 8:12 - if the willingness is there the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one doesn't have).

Money is a problem area for churches in several ways.  First we've seen and still see around us those who abuse money and the pastors and leaders get rich while the people are impoverished.  There are the false teachings of the "prosperity gospel" that says that all believers in Christ should be rich.  On the other hand, there is much good that has been done and is done in Christ's name as believers give of their time and money to help those who are in need.

In this situation, the believers in Judea are undergoing hardship due to famine and those in Corinth, Macedonia and other areas are collecting and sending money to help them - clearly a good and important use of money.  Paul's practical instruction is that if they are planning and want to give, that they should be storing up and collecting the money each week so that when Paul comes, the money will be ready to send along with those the Corinthians choose to send it.

I really like and support organizations such as Samaritan's Purse (@SamaritansPurse) and Compassion International (@compassion).  It is also important for churches and individuals to be giving and investing into the local needs of the community.

Lord Jesus, give us your eyes to see the needs of the people around us, your hands to reach out and give and your wisdom to know where and when to best use the resources you've given us to manage.

Relationships in the Body of Christ - Humility and Leadership
I think that there are some interesting dynamics that are somewhat between the lines in this passage.  It seems that the Corinthians want Apollo to visit (he is a dynamic preacher seen in Acts 18:24-19:1 who had visited Corinth and Ephesus) and asked Paul to ask him to come (not sure why they didn't or if they did ask Apollos directly) and Paul relates that Apollos declined to come for now.  Earlier in the letter we see that some in Corinth followed Apollos and others Paul and this was causing some division (1 Cor 1:11-12) and Paul corrects them and says that neither he nor Apollos is anything, but God is the one they should worship, honor and follow (1 Cor 3:4-8).  The fact that Paul asked Apollos to visit the Corinthian church demonstrates his true humility.  He could have responded to them in a proud/insecure way that would be a normal response  ("If you want to follow Apollos, then fine, follow him and stop asking me for help!" or "I am the one that you need to listen to, not Apollos.  Apollos after all had an incomplete view of the Holy Spirit and baptism!")  This is a good example of how different leaders can work together in a godly way, in humility, not viewing people as "mine" or "yours" but belonging to God.

Some other comments are interesting as Paul tells the Corinthians to respect and treat well various workers in Christ.  Timothy, they are to "put at ease", "not despise" and "help him on his way in peace".  We see in Paul's letter to Timothy, that Timothy is young so this is why some might despise him (1 Tim 4:12). The are to "be subject" to the household of Stephanus who where the first converts in the region and have "devoted themselves to the service of the saints" (saints here of course being the other believers in Christ).  Generally speaking, two types of leaders that people have the most trouble following are 1) those who are younger than themselves and 2) those who used to be their peers.  As those problems exist in the secular world, so they exist in the church, and Paul is telling the believers and us to give proper respect to those who have given their lives to serve Christ by serving the body of Christ.   As the writer of Hebrews says "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." (Heb 13:17).

Father God, give us the grace to follow, submit and give proper honor to those leaders who serve you and us in Christ.  Also when we lead, give us the humility to lead as shepherds of your flock, not of ours, that the glory and honor may go to you.  Thank you for still loving us and having mercy on us even when we have bad attitudes and help us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling!

1 Corinthians 15 - Grain, Resurrection and Eternity

When I was younger in Christ, I didn't know that believers would have a physical body in heaven.  I though that we'd be just spiritual beings.  I remember when I first discovered in Scripture that we'd have new resurrection bodies and it was quite a surprise.  I'm not sure how or why I missed that detail at first but here we see the early Corinthian believers who were being taught incorrectly that there is no resurrection.  Paul clarifies to them the absolute importance of the resurrection - that if there is none, then Christ wasn't raised from the dead, and if Christ wasn't raised then he has lied and we are still stuck with the guilt and punishment of our sins hanging over our head.  Thank God that the resurrection is real and the tomb is empty!!  This is something that we can trust not only the reliable eye-witnesses about, but we still have a physical, tangible proof of the empty tomb!

Paul's discussion about the new bodies that we will have after we are resurrected is quite interesting!  He says that they will be different, imperishable, glorious, powerful - a spiritual body.  His analogies to a grain or seed being one body and after dying it produces a new body - the plant - is quite a powerful analogy.  Our bodies will have a resemblance or relationship to the old body, but they will be quite different.  It sheds an interesting light on the questions such as "If a person is handicapped in life, will they be handicapped in heaven?" or "What if a person is old and their body is worn out or a baby and their body is not developed yet?" into a different light since the new body is fundamentally different than the current body.  This is especially true in terms of its mortality, but also in other ways relating to the glory and power.  Jesus' new body was able to go through walls (John 20:26) but he also ate (Luke 24:43) and had a physical body you could touch (John 20:27).  His new body had properties of both spirit and body, similar to how light has both properties of both a particle and a wave.  We don't quite know what our resurrection bodies will be like but it all sounds like great news!

Thank you Lord Jesus for paying the price for our sins in your crucifixion and rising from the dead by your power! Thank you for the love and mercy that you have for us even while we were sinners and even when I have still gone my own way!  And thank you for allowing us to share eternity with you!

1 Corinthians 14 - Alive Vs Orderly

There are many issues of primary importance that the Scripture clearly presents a clear single truth (e.g.  Jesus is God, Jesus became a fully human man and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, we are rescued from our sins (saved) through faith in Jesus Christ alone, etc).   There are other truths that the Bible presents to us as guideposts, like railings on the two sides of a street or path, that keep us from falling off the path. Both sides of the truth boundaries are desirable but there is some tension between them.

Unfortunately in some issues that have two sides that are boundaries, we often treat them as a single truth issue and we often go to one extreme or the other and inflexibly resist any hint of the other side.  Debates such as, "Calvinism vs Arminianism?" or "Do believers in Christ get taken up to Christ before, during or after the end-times great tribulation?" can go on endlessly with each side presenting Scriptural evidence for their points.

We need to distinguish between such types of topics. For example, it is a clear, single truth the the Holy Spirit is God and that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to followers of Jesus.  But the use of those gifts, especially in the church today is a topic that there are two side boundaries I'll refer to as Alive Vs Orderly.  Clearly we would want things to be both alive AND orderly.  (These are positive descriptions that each side would attribute to their own view where a negative view from the other side might be Chaos Vs Quench - which clearly we would want neither).

The "Alive" side, in terms of spiritual gifts, would be characterized by the free reign of spiritual gifts such as prophecy and speaking in tongues (other languages as inspired by the Holy Spirit) in public gatherings of the church.  Paul in this chapter is giving guidelines for orderly, non-chaotic use of tongues (two or three but only with interpretation) and prophecy (two or three but only one speaking at a time).  These seem like common sense to some degree, but one could picture the scene without these guidelines as enthusiastic young believers in Christ Jesus are just experiencing a new gift from the Holy Spirit, so each one wants to speak and not hold back.  So several people are all speaking at the same time, some in foreign, unknown languages and others in the common language with messages from God.  Of course in such a chaotic situation, who can tell what is being said?  No one is hearing God's messages and the body of Christ isn't being strengthened.  So Paul brings order.

But spiritual gifts can still be seen as "scary" or "unknown" even when only one person is speaking at a time.  Part of the problem comes because of the need for discernment of spirits (another spiritual gift).  We are commanded to test the spirits in 1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."  If you have been in many charismatic services, you have probably heard a "prophecy" that is clearly not from God (the obviously false messages contradict scripture).  The two extreme responses to this are either 1) let everything be said without any correction or commentary 2) lock down prophecy altogether and don't allow it.  These two conditions one could describe as Alive or Orderly.

Some take Orderly to the full extent and believe that the gifts are no longer to be used in the church today - a cessational approach to the gifts of the Holy Spirit (saying that they have ceased).  Many main-line denominations have taken this approach. But there isn't any scriptural reason to hold that the Holy Spirit is no longer giving spiritual gifts to believers in Jesus.  And this view, while not preventing people from having a relationship with Jesus and not preventing sins from being forgiven and not preventing eternal life, certainly takes away a major gift (a whole set of gifts) that God has freely given to the body of Christ for its strengthening, growth, edification and comfort.

I think that the last two verses of this chapter capture the tension between Alive and Orderly: "So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order." (1 Cor 14:39-40).  Some ride hard on "earnestly desire/do not forbid" while others on "decently and in order".  To the degree that we lean to one side or the other, we miss out on the benefit that the other has to offer.  The trick is to maintain the right balance between the two.

While I don't at all claim that I have that balance perfect, I would make some general observations:
1) the gifts, especially prophecy, are very useful in the body of Christ
2) when prophecy is spoken in a public gathering it is the job of the pastors or leaders to be listening and judging what is said (v 29; 1 Jn 4:1).
3) if the prophecy isn't from God, then it needs to be publicly stated that this isn't from God.

Clearly the last point could be quite embarrassing to the person who spoke the words.  On the other hand, if nothing is said about the word not being correct, there is an implicit acceptance of the words which could be quite misleading, especially to young believers. So one practice that I learned from Pastor Gordon Powlison who trained me was to approach like this 1) Those who are not tested/approved ministers should write down or speak the word to a pastor in private first to have the word tested.  If it is from God, then it will be shared with the larger body.  If not, it is a private learning experience.  2) Those persons who are a tested and approved ministry are able to speak the words publicly without checking first, but they also will be corrected if necessary.  While this is not the only way to approach the issue, it provides the benefit of hearing prophetic words from God and the building up of the body of Christ and it allows for the words to be tested without any public embarrassment.

On a related note, since according to 1 John 4:1 there are various spirits that are speaking, the gift of discernment is key along with a good deliverance ministry to prepare and allow people to be free to more clearly hear God's voice and distinguish from the other voices in the air.

Father God, help us to hear, value and treasure the words that you speak to us and the spiritual gifts that you give us.  Help us also to be guided by love, seeking the best for others and not glory for ourselves.  Grow us and train us to be your servants and ministers of the good news of Jesus Christ!

1 Corinthians 13 - The Impossibility of Love

To truly love goes beyond what you or I are capable of.

The Importance of Love
Love is the most fundamental and important attribute of God and the most important thing for us to both understand and to practice.  1 John 4:8 and 16 say that "God is love." Jesus came and died for us because "God so loved the world" (John 3:16). We know what love is because of God's love for us when Jesus died for us (1 John 3:16).  The two greatest commandments are about love - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind; Love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37-39).

This passage on love is one of the most revealing and detailed descriptions about love but surprisingly it is written by Paul in response to wrong attitudes of the Corinthian believers about the use of spiritual gifts.  His first two statements directly warn against using the gift of tongues and the gifts of prophecy and faith in wrong ways - specifically without love.  In other words, if the gifts are used for one's one glory or benefit rather than for helping others and with others primarily in mind, then the gifts are nothing and we have gained nothing.

Love is WAY more than emotions
As it has been pointed out, love is not primarily about the emotional feelings we might have for someone as movies, tv and Valentines day celebrations would have us think.  No, love is primarily about putting another first and before ourselves.  It is considering the other person's needs more important than our own and willing to give up our place, our rights, our desires for another - even to the point of giving our lives for them.  Jesus said that the greatest love is laying down our life for someone else (John 15:13).

In every relationship we have, whether with family, a spouse, coworkers, neighbors or strangers we meet in passing, love is the attitude we are to have and it should determine the actions we take.  Certainly this is not easy because we are selfish to the core - looking out for our own interests.  But within us, a hint of God's image remains so that we can be moved to heroic acts of love at time.  The key is to be transformed by God so that we can love consistently in the day-to-day.

Love Attributes
The list of attributes that Paul gives about love is very challenging and beyond what we can do without God's help.  If I am honest with myself, when I read these descriptions, I am reminded of the many ways and times that I fall short of true love.
Love is patient - it waits for others, even when they are slow, even when they don't understand and they should, even when they cut in front of you or go out of turn - and it doesn't get upset, frustrated or angry when these things are happening!
Love is kind - it acts gently with others, looking for good actions to take, good gifts to give even when the other person doesn't deserve it and is acting unkindly to us.
Love does not envy - because love wants the best for others.  Love is able to be happy and rejoice when someone else gets the raise, and not you, when you are looked over or when someone else gets a bigger or better gift or even when you get or have nothing.
Love does not boast - because it wants to build others up and not itself, constantly wanting to encourage and help others, even to the neglect of ourselves.
Love is not arrogant - it never looks down on others, nor despises the weak, nor considers itself great or better than others.  Even when those around are weaker, love feels the hurt and the weakness for the others and loves, supports and carries them.
Love is not rude - it always considers the needs of those around and seeks to strengthen, bless, encourage and lead them by example and by self-sacrifice into life, freedom and joy in Christ Jesus.  We become rude when we are focused on ourselves, our fears our needs as opposed to others.  So love listens to others, even when they are speaking for a long time.  It doesn't cut them off or silence them.
Love does not insist on its own way - it will give up its right and even its better idea and plan.  It doesn't get frustrated when someone else changes the plan or wants to do something different, but in love, defers to the needs and desires of others.
Love is not irritable or easily angered - it doesn't get irritated by the actions of others. When we feel ourselves being irritated, it is because others are infringing on what we view as our right or changing our expectation.  The focus is on ourselves and not the needs of those around us, even when the others are wrong or even trying to be irritating.
Love is not resentful, does not keep a record of wrong - it forgives and forgets the wrongs against it.  Jesus was able to forgive even in the middle of being crucified.  We usually remember the things done against us, especially when they keep happening again.  We then resent the actions of others.  Love lets go of the list.
Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing - even when the wrong is being done to those we feel "deserve" it.
Love rejoices with the truth - when truth is declared it is happy, even when the truth exposes our sins and shortcomings.
Love bears all things and always protects - Love is able to withstand the attacks, challenges to authority, without giving in or giving up.  Those who belong to it are under love's protection.  Similar to a mother bear defending cubs, love will protect to the death those that it loves.
Love believes all things, always trusts - which is difficult when we become jaded. Entrusting our lives completely to God who is faithful is difficult, and trusting people who fail us, is even harder.
Love hopes all things, always hopes - wanting to see the best for people and looking for God's work and hand in other's lives as opposed to giving up on a "lost cause".
Love endures all things, always perseveres - and keeps loving, even when the road is long, the change in others and ourselves is slow, the persecution and wrongs mount up.
Love never ends or fails - we fail, we give in, we get short tempered, we get frustrated and we give up.  Love on the other hand keeps loving.

This list of love attributes is both humbling and challenging!  I dare say that if we could live like this, there wouldn't be war or emotional pain, our relationships would be transformed and we and those around us would be amazingly happy and blessed.  Alas, we cannot do these things without God's help.

Lord Jesus, change me by your Holy Spirit to love as you love, to give of myself completely as you did, and to serve others not looking for glory or gain for myself.  Let my life be a living sacrifice to you and bring glory to your name!

1 Corinthians 12 - Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual gifts are often misunderstood, cause arguments, selfish acts and even divisions.  They also are critical to the proper functioning of the body of Christ.  So as Paul wanted the Corinthians to not be uninformed, so we too should not simply avoid them because they can cause difficulties.  The benefits far outweigh any problems.

First a few notes:
1) These are gifts from the Holy Spirit to be used for the good of the whole church (v. 4,7)
2) They are different from natural gifts that a person may have though they may be similar in some cases
3) Each believer in Christ has been given at least one spiritual gift (v. 7)
4) This is not a comprehensive list of spiritual gifts (other lists: Rom 12:6-8, 1 Peter 4:11 etc.)
5) They are not to make you famous, but are for God's glory
6) The gifts of the Spirit are for helping others, while the fruit of the Spirit are the Holy Spirit's working to change and grow us as individuals

I won't do an exhaustive study right now, but here is an overview of the gifts listed here:

1) Speaking gifts - where the Holy Spirit enables a person to speak what they didn't otherwise know -  

• prophecy - speaking words from God to edify, encourage and comfort (1 Cor 14:3)
• tongues - speaking a foreign or angelic language (Acts 2:4-7, 1 Cor 13:1)
• interpretation of tongues - knowing and saying what someone speaking in an unknown language (1 Cor 14:10-13)

2) Knowledge gifts - where the Holy Spirit gives information or understanding that a person otherwise didn't have, often to speak or to guide choices -

• word of wisdom - tell of future, hidden events - (1 Cor 2:7) or knowing how to act from God's perspective
• word of knowledge - information given that is otherwise not known to the person
• distinguishing between spirits - knowing if a spirit is from God or from the devil

2) Miraculous gifts - where the Holy Spirit does supernatural actions through a person -

• gifts of healing - plural gifts indicating supernatural healing from physical and other problems that are emotional or spiritual;  deliverance could come under this gift
• miracles - supernatural signs and wonders such as turning water to wine, walking on water, multiplying loaves etc. 
• faith - supernatural faith that can move mountains and enables other miraculous workings of the Spirit of God

It seems that the gifts were causing divisions in the Corinthian church and some felt like they were being left out and others felt like they didn't need the others.  Paul was emphasizing the need for interdependence and working together in the body.  Each part is needed for their individual gifts and the individual needs the rest of the whole body to survive - just as the body needs the parts and the parts need the body.

Father God, help each one of us learn and understand the gifts that you have given us.  Help us to learn how to use those gifts to help, edify and encourage others in the body of Christ so that we can all grow and be strengthened in Christ Jesus!