1 Corinthians 6:7-8
To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
This verse takes the wind out of my sails. I don’t like to hear the word “defeat” when it comes to Christians. There are too many defeated Christians. The reason for the Corinthians’ defeat is that they have gone about fixing their problems in the wrong way. They were taking each other to civil court when they should have been working their problems out together in mutual love, and when necessary, the intercession of wise judges within the church. Paul’s answer is radical: rather than cause others to suffer, we should be willing to suffer wrong. We don’t like to hear this idea, especially in a nation like the USA where we pride ourselves in our freedoms. We think that we should be able to do whatever we want since we are free. But Paul offers a completely different scenario. It is helpful at this point to turn to Philippians 2:5-11 and see how Jesus gave up his rights and died on a cross. In the end, he comes out the winner through resurrection. We too come out the winners through our own spiritual resurrection when we put others ahead of ourselves. Paul will pick up on this topic further in chs. 8-10, where it is better to love that to exert one’s rights. How can we defraud or cause harm to a brother or sister in Christ? Are we not violating what Christ has done for them? If we truly believe in the power of grace, then we can let it all go and trust the problem to God. Even if we suffer, it is better than causing someone else to stumble and fall.
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