Have you ever thought of Paul as being humble. I really have not pictured Paul as a humble man. I picture through reading his writings, Paul as a strong, confident man who was not afraid to proclaim the gospel any place, any time, to any people. From these particular scriptures, I get a different picture of Paul. Paul takes on a humble nature in order that God is glorified. Paul expressed that he was glad that he had baptized only a few people (1 Cor. 1:14-17) so that he did not become the center of attention by people who might egotistically want to put it out that they were better than other baptized believers because they had been baptized by Paul. Humans tend to want to do things like that to make themselves appear to be better than others in the same situation.
Paul then goes on to discuss how the power of God “destroys the wisdom of the wise and frustrates the intelligence of the intelligent” (1 Cor. 1:19). Paul elaborates by stating how Christ crucified is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:23). The Jews expected a triumphant, political Messiah and the Greeks and Romans thought that no reputable person would be crucified since crucifixion was for criminals. Both groups could not imagine that the Savior of the World would save them through something that they thought was below such a Savior or King. Paul says that God used this to demonstrate that what man thought was foolishness was really wise.
How often do we find ourselves, or a better way to say it is how often do I find myself thinking “God wouldn’t really do it that way would he?” What I forget is that God thinks in a different way than I do. He uses all different means, even what appears to us to be lowly people, things, or situations to advance his purpose. Paul was trying to tell the Corinthians and thus us that we need to look past ourselves and our thoughts and put God first. In this way we are humbling ourselves to God or putting him first and not our agenda first.
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“My ways are not your ways, nor are My thoughts your thoughts . . . ” Is. 55:8 How often we take the lead only to see we are going no where on our own. If it is about me, then I am at a loss at the beginning. What a lesson, what a timely treatise the Spirit left for each generation, find yourself by losing yourself in Christ. Mt. 16:24-25.