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“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NASB1995)
Do any of you identify with Paul? I mean, not in every respect, but in how he described himself here? When you read his words, do you feel what he is feeling? I do, in some respects. For public speaking has never been my forte, although the Lord did call me to begin making video talks beginning in 2020 during the Covid crisis and the lockdowns. And I am still making video talks, although not as often as I had been. And I was never the outgoing type, and I am generally soft spoken, and I stumble over my words with lots of “uhs.”
My words, as well, are not spoken to impress anyone with my “gift of speaking.” I am kind, and I am thoughtful, but I speak the truth in love to people the way in which the Lord gives it to me to say, not in the way I would think people might like to hear it. I am a defender of the faith, and I will stand on the truth even if all are against me but God. And I am not a technology wizard, by far, so my presentations will also not be flashy, but plain and simple, as I am in nature. So what you see is what you get.
Am I perfect? No! I don’t always say all the right things in all the right ways, and sometimes I could kick myself because I did a poor job of expressing myself. And if I feel I have offended someone in my own nature, I will definitely apologize and try to make it right. For I have no desire to be an offense unless I am being an offense by sharing the truth of the gospel that many do not want to hear. For many people are going after the “feel good” messages which do not teach faith by death to sin and obedience to God.
Now, we are not all going to be like Paul, nor should we try to be like any other human in every respect. For God uniquely designed all of us, and he made us to look different and to be different and to not be all the same. So we should not try to be like “so and so” in every respect, for then we cease to be who God created us to be. And it is not natural for us to try to be someone else. But if someone is setting a good model before us, which is biblical, then it is good if we emulate that model of a Christian’s life.
And the Scriptures themselves teach us that we are not to be proud and arrogant and boastful people who speak in order to impress others, or who say only what we think will make people like us. We are to be people of God who speak the words of God to the people, in truth, in love, with kindness, but without compromise of truth and righteousness. We are to be bold in sharing the truth of the gospel even if we are hated and rejected and cast aside by the majority of people who find us “weird,” because we’re different.
But this can’t be about us or what people think of us or whether or not we are accepted by the majority. This has to be about Jesus Christ and who he is and what he did in putting our sins to death with him, and in rising from the dead, so that by faith in him we will now die to sin and obey our Lord, in practice, and have deliverance from bondage to sin and the hope of eternal life with God. We have to speak the truth to the people that they need to hear with the hope that they will die to sin and obey God and live for him.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Acts 26:18]
Speak, Lord
An Original Work / May 8, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Speak, Lord, for Your servant’s list’ning to You.
Let me hear You speak in love and in truth.
Guide me, I pray. Teach me Your way.
Speak, Lord, while I bow before You now.
Speak, Lord, fill me with Your peace and Your joy.
Let Your Holy Spirit’s work now employ.
Strengthen within. Keep me from sin.
Speak, Lord, words that lead to victory.
Speak, Lord, so that I might walk in Your ways.
Let Your love o’er-flow in my heart today.
Be my desire. Set me on fire.
Speak, Lord, comfort me with Your presence.
Not With Superiority of Speech
An Original Work / February 2, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
