1 Corinthians 4:7

Plain English Version

You yourselves are no better than other people. God gave you everything that you have. So you can’t reckon that you are really smart, and that you got it for yourselves.

Cross References

Luke 19:13

But before that man went away, he got 10 of his work-men to come and talk to him. He gave each work-man $1,000 to look after for him. He told them it was not their own money, but they had to use that money to get more money for him. Then that man went away to meet with that biggest boss.

John 1:16

That man is really good. And when he came, he was really good to us. He is like that. He is good to us all the time, even when we do nothing good for him.

John 3:27

John said, “A person can only get what God gives them. Some people come to me, and some people go to Jesus, but don’t worry. Don’t be jealous.

Romans 1:5

And you know, God is very good to me. He picked me to be Jesus’s special worker. He told me to go to people that are not Jews to tell them about Jesus, and get them to believe in him and do whatever he says.

Romans 12:3

God wants me to tell you this, and he helps me to say it. Don’t think that you are better than you really are, but think properly about yourself. God himself makes it possible for you to believe in him, so think about how much you trust him. That is the important thing.

Romans 12:6

God is good to us and gives each of us the power to do something properly. So if God gave you the power to tell his message to people, well you have to do that whenever you believe he has a message for you to tell.

1 Corinthians 15:10

But God was very good to me. He changed me and made me the way I am now. And so more people heard the good news about Jesus. You see, I’ve worked harder than any of his other special workers. But it wasn’t really me that did that work. No. It was God that gave me the power to do his work, so he is the one that did it.

1 Corinthians 3:5

Just think about Apollos and me, Paul. We are not important bosses. We are only workers for God. God gave each of us our jobs, and we helped you believe in Jesus Christ. I’ll use picture talk now. Think about a garden. One worker plants seeds, and another worker puts water on the young plants to help them grow properly. But it is God that makes the seeds grow up to be big plants. The worker that plants the seeds is not important, and the worker that gives water to the plants is not important. The important one is God. He makes the plants grow. Well, that picture story about a garden is a picture of you mob. God is making you grow like he makes those plants grow. And Apollos and me, we work in God’s team, just like those workers in that garden. I started telling you about Jesus, and Apollos taught you more about him. We both want you to have life, but we can’t give you new life. God is the one that gives you new life. We are just his workers, and you know, God will pay each of us for our work.

1 Corinthians 5:6

So stop telling everyone that you are properly good. It’s not true. Let me tell you a picture story about baking powder. We put a little bit of baking powder into the flour when we make damper. And that little bit of baking powder goes into all the flour in the bowl and makes all the dough swell up.

1 Corinthians 7:7

You know, I reckon it is good for everyone to stay single, like me. But God helps people in different ways. He helps some people be a good husband or wife, and he helps other people stay single without going wrong.

James 1:17

Everything that is really good comes from God in heaven. He made the sun, and the moon, and the stars, up there in the sky that give us light. You know, they move around, and they make shadows that move and change around. But God does not change, like those things. He never changes at all, not even a little bit. He always gives us good things.

1 Peter 4:10

God has given each one of you different ways to do good for each other. He has given you the power to do them, so you have to do them properly.