It is well-known to Bible readers that the apostle Paul, in his two pastoral letters to the church at Corinth, takes up several issues of conflict within the church, things that grieved him and the church to tears.

Yet he begins his first letter to them as men and women in Christ. He is full of thanks for them and for the grace of God enriching their lives with a personal knowledge of him through Jesus Christ.

Though some problems were "merely" petty rivalry, they had critical implications for the gospel; there were also serious sins being indulged, misunderstandings about spiritual gifts, wonderings about marriage, doctrinal questions, the need for spiritual strength, and all this amid direct opposition from false teachers to Paul's apostolic authority in Christ.

In his opening salutation to them Paul was using spiritual wisdom, openness and honesty in his feelings for them, but we should not assume he was being disingenuous in his expressions, as if this were only rhetorical device to win an argument. Paul truly loved them. In a letter to the church in Roman he says he was willing to sacrifice even his own salvation for his Jewish brethren. For the Gentles, the Corinthian believers and others, the suffering he endured, even to the point of death, reveal a love for others surpassed only by Christ himself. Paul truly was crucified with Christ, born again of the Holy Spirit, and filled with the love of God for others.

Today, we are often faced with similar situations in our personal and church life. In Paul, in these letters to the Corinthians we have an example of the spirit we should cherish as we wait on and work under God's direction.

Being thankful for the grace God has shown us in the forgiveness of our sins will help us be both merciful and just in our relations with each other. But if we forget how dependent we ourselves are on the grace of God in Christ, we begin to think of ourselves as better than those God has called us to minister too. We will fall into the trap Paul warned others of, that if we bite at one another we may be consumed by sin.

Cultivating a sense of Christ's presence through the daily spiritual practice of worshipping him is essential for the deep fellowship we and others crave. Hearing him speak to us through his Word is life itself. We need this every day. Let nothing come between our souls and God. Talk over everything about our lives with him, praying to him as a dear friend and as Lord of our lives. In this way, we will receive him graciously into our hearts as an abiding presence. Rather than exhaust ourselves trying to create our own ministry, we will powerfully experience the simple act of loving others as we have been loved in Jesus Christ. This love of Christ will be rich in character, full of the shared attributes of God in Jesus, wise in counsel, willing in labor, patient when provoked, absent of envy, and buoyed by hope.

As with Paul and the other apostles, there will be time when love means taking a firm stand, even offering open rebuke or strong exhortations to others in our mutual battle with temptation and sin. But if we are sound in our faith, grounded deeply in the Word of God, and living with the cross of Christ ever in our vision, we will love as those who would give their very lives for others, even to those who oppose and persecute us.

Jesus taught and Paul lived a love of God that was far from the cheap, romantic, shallow sort common today. It was and is self-sacrificing love, love for ones enemies and friends that is willing to bleed in their behalf rather than see them destroyed. The Spirit of the cross, as Paul clearly teaches in the opening two chapters of First Corinthians, is our hidden wisdom and the power of God for salvation to all who believe. The world and even the "carnal" Christian will not see or respect such love, not at first and for others, not at all, but we, like Paul, must determine in our hearts out the grace and love of Christ, manifesting the Spirit of Jesus in every word and action. Alone, this is impossible, but in Christ we will live more than the possibility, we will live the reality of Kingdom life in him.

Our goal is more than some mean, personal ambition to advance in this world by means of religion. The motive for service, the very meaning of life for the servant of Christ, is to glorify God as witnesses to the person and work of his Son. Lifting up Jesus as crucified for the many, we too are lifted up with him as we abide in him through faith.

Evidence for such an experience is in our love, justice, and grace toward those who may misunderstand their place before God, but even more for those who live and work as enemies to the gospel of Christ.