Neville Goddard on 1 Corinthians 4:12-13 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 Corinthians 4 in context

Scripture Focus

12And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

13Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

1 Corinthians 4:12-13

Biblical Context

The verses describe laboring with one's own hands and responding to revilement and persecution with blessing and patience. They also speak of being defamed and treated as the world's offscouring.

Neville's Inner Vision

In the imagination, you are not tied to the outer judgment but to the I AM within. To labor with your own hands is to acknowledge self-sufficiency drawn from inner awareness, the I AM supplying all you need. When you are reviled, you bless; when persecuted, you endure, for you know that every insult is a signal that your consciousness is awakening to a greater reality. Defamation, the world's offscouring, is but a projection of a fearful state. You refuse to identify with it; instead you treat the other as you would a troubled situation that calls forth your inward majesty. The I AM does not condemn; it revives and sanctifies every scene by your awareness. Your opportunity is to revise the feel of the moment until you know yourself as the consciousness that makes the scene appear. In this sense, the apostolic suffering is the inner discipline by which you detach from lack, fear, and separation, and align with the unity of being. Remember: perception follows consciousness; change your inner state and the outer "world" becomes the expression of your inner peace.

Practice This Now

Practice: in the moment of adversity, revise the scene in your imagination so that you are the I AM, blessing the scene and feeling its power; end with the sense that your inner state is the cause.