Devotional 18 October 2025

October 18, 2025 • Steve Torres

1 Corinthians 2:2.jpg

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (1 Corinthians 2:1–4, ESV)

Paul reminds the Corinthians that his ministry was not founded on charisma or eloquence, but on the power of God. When he came to them, he came not as a polished philosopher but as a humbled man transformed by the gospel. His life was the evidence of the Spirit’s power (1 Thessalonians 1:5). Rather than impressing the wise of the world, Paul reflected the same pattern of Christ, who “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).

The “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” was not a show of signs or miracles, but the visible reality of a changed life. Just as Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:17–20), so Paul’s message bore fruit in repentance, faith, and holiness among the believers. The wisdom of the world seeks to persuade by logic or performance, but the wisdom of God persuades through truth and transformation (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).

Paul’s trembling and weakness were not hindrances; they were the very means by which God’s power was revealed (2 Corinthians 12:9–10). The same Spirit who empowered Paul now dwells in every believer, producing faith, endurance, and love that no human ability can manufacture.

In the Christian life, our witness is most powerful not when we appear strong, but when Christ’s strength is seen through our frailty. Like Paul, we are called to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified: for in that message alone is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).