I’ve been thinking a bit recently about Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. If you read through the letter, you get a real insight into the chaos and confusion that people were trying to practise their faith through. Yet, we’re shown in the first few verses that God has lavished everything they need on them:
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge - even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you - so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Despite the messes and failures of individuals within the Corinthian church, and the failures of the congregation as a whole in condoning sinful behaviours, Paul emphasises that God has given them all speech and all knowledge, and that they’re not lacking in any gift.
This is another moment where I feel overwhelmed by the lavish grace of God upon each one of us. We strive on in this Christian life, even with our failures, but all the time God has lavished everything we need for us to run this race with perseverance. He doesn’t want us to settle in to our sin so he sustains us to live lives worthy of God and reflecting of Christ. I’m so grateful all over again!