Between Now & Then - Leyff Wenderson

Sep 13, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Childish Things Cling Like Outgrown Clothes

Spiritual growth demands releasing what once fit our immature selves. Like a child’s discarded toys, certain habits, reactions, and thought patterns must be surrendered to embrace Christlike maturity. Paul compares spiritual infancy to speaking, understanding, and thinking limited by self-centeredness. Growth reshapes words, perspectives, and motives. Holding onto petty arguments, jealousy, or the need to “win” stunts the soul. Maturity thrives when we release what once defined us to grasp God’s higher call. [05:49]

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13:11, ESV)

Reflection: What “childish” reaction or mindset have you outgrown yet still cling to? How might releasing it free you to love others more fully?

Day 2: Polished Bronze Mirrors and Partial Glimpses

Ancient Corinth’s mirrors reflected blurry images, much like our limited understanding of God’s plans. We see fragments: unanswered prayers, delayed promises, suffering without explanation. Yet God sees the full portrait. Spiritual maturity rests in trusting His clarity when ours falters. Like Paul squinting at a dim reflection, we lean into the tension of “now and then” – knowing our confusion is temporary, but His faithfulness is eternal. [09:14]

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you struggle to trust God’s perspective over your limited view? How might His complete knowledge of you bring peace today?

Day 3: Walking When the Path Fades from Sight

Faith isn’t certainty about the route but confidence in the Guide. Abraham wandered without maps, Joseph waited without timelines, and Peter followed without understanding. True faith steps forward when logic says “stop,” trusting the One who sees beyond the next bend. Like night hikers guided by starlight, believers move by Christ’s character, not circumstance. Every uncertain footfall becomes worship. [19:36]

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7, ESV)

Reflection: What current uncertainty requires you to walk by faith rather than demand answers? How can you take one step today in trust?

Day 4: Hope’s Anchor in the Unseen Storm

Biblical hope isn’t wishful thinking but defiant expectation rooted in God’s nature. It’s the farmer planting in drought, the prisoner singing before dawn, the sick praying while awaiting healing. This hope sustains when outcomes delay and miracles tarry. Like a ship’s anchor gripping ocean depths, hope secures believers to divine promises hidden beneath life’s turbulent surface. [20:27]

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24-25, ESV)

Reflection: What unseen promise are you clinging to? How can you actively “wait with patience” instead of passive resignation?

Day 5: Love’s Grammar – Verbs Over Nouns

Love isn’t a spiritual gift but daily grammar – the verbs of patience, kindness, and endurance. While the Corinthians chased flashy miracles, Paul redefined greatness through service’s quiet rhythm. True love bears awkward conversations, forgives petty slights, and stays gentle when provoked. It’s Christ’s fingerprint on ordinary moments, proving maturity not by knowledge but by how we kneel to wash feet. [22:54]

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:4-6, ESV)

Reflection: Which “verb of love” (patience, kindness, etc.) feels most challenging to practice today? How can you embody it in one relationship this week?

Sermon Summary

Paul writes 1 Corinthians 13 to a church that was loaded with gifts but deeply divided. The Corinthians had prophecies, tongues, knowledge, and all kinds of spiritual activity, yet jealousy, strife, sexual sin, competition, and selfishness were still showing up. Paul makes it clear that their real problem was not a lack of gifts. Their problem was a lack of maturity.

Spiritual maturity requires putting some things away. Paul says childishness affects how a person speaks, understands, and thinks. Jesus calls His people to be childlike in humility, trust, and dependence, but Paul warns them not to remain childish in jealousy, offense, demands, and selfishness. Maturity keeps the heart of a child but lets go of the mindset of immaturity.

Paul also says that now believers see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. The mirror image reminds the church that sight is real, but clarity is partial. God does not ask His people to understand every loss, delay, tragedy, or unanswered why before trusting Him. God knows everything about them, even their thoughts, paths, and struggles, while they only know in part.

Faith, hope, and love become the strength for living between now and then. Faith changes how a person walks because faith keeps walking when understanding runs out. Hope changes how a person waits because biblical hope is not wishful thinking. Hope is confident expectation based on God’s promise and character. Hope says that what is seen right now is not where the story ends.

Love changes how a person treats people while waiting. Love becomes especially necessary when waiting gets long, when disappointment gets heavy, and when it would be easy to snap at people who do not understand the battle. Paul shows the Corinthians that tongues without love are noise, knowledge without love is nothing, and sacrifice without love profits nothing. Gifts will pass away, partial knowledge will pass away, but love never fails.

Love is greatest because love looks like Jesus. Faith says, “I trust Him.” Hope says, “I’m waiting for Him.” Love says, “Until I see Him, I want to look like Him.” Christ keeps forming His people between now and then, so that their homes, children, churches, words, and lives can carry something real: a life that has been with Jesus.

Key Takeaways

1. Giftedness does not equal spiritual maturity. Paul’s correction to Corinth is serious because gifts can operate while character remains undeveloped. Spiritual power does not excuse jealousy, division, pride, or selfishness. Maturity shows up in words, thoughts, understanding, and the willingness to put childish things away. [05:18]
2. Faith walks beyond unanswered questions. Faith does not mean a person has every answer for loss, delay, or pain. Faith means a person knows who to trust when understanding runs out. God’s full knowledge of His people becomes a place of rest when their own understanding is partial. [19:20]
3. Hope refuses to call now the end. Biblical hope is more than hoping something good might happen. Hope rests in God’s promise and character, even while the full picture is still dim. Hope gives perseverance because it knows the present moment is not the final chapter. [20:16]
4. Love reveals the likeness of Jesus. Love matters most when waiting becomes long and frustration becomes personal. Knowledge can increase while love decreases, but that is incomplete maturity. Christ forms His likeness in people who keep treating others with patience, kindness, truth, and endurance. [26:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:25] - Paul’s Theology Around His Life
[02:22] - Love Never Fails
[04:11] - A Gifted but Divided Church
[05:49] - Putting Away Childish Things
[08:51] - Seeing Through a Dim Mirror
[11:11] - Living Between Now and Then
[14:30] - Faith, Hope, and Love
[18:15] - Faith Changes How You Walk
[20:16] - Hope Changes How You Wait
[22:30] - Love Changes How You Treat People
[28:14] - Why Love Is Greatest
[30:01] - Until I See Him, Look Like Him
[36:10] - Prayer for Faith, Hope, and Love

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 13:8-13
“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” [02:22]

1 Corinthians 3:1-3
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” [06:19]

Matthew 18:3
“And said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’” [07:28]

2 Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” [18:56]

Romans 8:24-25
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” [20:43]

Psalm 139:1-3
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.” [12:31]

Observation questions

According to 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, what things are described as partial or temporary, and what three things remain?
What specific behaviors in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 showed that the Corinthian believers were still immature, even though they belonged to Christ? [06:42]
In 1 Corinthians 13:11, what three areas of life are affected by childishness: speech, understanding, and thinking? What does Paul say must happen when a person becomes mature? [05:29]
What contrast does Paul make between seeing “in a mirror dimly” now and seeing “face to face” then? [11:11]

Interpretation questions

How can a church or believer be active in spiritual gifts and still be spiritually immature? What does Corinth’s jealousy, division, and competition reveal about the difference between giftedness and character? [05:18]
Jesus calls His followers to become like children, while Paul calls believers to put away childish ways. How can humility, trust, and dependence remain while jealousy, selfish demands, and quick offense are left behind? [07:50]
What does it mean for a believer to trust God without having an explanation for every loss, delay, or painful circumstance? How does Psalm 139 give comfort in seasons when understanding is incomplete? [13:01]
Romans 8 says believers wait with patience for what they do not yet see. How is biblical hope different from simply wishing that life will improve? [20:16]

Application questions

Is there a childish pattern in your words, thoughts, reactions, or relationships that the Lord may be asking you to put away? What would taking one honest step of maturity look like this week? [08:18]
When you are waiting on God for a long time, how does that pressure tend to come out toward the people closest to you? Are you more likely to withdraw, become irritable, snap, or insist on your own way? [24:32]
Think about an unanswered “why” in your life. Rather than demanding full clarity, what would it look like to say, “God, I do not understand, but I trust You”? [19:36]
What promise of God or truth about His character helps you remember that your present situation is not the end of your story? [22:22]
Love is patient, kind, truthful, and enduring. Is there one person with whom you need to practice that kind of love in a more tangible way this week—through a conversation, an apology, a patient response, or a practical act of care? [22:56]
Knowledge can grow while love decreases. In your home, workplace, church, or online conversations, what would show that your faith is making you not only more informed but also more loving? [26:18]
Faith says, “I trust Him.” Hope says, “I am waiting for Him.” Love says, “Until I see Him, I want to look like Him.” Which of these—faith, hope, or love—feels most needed in your life right now, and why? [30:10]

Sermon Clips

53s

#FaithKeepsWalking

“So what carries me between now, where I am now, and then faith. Abraham didn't know where. Joseph didn't know when. Moses didn't know how. Peter didn't understand why. But faith doesn't mean I have all the answers. Faith means I know who I trust when I don't have the answers. I trust you, god. I don't understand. I trust you. Because you know me pretty well, better than myself. So when my understanding runs out, faith keeps walking.”

50s

#HopeOnGodsPromises

“So when my understanding runs out, faith keeps walking. Now why hope? Because now is not then. And hope in scripture scripture is not like, I hope something good happens. Biblical hope is confident expectation based upon God's promise and character. Let me say that again. Hope in scripture is not, I hope something good happens. Biblical hope is confident expectation based upon God's promise and character.”

54s

#LoveOverGifts

“But I want you to go back and think about Corinth, the Corinthian church. They were feel they they were fighting over personalities. They were fighting over rights. They were comparing gifts. They were taking one another to court. They were humiliating poor believers at the Lord's supper. And Paul says, you don't need a God or gift to solve this. You need love. So again, faith changes how I walk. Hope changes how I wait. Love changes how I treat people while I'm waiting.”

75s

#GodKnowsWhenWeDont

“So there are things about god we don't understand. I mean, really. There's things we understand, but there are some things we don't understand. There are things about our lives we cannot even explain. Have you ever felt that? I mean, some things we can, but not everything. I mean, there's some losses we don't understand. There's some delays we don't understand. There's some things that God permitted. I don't know you. My mind sometimes is like, I ask so many whys that I might be like a little child. Right? Why? And then when you think you're done, but why? You know, so all of that happens, and it's it's like, okay. We know in part, and that's the the thing. You know, I'm not understanding God. Why? But not understanding what God is doing doesn't mean God doesn't know what he is doing. Amen. Thank God for that.”

45s

#MaturityMeasuredByLove

“I think that was Paul's answer to a church fascinated by gifts. Because the Corinthian church, they were asking which gift was greater. And Paul show them something greater than all their gifts, love. He's not minimizing. He's not saying he doesn't believe her. No. That's not for today. That's not the point because people use that to say, see, that's why gifts have ended. The greatest evidence of spiritual maturity is not how much I know, it's how well I love. So”

34s

#FaithWalksBetweenNowAndThen

“So this is the thing, though. Faith changes how I walk, hope changes how I wait, and love changes how I treat people. Can you say amen? Faith changes how I walk because I walk by faith. We're not there yet. See why it's between now and then? Because, I mean, we wouldn't need faith if there were if we already knew everything.”

65s

#CorinthNeededLove

“I mean, before chapter 13, we don't have time to go to all the text, but first Corinthians one, there was divisions and factions. First Corinthians three, there was jealousy and strife. First Corinthians five, there was serious sexual immorality. First Corinthians six, believers taking one another to court. First Corinthians eight, all the way to 10, there was a conflict over Christian liberty and food offered to idols. First Corinthians 11, there was a problems at the Lord's supper. First Corinthians 12, the spiritual gifts and competition and comparison within the body. Then Paul arrives at chapter 13 to review to us that Corinth's problem was not the absence of spiritual gift. But it was the absence of spiritual maturity.”

46s

#LiveTransformedByJesus

“or he would call me like, you know, he would just point to me and say, Leif, you preach now. I mean, you're not you better not say, no, I won't. Right? That he so, again, it is like, really, at if there was moments where he's like, man, he's been walking with Jesus. And that's what we all should have. At some point, people should look at you and say, I wanna be like you because you're like Jesus. I wanna talk like you. I I wanna hug like you. I wanna man, it it is like, you know, between now and then, I can see that your life is being transformed.”

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