I really appreciated the Bible studies this week on 1 Corinthians 7. On a superficial level, this chapter on marriage seems to not apply to many of us. But as one student described it in the Thursday Bible study, the apostle Paul writes hidden gems in these seemingly inapplicable chapters. One such gem is caring for the things of the Lord. In verses 32 and 33, Paul describes how the unmarried are able to care for the things of the Lord while the married are under the burden of caring for his or her spouse. Though this may not be our objective situation, this applies to us in principle. So many things distract us from caring for the Lord. Many of these things are proper things that we do need to be responsible with, such as our education or a job we have. But these things can also replace the Lord in our heart and instead of caring for the Lord, we devote our time and energy to these other things. Paul is really speaking as a spiritual father (1 Cor. 4:15) and deeply cared for the Corinthian believers. May God’s speaking in this chapter impress us that we have One worthy of our care and consideration. Our Lord is worthy of our time and our love!
— Philip L.
Our outward circumstances often seem to weigh us down and cause us to feel dissatisfied with our current status. In times like these, doing something to change our outward situation seems like the best solution to this problem. In this week’s Bible study, however, we saw that one should not try in themselves to change anything, but one should just remain in the status of one’s calling. We may feel tossed about, conflicted, and doubtful of our situation, but I really enjoyed that 1 Corinthians 7:20 says, ‘Each one, in the calling in which he was called, in this let him remain.’ Whether slave or free, we don’t have to struggle and strive to become anything different from the status in which we were called. Instead, the Lord reassures us with the simple word ‘remain,’ and even, ‘remain with God’ (v. 24). In whatever we are going through, may the Lord remind each one of us to simply remain with Him.
— Bethany L.
This past week in Bible study we covered 1 Corinthians 7. I really appreciated the fact that Paul was so close to God that when he gave his opinion, it was God speaking through him. We see this in verses 10, 12, 25, and 40. In verse 40 Paul says, ‘But she is more blessed if she so remain, according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God.’ As Christians, we are one spirit with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17). Being one with Lord means that the Lord is in us so therefore when we minister to someone, whether it be a believer or a nonbeliever, it is God speaking through us. We are merely the instruments that God uses to do His will.”
—Cherie H.