1Cor 1: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
[Part 1 of 2] The crucified Christ as God's power and wisdom can be applied to the problem we face with our temper. Without exception, we all are bothered by our temper. Who can say that he has never lost his temper? I know of some sisters who, shortly before the day of their wedding, made a vow that they would never again lose their temper, especially never lose it with their husband. However, in every case this vow was broken. Not only in married life but in all kinds of situations in our daily life, we are troubled by our temper. Many Christians who love the Lord and seek Him have prayed something like this: "Lord Jesus, You know how easy it is for me to lose my temper. Lord, You are Jehovah the Savior. I ask You to save me from this sin of losing my temper. O Lord, deliver me from this." Although many have prayed in this way, none have been delivered from their temper as a result. In ourselves we simply do not have either the power to overcome our temper or the wisdom, the way, to do it. We may think that prayer will give us power and wisdom. However, even when we pray, we still do not have power and wisdom. But when we call on the name of the Lord, enjoy Christ, and are filled with the life-giving Spirit, we have no problem with our temper. Spontaneously we have both the power to overcome our temper and the way to deal with it. We may also apply the crucified Christ as God's power and wisdom to our need for patience. We value patience and we desire to be patient, but we cannot be patient. However, when we experience the crucified Christ, we automatically have patience. This crucified Christ becomes to us both the power and the wisdom for patience. As a result, we have both the strength and the way to be patient. Actually, we do not try to be patient. We simply are patient through our experience of Christ crucified. [Continued tomorrow] (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 73-74. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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