Scripture Daily

Context No. 1747 of 4322 · 1 Corinthians

Context · Reflection

1 Corinthians 16:10-14: in context

10Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do. 11Therefore let no one despise him. But set him forward on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brothers. 12Now concerning Apollos the brother, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but it was not at all his desire to come now; but he will come when he has an opportunity. 13Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong! 14Let all that you do be done in love.

As Paul closes his letter to Corinth, he gives practical instructions, then a burst of short commands. He asks that Timothy, coming to them, be received without fear and not looked down on for his youth, for he does the Lord's work. He mentions that Apollos will come when he can. And then, in five quick strokes, he sums up how they are to live: be watchful, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong; and let all that you do be done in love.

Those five short commands make a compact rule for the Christian life, and the last one shapes all the rest. Be watchful, stand firm, be courageous, be strong: these call for a certain firmness and fortitude, a refusal to drift or be moved, a courage to hold the faith against pressure. On their own, such qualities could harden into something rigid, combative, even harsh; strength and firmness can curdle into a cold, contentious spirit that stands its ground but wounds those around it. And so Paul adds the command that tempers and completes them: let all that you do be done in love. The strength is to be exercised in love; the standing firm is to be done in love; the courage is to serve love. Firmness without love becomes harshness; love without firmness becomes weakness; Paul calls for both together, strength and courage and steadfastness, all of it carried out in love. There is a needed balance here. We are sometimes tempted to think we must choose between being strong and being loving, between standing firm for the truth and being gentle with people. Paul refuses the choice. Be strong, he says, and stand firm, and be courageous, and do it all in love. The Christian is called to a strength that does not harden into harshness because it is always exercised in love, and a love that does not collapse into weakness because it is joined to firmness and courage. Let all that you do, even your standing firm, even your strength, be done in love.

Do I let my firmness and strength harden into harshness, or my love soften into weakness, or can I hold Paul's whole rule together, to be watchful, steadfast, courageous, and strong, and yet to let all of it, even my standing firm, be done in love?

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