Contributor: Alex Alajiki

INTRODUCTION

Last week, we continued our study of the book of Corinthians and examined 1 Cor.5:1-13.
Paul was alarmed by the case of immorality in the Church, such that even unbelievers will be too ashamed to be involved. This was the case of a man in the Church living in sin with his father’s wife and the Church leadership did nothing about it. The admonition to the Church was that sin must be confronted and dealt with appropriately, irrespective of the positions of the people involved.

Today, we are focusing on how Christian should handle disagreements among themselves. The practice of the brethren in Corinth was to take themselves to court before unbelievers. Paul was strongly against such ungodly practice in the Church.
 
1) Paul’s indictment: 1 Corin.6:1
Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

Paul was distressed and blood might be rushing to his face as he writes, “How dare you go to law before the unrighteous when you have a dispute with a fellow-believer and not go before the church?” There are several things that might have made Paul to be greatly disturbed by the conducts of the Corinthians’ Church;
a) Disputes are erupting between believers in the church
b) Believers were turning to the secular courts to settle their disputes
c) Unrighteous (that is, unbelieving) judges are being asked to arbitrate between Christians
d) Disputes are being settled in courts before the curious eyes of unbelieving spectators
e) Disputes were not taken to the church for settlement, where they belong.
 
We should recall what happened when Paul was dragged before the local Judge by his own Jewish brethren when he started preaching in Corinth (Acts 18:12-16); the Judge threw out the case against Paul, and told them to sort the matter out among themselves because Paul did not commit any crime.

The people who opposed Paul then were not Christians. However, you might expect the Christians in Corinth to learn something from their experience. But in fact, the Christians were trying to get the support of judges whenever they disagreed with each other.

2) The saints will judge the world & angels: 1 Corin.6:2-3

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?"

It is a modern idea to separate the work of judges and rulers. In former times, ‘to judge’ meant ‘to have legal authority’. So rulers acted as judges, and judges acted as rulers.

The angels are the powerful spirits that God created to serve him. But some angels were not loyal to God. These evil angels control the evil forces that now rule this world (Ephesians 6:12).

a) Saints Judging the world; Rev.20:4, Matt.19:28 “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”

b) Saint Judging angels(demons); 2 Pet.2:4, Jude 6; “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment”
Jude 6 “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day”

Paul assumes they do know this, and their actions are completely contradictory to this theology. If these saints are going to reign with Christ and participate in the judgment of the world, how in the world can these Corinthians turn now to the unsaved for judgment? If the righteous will judge the unrighteous at the second coming, how can the Corinthian Christians now be looking to a heathen to judge the righteous?, why is it that they are not now able to judge in the trivial matters of this life?

3) Arguments between Christians and how to deal with them: 1 Corin.6:4-6

If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

Paul, in the light of our Lord’s teaching in Matt.18:15-20 instructed that if a brother has a dispute or an offense with another brother, this should first be addressed personally and privately, one to one. If this does not bring about reconciliation and harmony, then one or two witnesses must be brought along. If this does not result in repentance and reconciliation, then the matter should be taken to the whole church. If the belligerent party does not heed the admonition of the whole church, the wayward saint must be expelled from the fellowship of the church. 1 Cor.2:14-16 Christians Judge with discernment.

4) The right attitude when Christians disagree: 1 Corin.6:7-8

Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

For the competitive Corinthians, life is all about winning and losing. Lawsuits are certainly about winning and losing. Paul makes a most troubling announcement; any Corinthian Christian who takes another believer to court has already lost. Going to court with a fellow-believer is a no-win situation. The better way is to take the loss. Imagine Paul telling us that it is better to be a victim than a victor. Pride prevent many from accepting this view. Following Jesus is a daily journey with your cross (1Pet.2:18-25
We can’t retaliate, but return good for evil (Matt.5:43-48). Seek others’ interest first (Phil.2:1-8).

5) Ungodly behaviours and the new creature: 1 Corin.6:9-11

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,[a] nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

The list of ungodly behaviours here is to show that people who choose to live in this manner care only about themselves. People with these behaviours will not make heaven. Salvation is the process of turning from darkness to light, from death to life, from sin to righteousness. Salvation means that we should never consider continuing on in sin, even though God’s grace is greater than all our sin.(Rom.6:1).

When we were saved, we were completely saved, severed from our past identity and given a new identity. We were washed, cleansed of our sin and our guilt. We were sanctified, set apart from sin unto holiness. We were justified, legally declared righteous through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to us by faith. All of this transpired in the name of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor.5:17).

Conclusion:
Paul rebukes the Corinthian saints for failing (or refusing) to resolve their disputes with one another within the church. Paul wants his readers to see the folly of taking spiritual matters before unbelievers, who can have no grasp of the real issues. Paul knows, as the Corinthians should, that the legal system deals with the protection of men’s rights and the seeking of one’s self-interest, while the gospel is about the surrender of one’s rights and the seeking of the best interests of others.

Contributor: Isekhua Evborokhai

INTRODUCTION

In last week’s study, we concluded the topic “Servants of Christ”. In the study, we looked at Paul’s dealings with those in the wrong in the Corinthian church and learned from and took his example as instructions to us for handling problem people in the Church. In today’s study titled “Confronting sexual immorality in the church.” We will be learning from Paul’s letter how and why the church should confront sexual immorality in the church.

PART 1: REFUSE TO TOLERATE REBELLION IN THE CHURCH (1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-8)
“Everyone is talking about the terrible thing that has happened there among you, something so evil that even the heathen don’t do it: you have a man in your church who is living in sin with his father’s wife (Step Mother). And are you still so conceited, so “spiritual”? Why aren’t you mourning in sorrow and shame and seeing to it that this man is removed from your membership? 3-4 Although I am not there with you, I have been thinking a lot about this, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I have already decided what to do, just as though I were there. You are to call a meeting of the church—and the power of the Lord Jesus will be with you as you meet, and I will be there in spirit— 5 and cast out this man from the fellowship of the church and into Satan’s hands, to punish him, in the hope that his soul will be saved when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 6 What a terrible thing it is that you are boasting about your purity and yet you let this sort of thing go on. Don’t you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected? 7 Remove this evil cancer—this wicked person—from among you, so that you can stay pure. Christ, God’s Lamb, has been slain for us. 8 So let us feast upon him and grow strong in the Christian life, leaving entirely behind us the cancerous old life with all its hatreds and wickedness. Let us feast instead upon the pure bread of honor and sincerity and truth. Emphasis mine

In these first eight verses, Paul presents two problems. There is a problem with an immoral man. But secondly, and even more importantly, there is the failure of the church to take sin seriously. It was a matter of general knowledge, the talk of the town that a man was living (co habiting) with his step mother! And the church did nothing about it! Instead, verse 2 says they responded with pride and disobedience. It is likely that the Corinthians were boasting despite the immorality, rather than because of it. They were boasting in the social status of the man while ignoring his offense.

1. How Paul Handled it
It is important to note that in his letter Paul does not attack the man who is guilty of this atrocity directly. Instead, he rebukes the church for allowing the “immorality” to go on unchecked because they are supposed to be responsible. So, it was not only the man guilty of sin before God for the act of incest, but the church too for its failure to impose discipline.

2. What the Corinthian church should have done (Verse 2, 5)
Paul’s expectation was that they should have been so touched that they went into mourning in sorrow and shame and doing everything possible that this man is removed from their membership.
Paul expected them to grieve over the shame brought on the church by the incest. Instead of dismissing the sin or boasting in the person, God expects the church of Jesus Christ to deal with sin. God calls us to purge the church of sin for the church stands or falls together.
He also admonished that they cast him into Satan’s hands (means to dismiss that person from the church into the world (i.e., the realm of Satan) to punish him, in the hope that his soul will be saved.
What Paul was referring to here was the destruction of the flesh, and the salvation of the man. I would submit that what Paul meant here was the destruction of his fleshly appetites or carnal affections; and that he supposed that this would be effected by the act of excommunication. Although it is evident in scripture that the apostles back then were filled with the power of inflicting diseases or bodily calamities for crimes. See Acts 13:11. We don’t know if this was the case here but in 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 Paul referred to this same man and admonishes the Corinthian church to receive him again.
“The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”

Many people believe that the notion of church discipline is “old fashioned”; some even play the “grace card” What about grace and compassion they ask? Verses 6-13 explains.
Paul says: “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” He informs the Corinthian church that the primary problem is not the sin of the immoral man; rather, it is the pride of the church. He uses the illustration of a piece of leaven. Leaven is a little lump of bread dough that is saved out of the batch. It is allowed to ferment or sour, and then it’s used in the next batch of bread so that it will rise. A little bit of yeast can make a whole loaf rise. The Jews associated fermenting with rotting, so leaven became a symbol of corrosive evil.

3. Why should a church practice church discipline?
• It brings God glory (1 Pet 1:16, Heb. 12:5-11, 1 Cor 5:12-13; 2 Cor 2:6).
• It gets rid of the cancer and purifies the church. (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
• It restores the sinning believer. (Matt 18:15; 2 Cor 2:5-8, Gal 6:1).
• It deters the church from sin. (Acts 5:1-11, 1 Tim 5:20).
• To maintain a credible witness before the world. (1 Pet 2:11-18; 3:8-16; 4:1-4

So, let’s ask ourselves a tough question (only for self-examination purposes): Are you involved in some sin that, if revealed, would devastate your loved ones and destroy any ministry you have? Okay, maybe you haven’t done what this man did, but are you involved in Internet pornography, or an emotional affair at work, or abuse of prescriptions drugs, or the greedy pursuit of wealth. Whatever it is, stop today! Because sin is spiritual cancer! Get into an accountability relationship. Begin practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study. God will grant you plenty of grace if you come clean with Him and others.

PART 2: REFUSE TO STOP REACHING OUT TO THE WORLD 1 CORINTHIANS 5:9-13 
"When I wrote to you before I said not to mix with evil people. 10 But when I said that I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who live in sexual sin or are greedy cheats and thieves and idol worshipers. For you can’t live in this world without being with people like that. 11 What I meant was that you are not to keep company with anyone who claims to be a brother Christian but indulges in sexual sins, or is greedy, or is a swindler, or worships idols, or is a drunkard, or abusive. Don’t even eat lunch with such a person.
12 It isn’t our job to judge outsiders. But it certainly is our job to judge and deal strongly with those who are members of the church and who are sinning in these ways. 13 God alone is the Judge of those on the outside. But you yourselves must deal with this man and put him out of your church."

In this section, Paul informs us that church discipline is for believers. It is widely accepted that Paul wrote four different letters to the church at Corinth. In one of his previous letters, the Corinthians apparently misunderstood Paul. They thought he didn’t want them to have any association with any immoral person. Paul clarifies and explains that this ban only pertained to Christians. When sinners sin, they are merely doing what they are supposed to do. Sin is a part of a sinner’s job description! The difference between a sinner and a saint is that a saint doesn’t have to sin anymore.
This means that our ministry is not to spend our time judging the world. That’s left to God. It’s none of our business. Don’t ever get mad at the world for acting like the world. What else are they going to do? We need to confront the sin that is within the walls of our churches, within the lives of our people. That is our ministry.
CONCLUSION

Paul concludes chapter 5 with two pointed verses: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (5:12-13). Christians have no jurisdiction over outsiders and have no business usurping a task that belongs to God alone. Those outside are left in God’s hands, and the church has the responsibility to seek to win them over, not to nag, intimidate, or seek to control them. Many of us are trying to clean up the world’s fishbowl when all God asks us to do is fish. Jesus says, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt 4:19). If you’ve been spending your time trying to scour the world, put down your scrub brush, pick up your fishing pole, and go for the fish!
Although we see sometimes around us that when many people are removed from the church, they just move down the street to another church. Or worse yet, they don’t even care!
The truth is that for those who have come to experience the church as their true home—a haven in the storm, a sanctuary of rest, a source of life and strength—exclusion would bring terrible pain. To exclude a Christian from this circle of fellowship would have made a strong statement.

Parts of this study was culled from How to Handle a Scandal by Keith R. Krell.

Contributor: Alex Alajiki

INTRODUCTION

Last week, we continued our study of the book of Corinthians and examined 1 Cor.4:1-13.
We understood that leadership in the Kingdom of God is a position of servanthood and stewardship. We are not called to lord it over people but to serve faithfully. Faithfulness must be our lifestyle because we are going to give account of our stewardship. Whatever gifts we have, we were given for the purpose of faithful service to God and His kingdom’s purpose on earth.

                   “It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy (faithful)” 1 Cor.4:2

Today, we are looking at the concluding verses of this chapter; 1 Cor.4:14-21.
Paul demonstrated his paternal care for the Christians in Corinth.

1) Paul’s Fatherly Appeal: 1 Corin.4:14-15

I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. 15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Paul was not writing to shame the Corinthians over their failures but to rescue or correct them from their errors. Paul is a model of godly leaders. He is a very different leader from those whom some Christians in Corinth are choosing to follow, leading them into doctrinal errors. This is his admonition in Gal. 6:1
“Brothers, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.”

In Corinth, the Christians may have considered it difficult to understand why Paul’s opinions still mattered to them. Paul had left Corinth to go elsewhere; they had other teachers now. Paul was saying that they were doing many wrong things in their church.

Paul’s reply was that he still had a responsibility for their church. And that responsibility had its origin in Paul’s love for them. If those other men were teachers, Paul was like their father. He birth the Church.

It was Christ who gave Paul that responsibility and that love. Christ sent Paul to Corinth. And there, Paul was the first person to declare Christ’s message publicly. That was when Paul’s love for the Christians in Corinth began. And that was how the church in Corinth began.

We also need to attend to growing Christians around us with love, forgiveness and fatherly or motherly care. Younger Christians should be able to depend on older Christians for love, non-judgemental correction and Godly care. Gal. 4:19
           “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”

2) Imitate Me: 1 Corin.4:16-17

“Therefore I urge you, imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.”

‘Imitate Me’ is a bold request or command from Paul. How many leaders can dare to say such to their followers? But Paul was not just asking them to follow him blindly, but according to 1 Cor.11:1 “Be you followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” He was qualified for followership because he was following Christ."

Fathers often tell their children to imitate them. Perhaps a child is unsure what to do, or perhaps he is afraid or foolish. So the father tells the child, ‘Copy what I do.’

That is a much better way to teach than just to give instructions. The child sees what the father is doing. The child has confidence because his father is doing that thing first.

Paul has just described himself as the ‘father’ of the church at 1 Cori.4:15. And here he speaks not merely as a teacher, but as a father. For 18 months, the Christians in Corinth had seen how Paul behaved (Acts 18:11). So they knew his statements in 1 Corinthians 4:10-13 were true. That was how he had behaved in Corinth. And that was how he wanted them to behave, too.

If church leaders today would not tell anyone to imitate them, perhaps their attitude is different from Paul’s attitude. Perhaps they feel that they are carrying out a job, like a teacher. Perhaps they feel unable to take the sort of responsibility that Paul took.

The assignment of Timothy to them was to teach and remodel Christ life he saw and received from Paul. Paul had discovered that he could trust Timothy (Philippians 2:19-22). And Timothy always respected Paul. Paul was constantly praying for Timothy (2 Timothy 1:3). 2 Timothy 1:4 shows us that they were true friends.

We likewise should follow the examples and lives of our godly leaders and remodel Christ’s lifestyle to younger Christians around us. Can we be trusted to raise godly followers for Christ? Will any youth or young Christian want to grow up to be like us?

3) How Paul dealt with proud people: 1 Corin.4:18-21

Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

The issue of pride in the Church in Corinth is a serious challenge. In 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul urged the Christians in Corinth not to have proud attitudes. Here, in 1 Corinthians 4:18-19, he says clearly that some of them were already proud. He also explains the reason why they had that attitude. It was because Paul was not there in Corinth to oppose them. Nobody in Corinth could act in the power of God’s Holy Spirit to stop them.
Paul’s intent is to come as quickly to Corinth as he can but according to the will of God. Sometimes God had guided Paul to places that Paul did not expect (Acts 16:6-10). Paul always had to obey God. But Paul expected God to send him to Corinth.

When Paul arrived at Corinth, he would deal with those proud people. Paul preferred to speak to people in a humble, gentle manner that showed real love. But such gentle words will not usually convince proud people to change their attitudes. It was usual for a father to take a stick and to hit a proud child with it (Proverbs 22:15).

Paul had something much more powerful than a stick to deal with the proud people in Corinth. And he certainly would not depend on his own words, as the proud people did. Instead, Paul would ask God to give him the power of the Holy Spirit to deal with this situation.

Conclusion:

Paul’s words to the Corinthians are for us as well, and they have much to say. Paul’s leadership is described as a radical contrast to the worldly-wise leadership. Paul’s dealings with those in the wrong at Corinth are an example of his instructions to us in handling problem people in the Church.

Contributor: Leye Olayiwola

Introduction
In our last study, we were able to learn about the various foundations for Christian living from various experiences of Paul through his letter to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 3 from verse 1 through to verse 23. We were able to learn How Not to Live by considering the dangers of causing divisions and schism in the body and idolizing leaders. We also learn how to properly build on already solid foundations. We will continue our study today, titled Servants of Christ, by considering and learning further from Paul’s experiences in the fourth chapter of 1st Corinthians.

1. Servant Leadership [verse 1-2]
Paul in his opening of this chapter declared:
A. "Let a man regard us in this manner". Believers must constantly evaluate or consider the status of leadership. For the Kingdom of God leadership is servanthood/stewardship.
“But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all”. [Mark 10:42-44]
B. He further expatiated on this point by stating how the leadership should be regarded – “as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” It was the servant who managed the house/estate and gave an account to the owner (Matt. 25:14-46; Luke 16:1). This is the emphasis on responsibility to and trustworthiness of the gospel. God Himself will judge His stewards. What an awesome privilege and obligation to serve in the Kingdom.
C. “It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy (faithful). Jesus used the concept of a faithful servant in Matt.24:45. Faithfulness in the Kingdom should be a lifestyle. We, as leaders and followers of Christ must be able to give proper accounts of all that have been committed to us. Remember, that your service should be done as unto the Lord and not man.

2. Handling Criticism, Lifestyles and Humility [verse 3-7]
A. It appears that Paul was under personal attack by a certain group at Corinth. He however gives advice to us as stewards and followers of Christ on how to handle such judgement. He declared that the ultimate and perfect judge is God. Why? Because He is the only one that has the perfect picture. He sees every hidden things of darkness and reveals the counsels of the hearts (motives). It is very hard to properly examine oneself spiritually. Often believers are too hard on themselves and too easy on others. Often we compare ourselves to other humans (2 Cor. 10:12-18). We must let God judge. He knows the heart and the circumstances. Believers are responsible for what they do understand, and also responsible for their attitudes and motives. Faithfulness will be rewarded and unfaithfulness will be judged. This however does not excuse us from taking criticisms into consideration when the situation arises as God may be the one orchestrating such event in order to bring us back in line. Paul said, “For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this”.
B. In verse 6, Paul is using himself and Apollos as examples for all leaders. He advises that no individual among you must become filled with his own importance and make comparisons to another’s detriment. Also, Believers must not arrogantly choose certain teachers over other teachers. They must judge proclaimers by the content of their message
(1John 4:1-6) and their lifestyle (Matt. 7:1), not by their presentation nor their personality nor by their personal preferences nor by the human leaders they claim as their own (i.e. denomination).
C. "What do you have that you did not receive". Paul is reminding these proud leaders that they were not the originators or discoverers of truth, but recipients of other's ministry.
Some leaders and their followers were acting as if they were the source of the truths they proclaimed. Another problem of Corinth was human boasting.

3. Fools for Christ Sake [verse 8-13]
A. This term "filled or full" is normally used of physical eating (Acts 27:38), but here it is a metaphor (Matt. 5:6) of spiritual pride. Verse 8 can be three questions or three statements. These are a series of sarcastic statements or questions that reveal the pride of the Corinthian factious leaders. They thought they had arrived. Paul wished they had, but it was not true; their actions revealed their maturity level (i.e. babies in Christ).

B. By using the phrase "we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men", Paul is referring to the difficult task of preaching the gospel. It is rewarding and refreshing to know however that God has used the foolish things of this world to confound the wise” (1 Cor.1:27). "We are fools for Christ's sake". God's wisdom is foolishness to the world; even sometimes to arrogant Christians. "To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless" These verses reflect Paul's own experience. "we toil, working with our own hands” reflects the Jewish emphasis on the appropriateness of manual labour (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8). This stresses the importance of hard work and taking responsibility instead of depending on others for goodwill. Paul and the other apostles led by example. We must consciously lead by example. I believe this will make working rewarding and encouraging.

C. "when we are reviled, we bless”. Paul is reflecting the teachings of Jesus (Matt. 5:10-12; 1 Pet. 2:23). The term "reviled" is also included in the list of sins in 1 Cor. 5:11 and 6:10. This term refers to personal verbal abuse, while the term "slandered" or “defamed” means public defamation (2 Cor. 6:8). Paul experienced verbal abuse from many false teachers, but it was the church at Corinth that must have wounded him the most. A group of people whom he personally led to Christ became his most vocal slanderers. Jesus Christ experienced same ridicule and we will at some point in our walk with the Lord experience same. We must however face this with the right attitude whenever we do.

In Conclusion
Important learning points drawn from the experiences of Paul in Corinth. Focus here is on leading by examples while learning and growing through the pains that accompany this tedious but rewarding experience. We must always be mindful that we are first stewards and that we will all give account of our stewardship before the one and only God, our maker, who considers us all worthy of this privilege to be co-workers in His Kingdom.