Photograph of Eliana Beth Garcia by her grandpa, Eradio Valverde
They Serve Their Purpose When You're a Baby!
From 1 Corinthians 3:1And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?4 For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human? 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. 9 For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.
There is a story in our family about some children past bottle-feeding age. After school, the younger one asked the older one for a bottle. The legend goes, and I must point out this did not happen in our immediate family, the older fixes a bottle for the younger one and then one for themselves. Ahh! A refreshing bottle of milk after school. We'll stop there.
Paul says, when I first met you I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as bottle-fed infants. You were not ready to hear the meatier stuff of our faith, just milk. But what's worse, Paul continues, you're still not ready! You still belong to and are guided by the flesh and not the spirit. How can I tell? There is much jealousy and quarreling among you; all driven by human inclinations not the Spirit! And then you argue about who the best pastor was who has served your church! Sounds very familiar doesn't it?
Paul's message was straight-forward; come to Jesus and be guided in all aspects of your life by God's Holy Spirit. If you just come to church and not to Jesus, you'll still be the same person you've always been. In Christ, we become new creatures, guided by God and driven by love towards others. Those who have not yet surrounded to Jesus are still driven by the same other selfish things; me, me, me! Rise above those things and come to Jesus, for in Him we can find a better life. I believe the opposite of jealousy is encouragement and celebration for others. The opposite of quarreling is agreement and encouragement. Where do you find yourself today? Guided by the Holy Spirit or by your own selfish interests?
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to die to self and be made new in You. Help me to be a person guided by love and driven to share hope, love, joy, and encouragement towards others, especially those with whom I seek to serve You. Forgive us those times we have put ourselves before You; for we pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
