As an expert builder using the grace that God gave me, I laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it.

That's why I sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and dependable son in the Lord and will help you remember how I live for the Messiah Jesus as I teach everywhere in every church.

I want you to be free from concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, that is, about how he can please the Lord.

But a married man is concerned about things of this world, that is, about how he can please his wife,

An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the affairs of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, that is, about how she can please her husband. I'm saying this for your benefit, not to put a noose around your necks, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn't preach the gospel!

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread,

In the same way, lifeless instruments like the flute or harp produce sounds. But if there's no difference in the notes, how can a person tell what tune is being played?

In the same way, unless you speak an intelligible message with your language, how will anyone know what is being said? You'll be talking into the air!

Otherwise, if you say a blessing with your spirit, how can an otherwise uneducated person say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you're saying?

Now if we preach that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how can some of you keep claiming there is no resurrection of the dead?

But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"

This is how it will be at the resurrection of the dead. What is planted is decaying, what is raised cannot decay.