How to Use Earthly Joy and Sorrow

1 Corinthians 7 contains principles for marriage and advice for unmarried and widowed people. Yet hidden in this chapter is an astonishing mindset for every Christian. This passage teaches us how to live in the world, and how to interact with earthly joys and sorrows.

In the middle of a discussion about marriage, Paul suddenly urges ‘each person’ to ‘lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.’ This is a shocking statement, since Paul is talking to men and women who find themselves in painful life situations. He just addressed husbands and wives who are in difficult marriages. Some of them have spouses who hate their religion!

Then, Paul even goes a step forward and applies this to slaves. He says that if you were a slave when you became a Christian, “do not be concerned about it.”

Then, in verses 29-31, Paul explains why. There is a principle here. As Robertson-Plummer explains, “though I counsel none to change their state, I do counsel all to change their attitude towards all earthly things.”

Paul calls you to a changed mindset. All earthly things are transient. “The appointed time has grown very short…The present form of this world is passing away.”

As G. Vos explains, “The underlying idea is none other than that the times preceding the Parousia [the coming of Christ] require a unique concentration of the minds of believers upon the Lord and the manner in which they may best please him. The last days are to be days of undivided and most assiduous interest in the Lord and the unparalleled mode in which he may soon come to reveal himself.”

In other words, the apostle is calling Christians to a mindset that places God in the center of everything. The time is short – only God’s kingdom is important. Christ will come soon, and as we live in the ‘end times,’ it is crucial that nothing is more important in our lives than preparing for Jesus’ second coming.

From here, Paul explains our attitude to earthly joys and sorrows. Because of this changed perspective, he counsels us, “From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it.”

What is Paul saying?! Is he telling us not to rejoice in happy times, and not to be mourn in painful times? No – that would not fit with the rest of Scripture. It doesn’t even describe Paul’s own attitude. Paul was a man full of emotions, who wept, who rejoiced, and who lived a life filled with joys and sorrows.

Instead, Paul is teaching us how to view the transitory joys and sorrows of life in a passing world. When we recognize the temporal nature of our joy, we won’t get over-excited. We will remember that it is passing away. When we recognize the temporal nature of our sorrow, we won’t be over-sorrowful. It also will pass away.

As Lightfoot explains, “…to one who judges rightly, earthly grief is not over-grievous and earthly joy not over-joyous.” Yes, they are still powerful emotions, but they are not overpowering. They are temporary.

Earthly joy is like the joy of an engagement before the wedding – it will soon be swallowed up in a much greater joy. Earthly sorrow is like the pain of childbirth – hard to bear in the moment, but soon forgotten in light of the much greater joy of a child. So our earthly joys and sorrows, as powerfully emotional as they may be, are about to be swallowed up by something much, much bigger. They are about to be overwhelmed by eternity and its astonishing realm of inexpressibly powerful emotions.

It is with this mindset – this recognition of the transitory nature of life – that Christians are called to live. This will keep us from ‘abusing’ the present life, by trying to extract every drop of joy from it. When earthly joys are over-joyous, earthly sorrows must be overly painful. But both are moderated in light of eternity.