July 8, 2010, 1 Corinthians 2

Key Verse:

"... so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

(1 Corinthians 2:5)

Central Truth:

We must use wisdom given to us through the Holy Spirit, not advice given out by well-meaning friends.

WHO SAID THAT?

I love Paul's humility in the beginning of this chapter. I mean, after all, when you look at the scope of the world and all of the men of the Bible, who better to bring God's message to the church of Corinth than Paul? Few were so eloquent or so well-qualified. But Paul wants to make it clear here, and throughout the chapter that all wisdom comes from God, not from man.
And while Paul's message was constructed to give God glory and give the Holy Spirit credit for any wisdom he might impart through his own mouth, it is a message that also comes with an implied warning: Don't let your faith rest on men's wisdom.

Most people (not Paul) love to give out advice. I recently joked with another mom about an instructor whose lessons are expensive, but unsolicited parenting advice is "free." From the observant person in line behind an unruly child in the check-out line to a best friend and closest confidant, we are surrounded by people who think their opinions can improve our lives. These people mean well. We also want to instruct others in ways that have been helpful to us or to share with them lessons we may have had to learn the hard way. We want to improve their lives with our knowledge and impart our own wisdom, whether it's asked for or not.
But Paul so eloquently reminds us that "(w)e have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand God has freely given us" (v. 12).

We must use the wisdom given to us by the Holy Spirit to discern what "wisdom" given to us by others is actually of God, and we need to use that same wisdom when we so eloquently impart our own.