#TuesdayTruth 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things- and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’ ”

I know that is a lengthy passage, but stick with me here. I have read these verses before (probably many times), but they hit me differently this time, and I hope you also will glean some of what I got from them.

Read what it says and consider it with me:

  1. Think about what/who you were when you were called. I don’t know about you, but I know exactly who I was and what I did/thought before I knew my true identity in Christ. If it had been up to me, I would not have chose me . . . but God did. He also chooses you, no matter your past/background/history (not in spite of it, but maybe because of it).

  2. He chose the foolish, the weak, the lowly and despised. The scripture does not say that He had to settle for those ones. It is not as though he had no other choices and just had to stick with what was there. HE CHOSE THEM (us), and for a reason.

  3. All of this is to remind us that our righteousness/holiness/redemption- ALL OF IT- is because of Him. It is nothing of, or in, ourselves. It is all Him. We have no right to boast, outside of Him and what He has done and is doing in our lives. Without Him, we are nothing. With Him, we are whole.

  4. So, if we are going to call attention to anything at all, the only things we can boast about are related to our Heavenly Father- His love, His grace, His mercy, His generosity, His life-changing gift. Again, it is not us. It is Him, in us.

My friend, God is not waiting for you to “get right” before you come to Him and can be used by Him. He WANTS to use what/who seems lowly in human eyes. That is exactly who he CHOOSES. Think of how great His glory when He takes what the world sees as foolish/weak/lowly/despised and shows His great grace through us. And isn’t that what we are all living for anyways- the Father’s glory?

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for using the weak to shame the strong. Thank you that you have not set up any high expectations for us to be wise or strong before we can be used by you. Thank you for not highlighting our defeats, but for shining the light on YOUR love through us. Thank you for grace. We are truly nothing without you.

We love you Father, Amen.

Drew Gonzalez