1 Corinthians 1:1-10

Not really related to today's devotional, but there was something really perfect about sitting in a nearly empty cafeteria, in the morning with the sun streaming through the windows, and sipping a hot Americano.

Many moons ago when I took a Myers-Briggs assessment, I was classified ESTJ, though that characterization seems odd to me now. I don't consider myself extroverted, more times than not preferring solitude and quiet to a crowd and clatter. Anyways, notes of interest:

1 Cor 1:4, Paul gives thanks to God for Christians everywhere being "enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-" Truthfully, I can't remember the last time I prayed a word of thanks to God for enrichening someone other than me. I have prayed for God to help people who are hurting or in their times of need, but not so much with the gratitude for something good for someone else...

Today, in the Western world, do we live in a more self-centric, self-involved age? Or is it just me? Now versus just 20 years ago, we're certainly availed a much larger array of vehicles for personal expression , e.g. tumblr, twitter, facebook, blogs, etc... Just a hunch, but it seems to me the notion of a shared fate or stake in one another has faded since Paul's time...

1 Cor 1:5, According to Paul, we're enriched in speech and knowledge of every kind. That's interesting to me, because I definitely don't feel any smarter or more eloquent. But, on the flip side:
1. With say, exercise, it's hard to tell you're getting stronger, you just notice one day, that the weight you lifted 4 weeks ago, you can lift more times. Or that you can run faster/longer than you used to be able to. In other words, maybe it's a slow process that occurs without you even consciously noticing. Tim Keller mentioned in some sermon or another that the Bible often uses botanical metaphors for growth, because you can't see a fruit tree growing and you don't see the process of it's bearing bruit. Maybe it's like that...
2. I definitely acknowledge that in the process of understanding, accepting and living in grace, your perspective definitely experiences shifts.

1 Cor 1:8, I puzzled on this verse a bit, because if you read it a certain way, it almost sounds like Paul is saying that Jesus will build you up (buttercup~) to a point where "you may be blameless on the day of our Lord..." And, of course, we're saved by faith alone. No one (Jesus aside) has ever been able to live a blameless life on their our own. I'm chalking it up to a translation thing. Read in another way, you could look at the same verse as saying that His grace is strong enough bouy you until the end.