1 Corinthians 16:13 Devo

Why do we need men’s ministry? We can’t fight this fight alone brother.

Galatians 6:2 NKJV

2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Proverbs 27:17 NKJV

17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

One of my favorite verses that motivates me to be the man God has called me to be is:

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 ESV

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

Be Watchful

What do we need to be watchful for? What do we need to be on guard for? The Bible tells us that our enemy is shooting flaming darts at us, he’s a prowling lion seeking whom he may devour, he’s the father of lies. What do we need to be watchful for? I don’t need to tell you. You already know. All of us have or have had family issues, work issues, financial issues, personal issues. Someone once told me the devil doesn’t always have to make you bad, sometimes he just needs to make you busy. The enemy is coming for you and me. But he doesn’t stop there, he’ll go after your wife, your kids, your family. I’m not trying to hype up our enemy or give the devil his due. You see Ephesians 6 details that we are in a spiritual battle with our enemy. This fight is personal, but you don’t have to fight it alone. We need to be watchful. It’s easy to get distracted. What happened to Peter when he took his eyes off Jesus?

Stand Firm

What Paul is saying here is hold your ground. Don’t move. Peter and John were threatened with death when they were told to shut up about Jesus.

Acts 4:19–20 ESV

19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Peter and John didn’t care how much the Pharisees threatened them. They held their ground, and they did it together. It may be easy for some to give up on the faith seeing how hard things are right now. I love what Joshua says though:

Joshua 24:15 NKJV

15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Act Like Men

What Paul is saying here is be of good courage. Its really easy to keep the faith when things are going your way. What about when things aren’t going good. You’re struggling financially, you’re having problems at home, you’re not sure how much longer you can keep going to that job you hate. I heard it said once that if you look at 1 Corinthians 13, you’ll find out what a man is like. Now I know what you’re thinking, the love chapter? Well, check this out! A man is patient, a man is kind, a man does not envy or boast, a man is not arrogant or rude, and so on. My favorite one is this: Men bear all things, believe all things, hopes all things, endures all things. That’s hard guys, but in verse 11 Paul says that when he was a child, he spoke as a child. When he became a man though, he put those things away. Its time for some of us, especially myself, to put some childish things away.

Be Strong

How do we be strong? We can’t use our own strength. That leads to problems and failure.

Ephesians 6:10 NKJV

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

John 15:5 NKJV

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Psalm 121:1–2 NKJV

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Do Everything in Love

This one is easy to say but hard to do a lot of times. I can only speak for myself, but there’s times where I get prideful and do things out of spite, anger, or to make myself feel good. Our greatest commandments that Jesus gave us was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 NKJV

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Jesus was our ultimate, perfect example of what it is to be a man. He was watchful over his disciples being their teacher. He stood firm when He was tempted in the wilderness. He was brave when He flipped the tables in the temple and called the people out when they were wrong. He was strong and firm when He needed to be telling Pharisees how God wanted it. But above all else, He did it in love because He first loved us.