Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-9:

Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you like spiritual people but like unspiritual people, like babies in Christ. ² I gave you milk to drink instead of solid food, because you weren’t up to it yet. ³ Now you are still not up to it because you are still unspiritual. When jealousy and fighting exist between you, aren’t you unspiritual and living by human standards? ⁴ When someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and someone else says, “I belong to Apollos,” aren’t you acting like people without the Spirit? ⁵ After all, what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants who helped you to believe. Each one had a role given to them by the Lord: ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow. ⁷ Because of this, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but the only one who is anything is God who makes it grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters work together, but each one will receive their own reward for their own labor. ⁹ We are God’s coworkers, and you are God’s field, God’s building.

While it is important for us to tend to our spiritual lives and to nurture and encourage our fellow Christians, God is the one who empowers each person, and the church as a whole, to grow.

Who acts as Apollos and Pauls in your life?

Who has planted and watered the seeds of faith in your soul?

Who has brought the good news of Christ into your heart?

Contemplate your answers to these questions and lift up a prayer of thanks for those who have led you to this point in your faith journey.

God of the gardens, your world is full of beauty, peace, and nourishment. Give me the courage to find what makes each of us beautiful and perfect in your eyes so that I can grow in faith and in practice each day. Amen.