2 corinthians 2:5-11
If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
I think I need an iphone. Or as my dad calls it, a “smart phone”…is that an actual term being used for these phones in marketing circles, or does our parents generation call it that cause it’s “smart”? I’m not sure but I had no idea what he was talking about.
the reason I need an iphone is so that I can download Strong’s Bible Dictionary on it. But I wouldn’t download the Bible, cause I like to underline and write notes in the margin. You cant do that in a smart phone, last time I checked.
If I had an iphone, I’d be able to look up at a moment’s notice all the words I come across in the Bible these days that seem a bit empty or are less descriptive than I would prefer. I have a running list in my latest journal of scripture I plan to look up when I have time to get online and do a bit of research.
maybe it would be cool if I started sharing with you what I find once I get the time to start this activity. I mean, I’ve started it but then penny came over and played Mario race carts online until her eyes melted out of her head, which happened at about the same time all the months’ internet bandwidth dried up. So…I need an iphone cause those things get online anywhere.
Maybe I should buy the actual Strongs Dictionary, you say? I am not about to carry that thing around, I say. My latest modes of transportation are the two blistered feet God gave me, with the frequent train rides and occasional taxis. That dictionary would require me to pay a second train or taxi fare cause it’s so big. An iphone is small and I could sneak it on for free.
If I had an iphone today, I would have already have used it to look up 3 verses. And right now, I’d blog about this 4th one: 2 corinthians 2:5-11
I want to know a fuller explanation of what the word “grief” meant back in the bible days. When Paul wrote this little paragraph to the Corinth church, something was obviously going on that needed addressing in the church regarding sinful behavior. It was apparently causing the rest of the people a lot of grief. Maybe they started grumbling about this person and word reached Paul that the church was discontent and frustrated. I would love to know what the situation was, wouldn’t you? I’m a sucker for the drama.
The reason, though, that I want to know the details of this situation is because I’m sure I would relate to it, which is also the reason I want to know what “grief” is in Hebrew. I’m positive that I’m a lot like whoever this rebellious person in the church was, and I’m even more positive that I’ve caused my fair share of grief in the lives of others.
But I have to tell you something, when I read this little paragraph that I’ve either read before and not felt a connection with, or I’ve just never read at all, I felt like I was being given permission to stop holding my breath. And I’ve been holding it for a long time. Maybe I need an iphone to look up what happens to your nervous system when you hold your breath for half a decade.
Paul is one of my favorites. He just tells it like it is. He doesn’t give a rip if he looses friends or gains them. As he said in Galatians “I’m not trying to win the approval of men, if I were then I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.” We can most likely thank his own dramatic story of meeting (or being whacked upside the face by) God for his deep and lasting conviction to save souls, not make friends or get everyone’s favor. But, whatever caused it, the fact remains that Paul was sold out for the Lord and so he doesn’t mess around with truth. Any person reading the New Testament has felt very uncomfortable or been in disagreement with Paul because he gave very clear explanations of many “sticky issues” we face today. He’s caused many to walk away from God cause the just couldn’t let go of their own sin to the degree we see God called Paul to do, and therefore the rest of us. He wasn’t called to a higher level of righteousness than any of us, he just accepted the call and let go of everything else. Pretty rare, you have to admit.
But, Paul does have grace after all, and many people might argue that one when he called them on the spot of their drunken revelry or sexual promiscuity or misconceptions about love and commitment. In this passage, he’s full of both grace and truth—the perfect balance for this world today. Real Truth brings discipline but not condemnation, blame, or dismissal upon the sinner.
He is actually telling, “urging” the church to “reaffirm your love for him (the sinner)”. Then he says something that goes totally overlooked in most circles today. He makes a direct connection between unforgiveness and being outwitted by the devil. He basically says if you don’t forgive, then Satan had successfully “outwitted” (deceive or defeat by greater ingenuity) you. He’s fooled you, and left you believing a lie.
And what’s more, in Paul’s opinion (and therefore God’s opinion, if we believe 1 Timothy 3:16), unforgiveness looks like a lot more than just saying “I forgive you” and then not being reconciled to them. Paul actually likens forgiveness to comforting the person who has grieved you, “so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow” (v7). Basically, you are supposed to comfort the pain the sinner is feeling as a result of having hurt you. You are supposed to be moved by their remorse, not pleased and feeling “justified”. I wonder what the word “comfort” means here. What if it means more than just telling everyone “oh, I forgave that person already” and carrying on with your plans for your life?What if it means staying in relationship with them?
I want to hear a sermon on this paragraph of the Bible and see how many people get up and walk out of the church. Cause we don’t live like this.
Grudges are sin. “love keeps no record of wrongs”. With topics like this, I always feel like I should just talk about myself. But Paul didn’t do that, and if I’m honest I want someone to hold me to the word of God. I may not like it, or that person, for a few minutes or days, but that’s not their problem. It’s mine. And if I’m honest again, I don’t know really what the Bible says about enough issues to be a very good sister in Christ. I’m learning more, but some topics only matter once they are in your own personal space. So, there are some topics that I know a lot more about than others. And one of those that I’m real curious about these days is sin and how Christians SHOULD respond to it. I can count on one hand the number of people I know who are even a little bit like Paul, and they are all older and wiser than people my age. (But I also know a lot of people my age who are wiser than older people, but that’s not my point at the moment). I want to be a better person to be in relationship with, to have around. I want to be known for speaking truth and not being a hypocrite (meaning, I’m not just speaking it, but I’m living by it myself) and not being afraid what you think about me in response.
So, I hope this makes you uncomfortable. (Actually, I’m more scared that I’ve pissed some of you off…but that just shows how much I have to learn and grow in. I wonder if the thorn in Paul’s flesh was loneliness.)
If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
I think I need an iphone. Or as my dad calls it, a “smart phone”…is that an actual term being used for these phones in marketing circles, or does our parents generation call it that cause it’s “smart”? I’m not sure but I had no idea what he was talking about.
the reason I need an iphone is so that I can download Strong’s Bible Dictionary on it. But I wouldn’t download the Bible, cause I like to underline and write notes in the margin. You cant do that in a smart phone, last time I checked.
If I had an iphone, I’d be able to look up at a moment’s notice all the words I come across in the Bible these days that seem a bit empty or are less descriptive than I would prefer. I have a running list in my latest journal of scripture I plan to look up when I have time to get online and do a bit of research.
maybe it would be cool if I started sharing with you what I find once I get the time to start this activity. I mean, I’ve started it but then penny came over and played Mario race carts online until her eyes melted out of her head, which happened at about the same time all the months’ internet bandwidth dried up. So…I need an iphone cause those things get online anywhere.
Maybe I should buy the actual Strongs Dictionary, you say? I am not about to carry that thing around, I say. My latest modes of transportation are the two blistered feet God gave me, with the frequent train rides and occasional taxis. That dictionary would require me to pay a second train or taxi fare cause it’s so big. An iphone is small and I could sneak it on for free.
If I had an iphone today, I would have already have used it to look up 3 verses. And right now, I’d blog about this 4th one: 2 corinthians 2:5-11
I want to know a fuller explanation of what the word “grief” meant back in the bible days. When Paul wrote this little paragraph to the Corinth church, something was obviously going on that needed addressing in the church regarding sinful behavior. It was apparently causing the rest of the people a lot of grief. Maybe they started grumbling about this person and word reached Paul that the church was discontent and frustrated. I would love to know what the situation was, wouldn’t you? I’m a sucker for the drama.
The reason, though, that I want to know the details of this situation is because I’m sure I would relate to it, which is also the reason I want to know what “grief” is in Hebrew. I’m positive that I’m a lot like whoever this rebellious person in the church was, and I’m even more positive that I’ve caused my fair share of grief in the lives of others.
But I have to tell you something, when I read this little paragraph that I’ve either read before and not felt a connection with, or I’ve just never read at all, I felt like I was being given permission to stop holding my breath. And I’ve been holding it for a long time. Maybe I need an iphone to look up what happens to your nervous system when you hold your breath for half a decade.
Paul is one of my favorites. He just tells it like it is. He doesn’t give a rip if he looses friends or gains them. As he said in Galatians “I’m not trying to win the approval of men, if I were then I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.” We can most likely thank his own dramatic story of meeting (or being whacked upside the face by) God for his deep and lasting conviction to save souls, not make friends or get everyone’s favor. But, whatever caused it, the fact remains that Paul was sold out for the Lord and so he doesn’t mess around with truth. Any person reading the New Testament has felt very uncomfortable or been in disagreement with Paul because he gave very clear explanations of many “sticky issues” we face today. He’s caused many to walk away from God cause the just couldn’t let go of their own sin to the degree we see God called Paul to do, and therefore the rest of us. He wasn’t called to a higher level of righteousness than any of us, he just accepted the call and let go of everything else. Pretty rare, you have to admit.
But, Paul does have grace after all, and many people might argue that one when he called them on the spot of their drunken revelry or sexual promiscuity or misconceptions about love and commitment. In this passage, he’s full of both grace and truth—the perfect balance for this world today. Real Truth brings discipline but not condemnation, blame, or dismissal upon the sinner.
He is actually telling, “urging” the church to “reaffirm your love for him (the sinner)”. Then he says something that goes totally overlooked in most circles today. He makes a direct connection between unforgiveness and being outwitted by the devil. He basically says if you don’t forgive, then Satan had successfully “outwitted” (deceive or defeat by greater ingenuity) you. He’s fooled you, and left you believing a lie.
And what’s more, in Paul’s opinion (and therefore God’s opinion, if we believe 1 Timothy 3:16), unforgiveness looks like a lot more than just saying “I forgive you” and then not being reconciled to them. Paul actually likens forgiveness to comforting the person who has grieved you, “so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow” (v7). Basically, you are supposed to comfort the pain the sinner is feeling as a result of having hurt you. You are supposed to be moved by their remorse, not pleased and feeling “justified”. I wonder what the word “comfort” means here. What if it means more than just telling everyone “oh, I forgave that person already” and carrying on with your plans for your life?What if it means staying in relationship with them?
I want to hear a sermon on this paragraph of the Bible and see how many people get up and walk out of the church. Cause we don’t live like this.
Grudges are sin. “love keeps no record of wrongs”. With topics like this, I always feel like I should just talk about myself. But Paul didn’t do that, and if I’m honest I want someone to hold me to the word of God. I may not like it, or that person, for a few minutes or days, but that’s not their problem. It’s mine. And if I’m honest again, I don’t know really what the Bible says about enough issues to be a very good sister in Christ. I’m learning more, but some topics only matter once they are in your own personal space. So, there are some topics that I know a lot more about than others. And one of those that I’m real curious about these days is sin and how Christians SHOULD respond to it. I can count on one hand the number of people I know who are even a little bit like Paul, and they are all older and wiser than people my age. (But I also know a lot of people my age who are wiser than older people, but that’s not my point at the moment). I want to be a better person to be in relationship with, to have around. I want to be known for speaking truth and not being a hypocrite (meaning, I’m not just speaking it, but I’m living by it myself) and not being afraid what you think about me in response.
So, I hope this makes you uncomfortable. (Actually, I’m more scared that I’ve pissed some of you off…but that just shows how much I have to learn and grow in. I wonder if the thorn in Paul’s flesh was loneliness.)
i have so missed your blogging, and while this style seems a bit different from your old style, i am enjoying it all the same. and, seriously, if people could just learn to love others "where they are" instead of only loving them when they are where they want them to be, then how much easier would life be? oh, and did i mention i am glad you are blogging again? you challenge me. welcome back, old friend.
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