1 Corinthians 4:11-21

11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.
15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.
20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

Cross References 21

  • 1. Romans 8:35; 2 Corinthians 11:23-27
  • 2. S Acts 18:3
  • 3. Romans 12:14; 1 Peter 3:9
  • 4. S Matthew 5:44
  • 5. Jeremiah 20:18; Lamentations 3:45
  • 6. 1 Corinthians 6:5; 1 Corinthians 15:34; 2 Thessalonians 3:14
  • 7. S 1 Thessalonians 2:11
  • 8. S ver 14
  • 9. 1Co 9:12,14,18,23; 1 Corinthians 15:1
  • 10. 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:7,9
  • 11. 1 Corinthians 16:10
  • 12. S Acts 16:1
  • 13. S 1 Timothy 1:2
  • 14. S 1 Corinthians 7:17
  • 15. Jeremiah 43:2
  • 16. ver 21
  • 17. 1 Corinthians 16:5,6; 2 Corinthians 1:15,16
  • 18. S Acts 18:21
  • 19. Romans 14:17
  • 20. S Romans 15:13
  • 21. 2 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 13:2,10
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