Gloriographs by Rick Reynolds

What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?  1 Corinthians 4:6

If we all possess the same spirit of God, are we not equally blessed with the same spiritual engine, that is “wisdom from above?”

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  James 3:17

Claims to anything above and beyond these traits could be construed as arrogance, and Paul wanted nothing of it.

Paul goes on to say that they (note the inclusion of others of the same ilk like Apollos) lived with death sentences, as “spectacles” before men and angels, as weak and without honor, as “fools for Christ’s sake,” as they deployed their “giftedness” in service to the Lord and to his church. 1 Corinthians 4:9–10

And there’s more.

12 and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.  1 Corinthians 4:12–13

Lord, cause me to be humble in all that I do, especially in your specific service, knowing that my motives may be questioned, my methods may be criticized, and my means may be scrutinized. Cause me to bless when I’m reviled, endure when I’m persecuted, and conciliate when I’m slandered.