Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Do you have one ingredient or food that you just despise? Like onions or raisins? Like, if you take a bite of something, you can TELL that an onion is hiding in there somewhere!

Well… there was some serious sin among the believers in Corinth and Paul was not having it. The language in this chapter is harsh because the sin was harsh and God’s punishment for sin IS harsh. There’s no avoiding the truth that God hates sin, can’t be in the presence of sin, and expects His followers to FLEE FROM SIN!

In this particular case, there was sexual sin among the church members, and as Paul describes like yeast in dough (or raisins in … anything!), it was growing like a cancer throughout the entire faith community. When there is sin in the "camp," much is at stake – the testimony of the believers, the impact the church has in the community, and the urgency of the real mission (God’s glory among all people for all of eternity).

As Warren Wiersbe explains in his commentary, church discipline (or the process of addressing sin among church members) is “a group of broken-hearted brothers and sisters seeking to restore an erring member of the family.” When we give fellow believers access to our lives, it comes with a level of permission for them to call us out on our sinful ways. This is true of all communities, but especially inside a covenantal relationship within your local church.

If a fellow believer who you love and respect addresses sin in your life – be open to the work of the Holy Spirit. Our first instinct can sometimes be to defend or explain the sin away, however, when we allow ourselves to walk in Christ-centered community, we have given others permission to hold us to a Christ-honoring set of standards.

Additionally, as believers, we should tread lightly when addressing sin in the lives of others and entering into intimate relationships with those who are acting in continuous disobedience.

It’s a fine line, but it’s a God-honoring line. It’s also worth it.

Let’s hold our brothers and sisters UP in Christ, carrying their burdens and pointing them to righteousness. We’ll leave the ultimate judgment to the Lord, as that is His to give, but let’s take hold of our role as encouragers.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

•  Ask God to reveal the sin in your life – especially the tiny ones you don’t think matter. Just like a raisin hiding in a muffin, that sin will ruin more than you think.
• Are you actively disobeying God and living a life of sin? Repent, ask for forgiveness, and reach out to fellow believers to walk alongside you toward healing and restoration.
• If a believer you love is living in active sin, seek God’s guidance first and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your role in their repentance. For more on Jesus’ teaching on discipline, read and study Matthew 18:15-20.

Family Devo: 1 Corinthians 5 

By: Tina Bryant 

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset

Head

Have you ever felt like you were better than someone else? Maybe you are a better soccer player, or you are better at a certain subject. And maybe sometimes you want to TELL people that you are better than them. Paul warns us in verse 6 that boasting (talking about our own achievements, or how much better we are) is not good! He compares boasting to a little bit of leaven (what makes bread rise), and how a little bit can ruin the whole lump of dough. When Paul says in verse 8 to “celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth…” He isn’t talking about us going and buying bread that is made with those ingredients, but rather character traits we should live our lives with.

Heart

Jesus died so we can share the good stuff with others & that is how we should live our lives - always sharing the good stuff, but not being prideful and telling others we are better.  

Hands

Pray: Thank you, God, for giving us good stuff that we can share with others. Help us to remember that You’ve created each of us and our friends with different gifts. When we want to brag or boast, remind us to be kind and not to think better of ourselves than we think of others. Amen.