¹⁸ Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise.

³ If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

The Wisdom of God

¹⁸ The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. ¹⁹ As the Scriptures say,

²⁰ So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. ²¹ Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Food Sacrificed to Idols

8 Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. ² Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much.

⁹ Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,

¹⁷ I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

¹⁵ I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”