Joel M Bradshaw

3I care very little if I [Paul] am judged by you [the Corinthian church] or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.–1 Corinthians 4

1. Paul didn’t live for the opinions of others.
2. But Paul did have standards.
3. And though he didn’t worry about others judging him, he did care about the opinion of Jesus.
4. Paul knew that he still sinned and had to take that seriously.
5. If you struggle with codependency or people-pleasing, you not only care too much about what others think about you, but you manipulate outcomes so that they think highly of you.
6. The only opinion that matters is the one belonging to Jesus.
7. Paul found the answer: care more about God’s opinion than that of other people. The fear of God needs to be greater than the fear of man.–JMB