August 13

NT -- 1st Corinthians 8:1-13
What is the big deal about food in this section?
Here is Commentary from David Guzik that I found very interesting:
"The meat offered on pagan altars was usually divided up into three portions: one portion was burnt in honor of the god; one portion was given to the worshipper to take home and eat; and the third portion was given to the priest. If the priest didn’t want to eat his portion, he sold it at the temple restaurant or meat market.
i. The meat served and sold at the temple was generally cheaper; and then, as well as now, people loved a bargain (including Christians!).
c. The issue raises many questions: can we eat meat purchased at the temple meat market? What if we are served meat purchased at the temple meat market when we are guests in someone’s home? Can a Christian eat at the restaurant at the pagan temple?
d. We know that we all have knowledge: Instead of talking about food, Paul first talks about the principles of knowledge and love. Christian behavior is founded on love, not knowledge; and the goal of the Christian life is not knowledge, but love.
e. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies: Both knowledge and love have an effect on our lives; both of them make something grow. The difference between puffs up and edifies is striking; it is the difference between a bubble and a building. Some Christians grow, others just swell!

http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/4608.htm

Primarily the part about puffs up and edifies. Because Matthew is leaving for school on Wednesday, my sermonizing seems to have been turned on in full gear. At one point this past week, I made the 'appropriate' comment that the only person's behavior we can control is ... at which point Matthew broke into my speechifying and said "mine, I know, I know Mom."
It IS hard to know when to preach and when just to do what is right and keep your mouth shut.
Clearly, Paul had a bunch of know-it-alls in this congregation and they weren't being loving and kind to one another.
And the older I get, the more I appreciate 'kind' and the less I appreciate 'knowledge'. Hard to believe that I am in the Paul camp on this one.

Proverbs 21:8-10
Better to live on the corner of a roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Oh, oh, oh.
Do you argue with your spouse? A lot or a little? In front of your kids or others? Do you fight fair? Do you bring up the past or stay focused on the problem at hand? How long do arguments last? Does resolution mean you have won or that the two of you have quit yelling? Do your arguments ever escalate to physicality?

These are all questions from a booklet that Don and I brought home from the disaster of a trip to Marriage Encounter when Matthew was 15 months old.
At the time, my really good friends had sponsored us and we went to the Friday evening meeting, the Saturday morning session, the Saturday afternoon session and started the Saturday evening. I don't know if you have ever been to a Marriage Encounter weekend or if they still do them this way but ours had a brief (30 minutes or so) reading from one of the leading couples sharing their marital issues, then we broke into two groups with one spouse going back to the room to write and the other to stay in the ballroom to write. Then you were supposed to share this revelation with your spouse.
Okay, either Don and I just had a boring relationship or we had not encountered the storms of life yet. Maybe if we went NOW we would have gotten something out of it but by the time that Saturday afternoon session was over, I was out of my mind.
We snuck out of the hotel, ran for our car and left.
*Don wants me to add that we were not the first to leave. That is really important to him.*
But one thing we did take away from that otherwise ludicrous episode in our marriage was that we don't really fight. I am not sure if we are just passive people or what. I do want to discuss problems but I do not like yelling. And I am really uncomfortable around people who do yell.
Yes, I would be hightailing it to the roof if I had a quarrelsome spouse. Wife or otherwise.

Blessings to you as you start your week.