The book of 1 Corinthians is actually a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in  Corinth. Corinth was an important port city and a big economic center for the ancient world, and Paul spent a year and a half planting this church and discipling believers there. After he left and continued on his missionary journey, he received word about some dysfunction and conflict happening back at the church in Corinth. Because Paul wasn’t able to tend to these matters in person, he wrote a letter to this church, giving corrections on the issues causing disagreement: divisions in the church, sexual immorality, food rules, order in worship, and confusion over Jesus’ resurrection. Paul addresses each of these conflicts in his letter by using the gospel as a way to reorient their thinking. A main theme he repeats often is this: “you are not your own; you’ve been bought with a price–therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Because our lives have been purchased by Christ’s death, we are to honor God with the way we live. Not only that, but His Spirit lives within our bodies! Therefore, as Christians, we are to live each day as though Christ were actually living through us, because He actually is. The book of 1 Corinthians is important for believers to read today because, like the church in Corinth, Christians today can struggle with similar divisive issues. Reading the way Paul handled these disagreements shows us how to work to make unity a priority in church today and reminds us how the gospel is to infiltrate every aspect of our lives.