Year 2, Day 90: 2 Corinthians 7

The Need For Grief

2 Corinthians 7 is largely a turning point in Paul’s letter.  He begins to talk about the value of comfort and the need for grief.  I’m going to start with the need for grief.

I have to admit that I know how Paul feels when he writes verses 8-9.  It is difficult to give hard advice.  It is difficult standing up for the ways of the Lord.  It is difficult taking someone who is doing something wrong and patiently speaking to them words that get them to question their actions.  It is hard speaking words that might end up in getting rejected – or worse, terminating the relationship!  All of those things are difficult and scary.  But often those things are precisely what need to be done.

We all know that humanity is sinful.  We even know and confess that we ourselves are sinful.  We know that we have all fallen short of the glory of God.  But, there is a difference between knowing that I am sinful in nature and someone coming and telling me about a particular sin of mine.  It is difficult to have someone look at me and say, “I see sin there.”  Sometimes I reject those words of conviction out of personal embarrassment because my sin was exposed.  Sometimes I reject the words out of stubbornness because I enjoy the sin too much and am unwilling to think about letting it go.  Either way, it is difficult to stand in the path of conviction.

Now think about the shoe being on the other foot.  It is equally as difficult to be the person who puts forth the conviction.  There is risk of losing everything.  There is the risk that people will simply turn their backs and quit listening.  It’s difficult for a completely separate reason, but it is still difficult nonetheless.

But when it leads to repentance and a restoration of relationships, it is worth it. Grief that leads to another person becoming stronger in the Lord is very much acceptable.  The neat thing is that with every small step of grief that leads to repentance it makes the next time of grief easier to accept and bear.  When we have allowed God to use us to convict people around us and they respond, it makes it easier in the future.  It also makes it easier to receive conviction from them as well.  Relationships are built, and these relationships are not the shallow please-one-another kind of relationships.  These relationships are the genuine they-care-about-me type of relationships.  These are the relationships that outlast time and distance.

This chapter is largely Paul’s attempt to explain this dynamic to the Corinthians. Paul is saying that it is not good to want to grieve one another, but it is even less good to let a Christian brother or sister dwell in their sin.  We should want to deepen the relationship through shared joy as well as shared times of conviction and repentance.

The Need for Comfort

This leads us to the idea of comfort.  There is comfort in true spiritual relationships.  There is comfort when we know that someone is genuinely looking out for us.  There is comfort when we know that we can speak words of truth and the other person will hear us.  There is comfort in knowing we can trust one another to listen to God and do His will.  There is comfort knowing that regardless of what happens, we are spiritually connected to one another and loyal to one another.

Paul talks about another kind of comfort.  Paul speaks about the revelation of God.  This is the greatest kind of comfort.  When we learn to trust Him and we see Him working through difficult times to bring about repentance, we are comforted to know that God is genuinely in control.  We are comforted when we genuinely allow ourselves to be revealed as being in the presence of God.

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