Learn from myself and Apollos [ . . . ] so that none of you will be inflated with pride. // 1 Corinthians 4:6
I could hear the distant tick of a clock as I waited for the priest to respond. I was in the middle of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and just confessed how I get extremely annoyed or lose my temper when my plans get interrupted or I’m dealing with irritating people. In a firm, but gentle tone, the priest asked what made me so special that I shouldn’t have to deal with interruptions or annoying people? I thought, Wait, what?
Then the Holy Spirit started enlightening my mind to occasions of pride in my life. I started interiorly debating. I’m not that prideful! I just like things to go how I want it, when I want it, and where I want it. The Holy Spirit waited for that to sink in . . . Ah, maybe You have a point, Lord.
Perhaps that is why the passage from the First Letter to the Corinthians (4:6b-15) in today’s First Reading struck a chord. Saint Paul was reprimanding them for their prideful thinking and lack of embracing suffering for the sake of the Kingdom. “Learn from myself and Apollos [ . . . ] so that none of you will be inflated with pride” (1 Corinthians 4:6). Unlike the Corinthians, Paul endured various forms of hardship, not in a masochistic way. There was a purpose. He was building the kingdom and sharing the Gospel.
Do we realize how many opportunities we have to share the Gospel in our daily lives? Not only through big, dramatic life situations, but more often, it’s in the little things. Having patience with a family member or co-worker. Showing forgiveness to the guy who cut us off in traffic. Putting down our phone and picking up our Bible. All these little acts chip away at our prideful and selfish attitudes and make us more receptive to the workings of the Spirit in our hearts. What act of selflessness can you do today?
Lord, we’re sorry for the ways we’ve been prideful and selfish. Please give us the grace to live more like You in our thoughts and our actions. We love You. Amen.
Bobbi Rol is a wife and mama living on the Monterey Bay in California with her husband, daughter (also a Blessed Is She writer), and three teen boys. When she is not driving her kids to school, practices, and games, she can be found by the ocean, catching a movie, or collecting journals and stationery. She was a contributing author to Gift: Study on the Eucharist, And Hay Became Holy, and our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. Find out more about her at https://www.instagram.com/
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