VERSE: Ruth 1:16–But Ruth said ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you for where you go I will go and where you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people and your God my God. TRUTH: Ruth made a decision to follow Naomi and nothing was going to deter her from that. When we make a decision to follow Christ are we equally focused? Do we stand up to anything that might distract us from following Christ with our whole life? RESPONSE: Lord, take away anything that tries to distract me from following You.

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 16:14–Let all that you do be done in love. TRUTH: Love is to be the motivation for everything that we do throughout the day. Not only that, it should be the means by which we do things. Are we acting because we love? Are we demonstrating that love in everything we do so that others can see it? RESPONSE: Lord, I pray You will give me what I need to be able to choose to love as You love today.

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 15:57–but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. TRUTH: No matter what we are going through we can know that Jesus Christ has the victory. We can give thanks to God for overcoming all areas where we struggle. Praise God! RESPONSE: Lord, You are amazing and You know the needs of my heart. Thank you for the victory through You!

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 14:40–but all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner TRUTH: Paul has been instructing in the way Christians should conduct themselves when they gather for worship. This is his summary advice, be proper and orderly. Why? So that non-Christians can look, understand, and be drawn to God. Do our worship services draw people to God? RESPONSE: Lord, help me be glorifying to You when I worship and that my worship of You would lead others to You!

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 13:7–love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. TRUTH: An interesting set of attributes when we realize that bearing and enduring refer to going through struggles and hardship, while believing and hoping refer to seeing the positive. Love bears and endures through the difficulties and wrongs suffered while believing and hoping give us the faith to continue to love those we are having to endure. Do we love people? Really love people as Christ loves us? RESPONSE: Lord, help me to love as You love, hoping and enduring, believing and bearing burdens.

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 12:18–But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body just as He desired. TRUTH: He knows our gifts and the gifts of others and He has brought us together on purpose just as He desired. Do we see our brothers and sisters as helping us accomplish our purpose? RESPONSE: Lord, help me focus on pleasing You where I am and to work together with those You have placed around me.

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 11:28–But a man must examine himself and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. TRUTH: Communion is a time of self-examination. But we are to examine and compare ourself to Christ not to someone else. Next to Him, none of us measure up and all of us need His sacrifice. Do we compare ourselves only to Him? RESPONSE: Lord, compared to You, I don’t measure up. Help me to allow You to live through me the life I can’t live on my own!

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 10:24–Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. TRUTH: Paul is dealing with some difficult issues in this chapter and gives lots of specific direction. But, this is the overall direction. When we make decisions, how do we choose? Do we take the good of others into consideration? Are we focused on what will build them up? RESPONSE: Father help me make every decision today focused on other people. May my decisions be made seeking to build up and encourage them and not myself.

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 9:19–For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all so that I may win more. TRUTH: What are we willing to sacrifice to see people come to know the Lord? Paul was willing to sacrifice his freedom so that others might come to Christ. What are we doing in order to be able to reach people? RESPONSE: Lord, do in me whatever needs to be done so that people may be won to You.

VERSE: 1 Corinthians 8:1–No concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. TRUTH: Paul is moving into a specific cultural issue of the day, but the principle still applies. We have knowledge to do things, but if we do not apply love to those actions, we become arrogant. Love is what builds up and encourages others. In everything we do, are we doing it out of love or just out of knowledge? RESPONSE: Lord, help me act out of love, not just out of knowledge. If I do not love, I am nothing.