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Join us as we focus each day for nine weeks on a different part of 1 Corinthians 13.
Tuesday: It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7

Read: 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

Listen: 1 Corinthians 3

TODAY’S MESSAGE

The scene would be familiar to the fertile surroundings of Corinth. The farmer presses seeds into the ground, inhaling damp earth as the sun warms his neck. Dirt fills his fingernails. Callouses cover his hands from hours of hard labor. The farmer does his part but recognizes there will be no harvest without God’s provision of sunshine and good soil.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that as he and others labor to help them grow in Christ, they are like farmers in God’s field. Paul, Apollos and others have planted and watered seeds of faith in Corinth. Yet God is the one who grows them up. They’re not celebrities to be worshipped and followed. They’re simply co-workers in God’s field.

We are God’s field, and he uses various people to grow us up. Maybe a podcast or radio program drew us closer to him. A conversation with a friend could turn our hearts back to God. A sermon might help us through a challenging season. While we express gratitude for those who’ve planted faith-seeds in us, it is God helping us grow. When our affections and allegiance turn away from him toward those he’s used—we’ve missed the point.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Think through your faith journey. Who has God used to draw you closer to himself? In your Culture of the Cross Journal on page 50, write a prayer of thanksgiving. Thank God for the people he has used to help you grow in your faith. Take it a step further and send a text message or drop a note in the mail letting that person know how God used them to help you grow.

Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.