1 Corinthians 4:1-21
4 “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of CHRIST and as those
entrusted with the mysteries GOD has revealed.
2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must
prove faithful.
3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court;
indeed, I do not even judge myself.
4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me
innocent. It is THE
LORD who
judges me.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until
THE LORD comes. HE
will bring to LIGHT what
is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time
each will receive their praise from GOD.
6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have
applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may
learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then
you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the
other.
7 For who makes you different from
anyone else?
What
do you have that you did not receive?
And if
you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
8 Already you have all you want!
Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us!
How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with
you!
9 For it seems to me that GOD has put us
apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to
die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole
universe, to angels as well as to human beings.
10 We are fools for CHRIST, but you
are so wise in CHRIST!
We are
weak, but you are strong!
You
are honored, we are dishonored!
11 To this very hour we go hungry and
thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
12 We work hard with our own
hands.
When
we are cursed, we bless;
when
we are persecuted, we endure it;
13 when we are slandered, we answer
kindly.
We
have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to
this moment.
14 I am writing this not to shame
you but to warn you as my dear children.
15 Even if you had ten thousand
guardians in CHRIST,
you do not have many fathers, for in CHRIST JESUS I became your father through THE GOSPEL.
16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
17 For this reason I have sent to
you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in THE LORD will remind
you of my way of life in CHRIST
JESUS, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Some of you have become
arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you very
soon, if THE LORD
is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people
are talking, but what power they have.
20 For the kingdom of GOD is not a matter
of talk but of power.
21 What do you prefer?
Shall
I come to you with a rod of discipline,
or
shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?”
