“God fills and transforms us in our brokenness.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – December 4, 2025
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 1 Corinthians 5:6, ESV
I recently had a disturbing cup of coffee. From the first sip, I could tell something was off, and about halfway through, I finally said to myself, “Garlic! This tastes like garlic!” Sure enough, I went and pulled the filter out of the coffee maker, and there, surrounded by coffee beans, was a single clove of garlic that had somehow made its way into the filter, and that single clove pervaded and impacted the entire brew!
If we aren’t careful, there are “spiritual garlic cloves” that can sneak into an otherwise healthy life and sour everything they touch. Think, for example, of boasting, or gossiping, or ingratitude. If these take root in your life, no matter where you go or what you do, they will come along with you, souring everything in the process.
Now, does this mean we have to be perfect, that “pristine” conditions for spiritual growth and health must always be present, or else all is lost? Of course not. Were that the case, we would never know the goodness and life of God! He fills and transforms us in our brokenness. However, we are still invited to daily examine our lives and ask the Spirit to illumine areas where small habits or patterns of unhealth have snuck in, so that we can take a step, small as it may be, toward the life of his kingdom that he offers freely and willingly to each of us.
And while this is true in a negative sense, thanks be to God, the opposite is also true! Just as a bit of garlic ruins the coffee, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump,” and if the leaven is healthy and God-given, this is good news indeed! As such, never discount what God is able to do in and through you, for even the tiniest seed of his kingdom can grow and transform into something made for eternity.
Prayer
Father, keep us attentive to the tiny parts of our lives, that which is often hidden or unseen, that we may find hope in the good work you are doing within us, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
Consider the “leaven” in your life- is it spreading the life of the kingdom, or is it souring everything it touches?
Related Reading
Psalm 139:23-24; Proverbs 4:23; Galatians 5:9
Worship Resource
Chris Tomlin: Give Us Clean Hands
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