Sunday, February 1, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Corinthians 8-9
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 14
Key Verse
1 Corinthians 9:8 — “Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?”
Devotional Thought
What are you willing to give up for the sake of a weaker brother or sister? That is the question Paul presses upon the Corinthians, and upon us, in this morning’s reading. The church at Corinth was divided over meat sacrificed to idols. Some believers understood that an idol “is nothing in the world” and that “there is none other God but one,” so they ate freely. Others, newly converted out of paganism, could not shake the old associations; for them, eating such meat felt like worshiping demons. Paul does not scold the knowledgeable ones for their understanding. He scolds them for their arrogance. “Knowledge puffeth up,” he writes, “but charity edifieth.” The mature believer’s freedom is real — but it must bow to love. If your liberty wounds a weak conscience, Paul says, you “sin against Christ.” That is a sobering sentence. My rights are not the measure of my conduct; the cross is.
Then Paul turns the spotlight on himself. As an apostle he had every right to financial support, to travel with a wife, to “forbear working.” He cites the law of Moses — “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox” — and the Lord’s own ordinance that “they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” Yet he waived it all. Why? “Lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.” He became “all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” That is the heart of Christian liberty: not doing whatever I may, but freely surrendering what I may for the sake of others. Paul even disciplines his own body, “lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
Psalm 14 stands as a dark backdrop. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The psalmist surveys humanity and finds “none that doeth good, no, not one.” Left to ourselves, we are corrupt and self-seeking. Only grace makes a people who seek God, who fear Him, who become a refuge for the poor. The Corinthians’ disputes about meat were, at bottom, a dispute about whether the self or the Savior would rule.
This first day of February, the world around us is full of people running — for status, for pleasure, for the prize that perishes. Paul says, “So run, that ye may obtain.” Run with intention. Lay aside the lawful thing if it stumbles your brother. The crown we seek is incorruptible, and the One who died for the weak is worthy of every surrendered right.
Reflection
- Is there a legitimate freedom in your life — a habit, a choice, an indulgence — that is quietly wounding a weaker believer rather than building them up?
- Paul “kept under” his body lest he become a castaway. What discipline does your own race require this week?
Prayer
Lord, You became poor that we might be rich, and You laid aside every right for the joy of our salvation. Forgive us for the pride that parades knowledge and tramples the weak. Teach us the charity that edifies, the love that is known of You. Give us Paul’s heart — made all things to all men, that some might be saved. Help us to run the race with purpose, to keep our bodies in subjection, and to seek an incorruptible crown. Be our refuge, O God, in the generation of the righteous, and let our liberty always serve Your gospel. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 14:1 — “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”