LifeLink Devotional for Friday, January 10, 2025

As far as the Biblical record indicates, the Apostle Paul wrote more letters to the church in the city of Corinth than to any other church. A careful reading of the two letters we have in the Bible reveals that there were at least two other letters he also wrote. One of those letters ,which we do not have but is referred to in Second Corinthians, was, by Paul’s own admission, pretty harsh. He was having a hard time getting people of that church to stop their sinning, and to stop bringing that sin into the church. There came a time when he had to get firm and forceful with them. Paul was acting righteously. He was fulfilling God’s call upon his life. The people had made their own choices that brought out the wrath of God against their sin, and Paul was the messenger. What Paul did was justified. How he felt about it teaches us a lot about reconciliation.

As you read the seventh chapter of 2 Corinthians – and I encourage you to do so – you will discover the love and compassion Paul had in his heart for the people he had to correct. After writing the letter of rebuke to them, he immediately felt sorrow over how it was going to affect the people he loved so much. Even though he had the right to write, he also had the heart to hurt. The New Living Translation puts Paul’s words in verse 8 this way – “I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while.” That’s the kind of heart attitude we all need if we are going to see God reconcile relationships.

Far too many Christians bring a spirit of pride into their relationships which says, “I know I’m right and I expect them to come to me and repent.” That certainly wasn’t Paul’s attitude. Paul knew he was right, but his pride never kept him from feeling the pain he was causing by being right. We get so wrapped up in the story of our own life that we stop caring about the stories being lived out by others. We especially seem to not care how our story is having a negative effect on their story. That uncaring spirit is especially magnified when we convince ourselves that we are not to blame for how they feel. Yet true reconciliation is only possible if the one in the right cares about the one in the wrong more than they care about their “rightness”, just as God the Father did for us when we were in our sin.

The correction of sin in any of our lives is painful because all sin is the prideful expression of self. It hurts to have self accused of being wrong. We take it as an attack against our value. We usually lash back at the one doing the correcting, trying to restore some self-respect. That is what concerned Paul when he said he understood the pain he had caused them. He was afraid they would lash back at him rather than be led to repentance and reconciliation.

Here’s the lesson for today: we must not react in a prideful way when someone tries to correct a wrong in our lives. We must respond as Paul said the people of Corinth did. Look at what he says about them. “I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, the kind that leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” 

That’s incredible. That’s how reaching out to bring repentance results in reconciliation. That’s the kind of sorrow God wants all His people to have when they are confronted with sin in their lives. Be humble. Accept responsibility. Confess your sin. Be reconciled to God and others. Let’s put that attitude into practice.

Pastor John