Sorry, I missed yesterday. I was sick.
Apostle Paul started the congregation at Corinth. He was there for only eighteen months. He started preaching Jesus in the Jewish synagogue, but left it to form a Christian congregation. (Acts 18:1-18) Before he left the city, he established the basics of the Christian congregation after the model of a Jewish synagogue. The same basic bylaws were applied to all the Christian congregations.
The congregations followed Jesus’s teaching as first taught by Paul, and later by Silas, Timothy, and Apollos. However, the congregation at Corinth needed many bylaws on matters Jesus did not teach. Some were what days and times to meet, where to meet, who would be responsible for the finances, etc. Paul praised them for keeping these bylaws after he left. He called them traditions, though the NIV translates the Greek word treachings, and the KJV translates it ordinances.
Other bylaws are presented in this chapter, perhaps ones that Apostle Paul did not discuss with them while he was with them. The traditions he discusses in this chapter have to do with the nature of their worship service. More on that in the days ahead.
I learn from today’s one verse that traditions and bylaws are a lot like good habits in a personal life. I have bad habits that I have unlearned. Good habits are a wise thing to organize a life. I am not a morning person. I have always awakened slowly. Waking up early to dedicate time to writing daily bread took years. This good habit is still not easy some mornings, but the effects of making it a habit make it easier, and I am better because of it. Make some good habits my bylaws, and make some good family traditions.
