There are many rules and lessons that I am trying to teach my sons. Cleaning up after themselves. Getting their homework finished right. Helping each other. And the list goes on. However, the three things I tell them every day is: Help, Share, Be Kind. If they can get those things down in life, they will be alright.
Now, that is not all that I tell them, of course. I am a mom! I tell them all sorts of things. I have all kinds of sayings as I am sure they could repeat them if asked. The saying I probably say the most before they leave the house is, “Be careful. Be safe. Make good choices. I love you.” Another saying I tell them when they are watching or listening to something that is not appropriate is, “what goes in comes out worse.” And most recently, “Help. Share. Be Kind.”
These sayings are really small and to the point so that they are easily remembered. I need for them to learn these things quickly and hold on to them. Of course I could recount a lot of life lessons that I have experienced that led me to narrow them down to these sayings. I could tell them where I heard the saying and began putting them into practice. However, they would not remember them. They would remember how bored they were to listen to me tell them stories about my childhood or the conversation I was having or the book I was reading. These sayings I have for my sons are tried, tested, and true.
In 1 Corinthians 16, I came across what I would call a “saying”. Paul was wrapping up his first letter to the Corinthians, and he did the same thing to them as I do to my sons. He summed up the letter in short, easy-to-remember actions. I have a thing for the number three, so my sayings usually are in multiples of three. However, Paul had a lot more to teach and guide than four sons.
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." 1Corinthians 16:13-14(ESV)
The entirety of this letter has been whittled down to five simple actions. Four were relationally with God and self, and the other is relationally with others. The key to this is being easy to remember. We don’t do what we don’t remember. And it is difficult to remember long drawn out letters unless you spend time memorizing them, which you can do. That would probably be the best option. But after these people gathered to listen to the letter read, I am pretty sure they didn’t memorize the letter after one time listening to them. Or even twice listening to it read. I imagine that this item was written here at the end so that it was almost the last thing heard before the send off.
Be watchful. When I was looking up various definitions for being watchful, I found one at vocabulary.com that stated, “to be watchful is to be alert and aware. A watchful dog might keep an eye on the sidewalk in front of your house all afternoon. The adjective watchful is good for describing someone who keeps an attentive eye on things.” Proverbs 8:34-35 (ESV) says, “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.” Notice the words in that: “watching” and “waiting”. Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 24:4-5 (ESV), “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.” So when Paul was writing to the Corinthians, he was reminding them to be alert, aware, watch, wait, and to keep an eye out on your surroundings.
Stand firm in the faith. To stand firm is to “refuse to change a decision or position.” When I hear/read ‘stand firm’, I instinctively think of a football player on the defensive team planting their feet on the ground ready to block a player from the offensive team from getting to the quarterback. He is preparing himself to be run into but to remain unmoved. We are going to be pushed and knocked into in life, but our objective is not to be pushed around. Our position is a position of faith, knowing that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. He lived a sinless life, died on the cross for you and me, three days later rose from the grave, and he ascended into heaven where he is awaiting time to return. Our faith is in HIM.
Act like men. Now, here is where some of us, me included, kind of cringed at first. I will be the first to admit that I get a little defensive when I am told to “act like a man” or “man up”. Usually when someone is saying that, they are trying to encourage one to toughen up or to grow up. I am surrounded by guys, and I must say, I am probably tougher than all of them put together. That is not saying they aren’t tough; it is saying that I am super tough. But when I reigned in my defensiveness, I read it for what it was. When Paul said, “act like men,” he was saying, “act like an adult.” Paul said a little earlier in this letter the longer version of this (1 Corinthians 13:11). So grow up and take responsibility for yourselves.
Be strong. This one is a hard one for me to do all the time. There are some days when I am super strong, and I am confident in who I am and whose I am. But there are some days that I am an emotional mess all in my feels. I feel at times that I am not good enough or capable enough to be doing anything worthy for God. Being strong isn’t about physical strength. It is about courage. One definition of courage is, “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. without fear.” That is what Paul was telling the Corinthians. He was telling them not to fear, but to be strong. Many times the scriptures say, “be strong and courageous.” Sometimes followed by “do not fear.” This is what Paul was calling the Corinthians to remember and hold on to.
Do everything in love. This last one reminds me of a coach in the locker room telling the team, “this is what we’ve worked for; this is what we’ve practiced for. Now get out there and show them what we got!” The first four were for our mental, emotional, and spiritual resolve. This last one is how we are to make those micro decisions we make every day with those around us. I mean those little decisions like, “Do I hold the door open behind me or just walk through without thinking about anyone else that may be behind me?” “Do I say thank you or just take my change and go?” “Do I smile at the person or not?” All of the decisions we make are dictated by our character. There is a motivation behind it all. And Paul tells the Corinthians at the end of this small list the most important for living in community with each other. The Corinthians didn’t need to go back to the person who held the letter of Paul to reread what they were supposed to do in specific situations. Paul said to do everything in love. Everything. There is no love in cheating your neighbor out of goods. There is no love in ignoring your neighbor’s dog roaming around loose without doing something about it, whether it be friendly and catching it for them, or if it’s not so friendly letting the neighbor know that their dog is out. Everything that we do is to be done with the other person’s best in mind.
Hopefully, we can remember these things as we go about our days. And I hope that this is helpful.
Gotta go fill up my cup…..
Coffee with Candee 