NOT IN TALK, BUT IN POWER

“…Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” (1 Cor 4: 17-20)

What “power” is St. Paul talking about, in this fatherly admonition to the Corinthians? He is referring to the power of the Holy Spirit, in which I am called to abide. His is the “kingdom” I am called to inhabit, not merely and not primarily by talking about it. Here the apostle is warning us against Spirit-less talk, be it about church-matters or other matters, because such talk is damaging and destructive, holding “power” not from above.

“Come and abide in us,” I pray today, so that our “power,” be it in silence or in words, may always be Yours, of the constructive and consoling kind. “For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, now and forever.” Amen!

#talk #power #1Cor41720 #silence