In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he leaves final instructions that seem to emphasize the generalized theme of his whole letter, before finishing with his final greetings. Almost like ending with a bang – like, “don’t forget!”
“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.” - 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
I love the emphasis Paul places on action. While our salvation is not dependant or earned by deeds – for it is by faith alone that we are saved (reference Ephesians 2:8-9) - his words really do emphasis that our active faith should be spurred on with a procession of actions.
Be. Stand. Do.
The Message paraphrase says it this way, “Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.”
Keep. Hold. Give. Be. Love.
My mind rings with the simple thought that if we’re commanded to these actions as representation of our faith in action, it’s likely because we can miss the point.
If we’re told to “Be on guard”, it’s because without Truth and the Spirit’s leading, we default to “Not being on guard”. And when this is the case, we can so easily slip back into selfish thoughts and selfish actions.
If we’re told to “Stand firm in the faith”, it’s because without Truth and the Spirit’s leading, we default to being swayed by the world. And we know how slippery a slope that is.
If we’re told to “Be courageous” and “Be strong”, it’s because without Truth and the Spirit’s leading, we can so easily cower in fear and live out of our weakness. And decisions made while we’re in that place are small, short-sighted, and never lead to growth.
If we’re told to “do everything with love”, it’s because without Truth and the Spirit’s leading, we default to what’s comfortable for us or merely completing tasks. And doing things either of those ways won’t help anyone experience the One Who has saved us.
Our faith awakens us through God’s Word and the Spirit’s leading to keep in step with action in our everyday life.
And besides, if there’s no action behind what we believe, it begs a few serious questions…
- How much do we really believe it?
- How else will we strengthen what we believe?
- Who will feel the effects of what we believe?
“Holy Spirit lead us in Your ways. Keep our eyes open to be on guard to protect our heart, soul, mind and body from anything that is not of You. Cause our feet to stand firm, holding tight to the convictions You’ve stirred in our hearts. Make us strong and courageous, determined to be about the mission and purpose You’ve called us to fulfill. And with every single thing that we put our hands to, with every single word that we speak, draw us to do it all with love at the forefront, creating passion in us that keeps us in a cycle of loving without stopping. In Jesus name, Amen!”
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