Study Desk

But suppose you are engaged to someone old enough to be married, and you want her so much that all you can think about is getting married. Then go ahead and marry. There is nothing wrong with that.

But it is better to have self-control and to make up your mind not to marry.

It is perfectly all right to marry, but it is better not to get married at all.

A wife should stay married to her husband until he dies. Then she is free to marry again, but only to a man who is a follower of the Lord.

In your letter you asked me about food offered to idols. All of us know something about this subject. But knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others.

But God has no doubts about who loves him.

Many things in heaven and on earth are called gods and lords, but none of them really are gods or lords.

But food doesn't bring us any closer to God. We are no worse off if we don't eat, and we are no better off if we do.

You know all this, and so it doesn't bother you to eat in the temple of an idol. But suppose a person with a weak conscience sees you and decides to eat food that has been offered to idols.

Others may think that I am not an apostle, but you are proof that I am an apostle to you.

I am not saying this on my own authority. The Law of Moses tells us not to muzzle an ox when it is grinding grain. But was God concerned only about an ox?

If others have the right to do this, we have an even greater right. But we haven't used this right of ours. We are willing to put up with anything to keep from causing trouble for the message about Christ.

But I have never used these privileges of mine, and I am not writing this because I want to start now. I would rather die than have someone rob me of the right to take pride in this.

If I preach because I want to, I will be paid. But even if I don't want to, it is still something God has sent me to do.

I am not anyone's slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible.

When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them.

Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever.

But most of them did not please God. So they died, and their bodies were scattered all over the desert.

You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations.

Some of you say, "We can do whatever we want to!" But I tell you that not everything may be good or helpful.