As Christians, we?re defined not by what we know but by who knows us?our loving God?and what we?re known for?our love for each other.

All of us have a idea of what we hope to get out of our lives before we die. And all of us have a future beyond the grave promised to us by God if we trust in Jesus. The question is this: To which unrealized future does your heart belong?

How can we be free from restlessness and discontent? Paul helps us connect with God?s acceptance of us, his sovereignty over us, and his future for us.

Why do Christians think sex outside of marriage is such a bad thing? Given what Paul says here, the answer to that question has much to do with the sacredness of the body, the power of sex, and the purpose of sex within marriage.

How we handle conflict shows what we love and where we belong. When our hearts are locked on the things of this world, we?re driven to protect what we have and compete for even more. When we realize God has not given us what we deserve, we?re free to lay aside our rights and love with forgiveness.

Could it ever be a good thing to remove someone from the church because of their sin? Paul?s stern warning explains why we must confront sin if we truly love each other, if we truly love the church body, and if we truly love God and his glory.

Paul uses his own life to call his friends to a humility rooted in the promises of the gospel. When we embrace God?s approval of us through Jesus, our security isn?t tied to what others think of us or what we think of ourselves. And when we taste the sweetness of what?s ours in Jesus, we?re set free from the restless pursuit of what we think we need or deserve.

The church in Corinth was falling apart because its members were insecure and self-obsessed; or, in Paul?s words, they were behaving like infants, in a merely human way. The unflinching challenge of this text confronts all of us with two crucial questions: Who are you? And what are you doing with your life?

When we add to the gospel, we nullify it.

Still pushing back against self-centered divisiveness in the church, Paul insists there?s only one distinction that really matters: those who love the cross of Jesus and those who reject it. And it?s only by God?s Spirit that any of us come to understand and to love that cross, to see the wisdom of God.