Babies Get Baby Talk
1Dear family, when I came to you, I couldn’t talk to you like I talk to spiritual grown-ups. You were spiritual infants in your understanding of the Messiah. So I talked to you as people who understood mainly what you could see of this world with your own eyes. 2I gave you milk because you weren’t ready for solid food. You’re still not ready. 3You’re still focused on the stuff of this world. Can’t you see that all of your jealousy and arguing proves that you’re focused on this world? You’re acting like any other people on the street.Stop Saying “I’m with Paul”
4When some of you say, “I’m with Paul,” and others say, “I’m with Apollos,” isn’t that the kind of behavior we expect of other people outside the faith? 5Come on now, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? We’re just a couple of servants on assignment from our leader. In time, you came to believe the message we brought to you. 6I planted the spiritual seed in you. Apollos watered it. God is making it grow. 7Don’t make a big deal about the person who does the planting or the person who does the watering. God is the big deal. He’s what makes it all grow. 8The planter and the irrigator each have a job to do, and they will each get paid for the job they did. 9We are just a couple of coworkers doing our job for God. You are the job. You are the field God is planting and the building he is constructing. 10Because of God’s kindness, [1] I was able to become a skilled master builder who laid the foundation. Others are now building on that foundation. I hope those builders are careful.Jesus Is Your Foundation
11There’s only one true foundation anyone can lay. That foundation is Jesus the Messiah. 12People can build on that foundation with any number of products: gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw. [2] 13How good of a job a person does will become known on Judgment Day. Fire will burn down the worthless stuff. 14If the builder’s work survives, the builder will get a wonderful payday. 15But if the builder’s work doesn’t survive, he’ll have wasted everything he invested, and he’ll suffer a huge loss. He’ll survive, but only as someone who barely made it through a fire. [3]You’re God’s Temple
16You’re God’s temple. God’s Spirit lives in you. Don’t you know that? 17I’m telling you, if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy the person who did that. God’s temple is that sacred to him. People, you are that temple.Street Savvy Won’t Cut It
18Don’t kid yourself. If you think you’re street savvy in the ways of this world, empty your head of that. The kind of wisdom you need is going to make you look like a fool to people of the world. 19The kind of wisdom people of this world have makes them look like fools to God. The Bible says,
“He traps the wise
with their own tricks.” [4]
“The Lord knows how wise guys try to figure things out.
And he knows it’s a waste of time.” [5]
