You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? (1 Cor. 3:3)
If you want to be reminded daily of humanity’s wondrous potential and our total depravity, spend some time around young children. Young kids pick up the fundamentals of language, putting our smartphone app-based efforts to shame. They observe the effects of gravity and test them thoroughly on every toy in the room. They ask “why?” incessantly, often when they already know the answer, just to gain a firmer grasp on the world around them.
They are also ungrateful, angry, and deeply selfish. Some things, it seems, we all struggle to grow out of.
First Corinthians reminds us that even the earliest New Testament audiences struggled to live out their faith well. Paul’s writing tells us there was “jealousy and quarreling” in the Corinthian church, along with worldliness and immaturity—just as there continues to be in churches the world over today.
After a chapter of Paul describing maturity in faith, as demonstrated by the centering of Christ, submission to the Spirit’s teaching, and immersion in the Word, we are reminded once more, as in Romans, that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
This revelation can be frustrating, but it’s also crucial to keeping perspective on what spiritual maturity looks like. We may put some failures behind us, but without Christ and the Spirit, we are just as far from God as any other human.
Consider one temptation you confront daily; thank Christ for his guilt-abolishing sacrifice.
Lindsey Priest is an Indiana Wesleyan University graduate who lives in Arkansas. She likes to read to her kids, play video games with her husband, and refurbish furniture.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
