1 Corinthians 12-13 and Spiritual Maturity

Is spiritual maturity the same as emotional maturity. I will argue that they may come hand in hand at times and that the fruits from spiritual maturity when coupled with an understanding of love may in fact yield the most noble form of emotional maturity.

1 Cor. 12, NASB

¹ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. ² You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. ³ Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking ^[a]by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is ^[b]accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except ^[c]by the Holy Spirit.

"you were led" here is the key phrase we will focus on. Are we to say in this case that we should have known better? We couldn't have, because even if we were to have.

These are some of the things I have at times thought about in reflecting on 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 especially since maturity is a strong theme at the end of the 13th chapter.

There much more to say on this, but I shall have to do so a later time.

Ministering grace Grace for Freedom from Sin

1 Brethren, even if ^[a]anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But each one must examine his own work, and then he will havereason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. ⁵ For each one will bear his own load.

Any thing that I write on this topic right now is only because I am trying to understand it. So if you have any input please feel free to give it.

In gentleness:

Love and grace is what this means to me

"Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ":

Is our sin not taken care of and the old law taken away, what law is this then. Sin doesn't condemn us in any manner, this is clear. However if we take the viewpoint of Jesus looking down on his church, it is something inconvenient since it does lead us away from being able to please him as much. In earthly marriages we might observe for example that the husband dislikes eating fastfood. If the wife insists on eating fastfood and the husband is a loving husband he'll do this for his wife, but he will not be happy. If we want our groom to be happy, we know to do certain things to please him. I do think though that sin goes further than the mere act of displeasing someone. We can sin against God and also sin against man, such as if we were to be unfaithful to our spouses. I am inclined to think, though I am not sure that this passage is saying we should encourage each other to love God with a more pure love everyday and daily bring our thoughts captive so that we are not enticed by any thoughts that would lead us to sin or idolatry.

Some quick thoughts before going to sleep

How to be an Intelligent Person

A person can be very intelligent or gifted but these people are very different from those who recognize the full power of such a gift and have the intention of using it. You recognize those who will go far sometimes when you observe them studying the lives of the renowned geniuses of their field. A philosopher will read the books of Socrates and Plato, a scientist might daydream about Einstein's theories and proposals, or you might hear a writer trying to use one of Shakespeare's lines to calm an argument. Theys seek to understand the minds of their heroes and to compare them to their own. They scrutinize every detail of the person's life so as to not only understand their mind, but also to observe their approach to life,family and the fundamentals of human existence. Ultimately this leads the person to exhibit their mental worth to the world because they understand how those heroes of our world maneuvered their mental wits to power the feats of personal accomplishment which give them their renown.