1 Corinthians 6:1 - Beware, be aware

 

I Corinthians 6:1

NKJV

 

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 

 

NLT

When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers!

 

There was a lot of drama, in the Christian world, during this time about going outside the Christian family to settle disputes. The Jews were used to dealing with their issues with other Jews; but the converted Christians, the gentiles, were used to taking their disputes to a public court.  A court that was not only easily corrupted with bribes and threats; but a court that was also swayed against Christians themselves. Paul was angry that Christians could not deal with each other in a manner that showed their love for each other and showed the world that they were different.

 

I don’t think we handle things much better than they did back then. We can be guilty of jumping to conclusions when we don’t know the whole story. We hear a piece of what someone says and fill in the blanks and all of a sudden, we’re offended. Even though we don’t know all that was said, we’ve made ourselves mad because of it. We’ve taken our offendedness to the court of our own opinion and rendered a verdict guilty.

 

Conversely, and this is something I’m guilty of, we can “not communicate” well enough to be understood.  It’s really easy to just charge forward; make your own decisions and not pay attention to when others might need to be involved. That’s kind of a “king of me” mentality. Guilty as charged on this one.

 

I think what is important in all of this is that we are aware.  Aware of our tendencies.  Aware of other people around us and our effect on them. It’s funny to me that the word beware (a warning) is similar to the word aware (a perception). Maybe we should be using both words when it comes to our relationship with others. Beware that our relationships are fragile and be aware that at times we are the cause of the damage. God first, above all else.

 

Gonna do better today,

cej