1 Corinthians 9: A Story about Selflessness and What Matters Most

1 Corinthians 9:19-"For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more."

Paul's statement in verse 19 shows a description of Christ. He was free from everyone and did not have to make the sacrifices that he did to redeem mankind, but he made himself servant unto each of us. The Savior's act of the atonement shows one of His characteristics-absolute selflessness. Throughout His life, Christ did not think of Himself, but always about those who were around Him. Even after He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and again on the cross, He thought about helping others when He healed one of His captor's ears and then forgave those who put Him on the cross. 

This selflessness is an attribute of Christ that is being fought against today. Today's world is all about doing what is best for you. The world says that you are "free from all men", so why would you bind yourself down? Why would you get married and raise a family, why would you try taking time out of your busy day to help others, or spend time and money taking care of your elderly parents when you are free? Why would you choose to do anything other than roam the world and live your dreams without any other cares? But the world's message is in direct opposition to what Christ's message is, who "made [himself] a servant unto all."  

At the end of his statement, Paul says that "I made myself a servant unto all, that I might gain the more." How could you gain more when you are serving others? This question goes back to the age old question, how do you gain happiness? I think you can gain more happiness by giving part of your life to others, whether it is through service or through developing meaningful relationships that might make you less free in terms of the world. The happiness that can come from these things can make you more free than you could be by following what the world says will give you freedom.

Just remember in life not to spend too much time on the things that aren't going to last (even if they seem as if they will bring you more freedom) that you miss out on the things that do last and can bring much joy into your life.

For more on this subject, here's a talk that is somewhat related, especially the first portion about spending time with those that we love.

1 Cor. 6:19-20: A Story about Loving your Body

"What? Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Cor. 6:19-20)


This scripture passages is now probably one of my new favorites. It is just so powerful. Your body is a temple. Your body is sacred. Your body is a place for the Holy Ghost to dwell. Think on that for a minute.

Did you notice Paul's first word in this passage? He says, "What?" To me, it almost sounds as if he is shocked that the people he is writing to do not known the worth of their bodies. I wonder what he would say today. He would probably start out with this very expression, but possibly with a few explanation marks.

There, perfect.

With all that goes on in the media today, with the constant message of how your body should look and how you need to change yourself to be beautiful, Paul's message needs to be heard now more than ever. And believed. Your body is a gift. It's a gift from Christ, who "bought it with a price". Don't take this gift and treat it like garbage, don't look in the mirror and loathe this gift and wish it looked like someone else's. Take care of this gift. Embrace it. Love yourself. 

The other part of Paul's message that I love is that your body does not define you. Your body is a gift, but it is not who you are. No matter what condition your body is in, whether it has carried you through rough times that you now wear the mark of or the body that you were given is not as perfect as you would like, remember that it does not define you. You are not your body. You are so much more. Your soul, how you live your life, how you treat others...that is what defines you.

Moral of the Story: You are one of God's children and he loves you. You should try to love yourself as well, because you are magnificent. By caring for your body, both physically and through the way you look at it, you can glorify God who gave you that gift.

P.S. If you haven't ever watched the short film "The Butterfly Circus", you definitely should. It's one of my favorite videos and is simply inspiring. 

Acts 16: A Story of Listening to the Lord

In chapter sixteen, we come upon Paul on his second missionary journey. He has been preaching the gospel and comes upon what might be considered a rough patch. As Paul and his companions continue their journey to find more people to teach, they come upon one decision after another that they are told by the holy ghost is not the right way to go. First, they try to go towards Asia (not modern day Asia, but more in the area of Turkey) and then they decide to go towards Bythinia, but they are told no. This is a situation that I would find frustrating. They likely put thought into where they should go and came to a decision, but when they asked for the Lord's guidance, they got no for an answer. However, they were patient and listened to the Lord and did not go to these locations. They start trekking the direction that has not been forbidden to them by the Spirit, and then Paul is given a vision in which he is told to go to Macedonia. They then (in verse 10) immediately acted on God's word to them and started heading towards Macedonia. I think that this is a great example of what each of us can do in our lives. When we keep on trying to come up with different paths to go down in our lives, we need to follow these missionaries' examples and be patient and continue to listen to the Lord. And when we are told that a direction is right, we need to immediately act on that direction before that revelation begins to fade and we begin to question it.


This being said, acting on what we are told when we listen to God will not necessarily be easy. It wasn't easy for Paul and his companions. They completed their journey to Phillipi, the main city in Macedonia, and they did not immediately have success. They had to wait days for anything to happen with their preaching of the gospel. Would this have been tough? Yes. Would it have caused Paul or any of his companions to doubt the revelation that they had had from God? It probably would have caused me to rethink it some. However, these missionaries still remained faithful to the revelation they had received and, because they did, the gospel was able to go into what is now Europe. I think that the moral of this story is that if you listen to the Lord and have faith in what he tells you to do, no matter how hard it can be at times, good will always come out of it. And you'll get to grow closer to God and become a better listener in the process!

Acts 9: A Story of Coming to Know God

At the beginning of chapter 9, we come across Saul (later called Paul) who is on his way to Damascus after the martyrdom of Stephen. As he comes near to the city, where he was on his way to persecute more of the believers in Christ, he sees a light and hears a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" And Saul's response is to ask, "Who art thou, Lord?" (Acts 9:4-5)

Saul of Tarsus was one of the best known students of Gamaliel, a Jewish teacher. He likely spent much of his life studying the laws that God had given the Jews, and the recorded word of God that was sacred to the Jews. Despite all of his studies, he did not know God. He didn't know him personally, and so asked the question, "Who art thou, Lord?"

On the other hand, Ananias (the man that God tells to go to Saul and help him receive his sight) knew God, even though he might not have been a scholar of all the laws of the Jews. When God called to him, answered, "Behold, I am here Lord." (Acts 9:10) He did not have to ask, as Saul did, who the Lord was.

If I was in a similar situation as these two men, which one would I respond more like? How well do I really know God? I can really relate to Saul in this story in that I often focus on learning about God from a scholarly standpoint. I often think that if I continue reading the scriptures over and over, I will be able to draw closer to God. And this is probably true to some extent, because reading the scriptures helps us to know who God is and what He has done for us, but maybe this doesn't help me to know God on as personal a level as spending time speaking to Him through prayer. This story about Saul has helped me to realize that I should spend more of my time getting to know God personally rather than just on the scholarly level.   

Acts 3: A Story of Waiting on God's Timing

Acts 3
Today in my New Testament class, we discussed the story recorded in Acts chapter 3 about how Peter and John heal a man who has been unable to walk since he was born. He has been carried to the steps of the temple daily. (He was not allowed into the temple because people with disabilities in those days were thought to be sinners by many). In Acts 4:22, it says that the man was over forty years old...that's a lot of trips up to the steps of the temple and quite a few days spent near these steps.

In all of this time that he spent on these steps asking for alms, he probably saw a few things and some key religious leaders since he was, after all, at the temple. And one of the key figures that had been at this temple many times in the last few years was Jesus. There is a high possibility that this man who had not had the use of his limbs for many years had seen Jesus pass through the nearby gate at least a couple of times. And he would have likely also seen miracles that Christ performed throughout his ministry near the very steps that he was brought to every day.

If this was the case, if this man saw Christ come to the temple many times and witnessed the healing that he brought to others that were afflicted with different disabilities, how would this have made him feel when he was not healed? If I were him, I would have been extremely frustrated. I would ask, "Why do all the other people around me get divine help when I am left sitting here begging?"

Well, the truth is that, like this man, many of us have the same thing happen to us. Maybe it happens when we see that others have success in their lives and that everything seems to turn out perfectly for them. Maybe we feel this way when it seems like others have more faith than we feel we will ever be able to have. Or maybe it happens for any number of reasons. But the story goes on...

After Christ's resurrection and ascension back to heaven, the apostles are going about preaching the gospel. They come to the temple and see this man (maybe they've seen him before when they were with Christ?) and they ask him to look on them. They have no money to offer him, but Peter heals him in the name of Christ and he is able to walk again (which is a huge miracle, as he has no experience with walking whatsoever).

Although it might not have come at a moment that the man who was healed would have chosen, his miracle did happen eventually. In addition, the miracle of this man receiving the ability to not only walk but also to leap brought many people into the church and showed them that the gospel and the miracles that began with Christ's ministry had not left because he was no longer there. Had he received this blessing at the same time as the others that he likely saw healed, he would probably not have had such a great impact on others.

The moral of this story is to have faith in God's timing. Blessings and healing can come to us, but they might not always come exactly when we want them to. But, if we continue to have faith, we will eventually receive them.