OUR LORD WHO SET THE STANDARD TO FOLLOW

1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 11 - 12 are two verses written by the apostle Paul where he describes some of the travails that he, along with the other apostles, had suffered. The verses read this way;

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

Paul believed that this unrelenting assault on those who were  first called to  proclaimed Jesus and His kingdom to the nations, had been deliberately designed by the Lord to make them a  spectacle for all of creation to marvel at. 

Paul's description of hunger, thirst, nakedness, brutality and  homelessness  that they endured, was the example of perserverence that they were expected to set for all  other believers. 

Further to the harshness of their condition, the apostles were to remain working hard for their own living and as well, maintain an exemplary demeanor of graciousness towards those who cursed them and otherwise maltreated them.

Let us bless the Lord whose own example of perseverance and gentleness set the standard for His apostles to live up to. Their boldness and tenacity in proclaiming the gospel to the world, in turn, set the standard for all of us who came to believe in Christ through them.

Amen.