Gaining Patience for “Foolishness”

1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Observation: Paul is teaching the Corinthians that without the spirit of God upon our hearts we can’t do or know his will. We can’t understand his mind or agenda for his life. He goes on to explain that for those around us that do not have the spirit in their lives, it goes beyond not knowing the mind of Christ…but to them the gospel is foolishness.

Application: When I watch TV or listen to the radio, sometimes I get so worked up over the ungodliness I hear. I think, “How can these people be so crazy?” I am holding them to a standard of God that to them is total foolishness. The same is true in politics. I expect that politicians should have some kind of moral compass. The reality is that they do not know the mind of God, and much of the morality that comes from him is foolishness anyway. I think this gives me a patience towards those who are spiritually discerned. It makes me want to pray for them instead of get upset and frustrated. How can I get frustrated over how they act when they don’t know how they should act. It puts a new desire in my heart to preach the gospel so that the spirit can be upon more hearts and perhaps in these last days we can begin to turn back towards God and the foundations on which this country was made.

Prayer: God, give me a new burden for those who need your wisdom upon their hearts.