Life advice from 2nd corinthians 13
Someone once told me that it is important to have a verse from God to guide you in the coming year. God has provided me some great life verses to focus my mind on and what He has in store for me. Last year, it was Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (ESV). The year before that it was John 4:34, “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”
This year God provided me 2nd Corinthians 13:11 which reads, “Finally, brothers [and sisters], rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” After these last two years and the frustrations that permeate our society in the news and with the pandemic, this verse hit me deep. It is a verse that truly exhibits the importance of living out our Christian lives in today’s society. Not just with unbelievers, but especially with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church was more personal than the first. He provides a lot of details of his hardships and pushes the church to follow his example in faith and what Jesus did for us. His greeting at the end of the letter seemed shorter than his others, and maybe that’s why this verse stuck out for me. So, let’s break down each section to see what God is trying to teach us.
1) Finally, brothers [and sisters], rejoice
I will never forget the explanation that a pastor once gave to the word, “rejoice.” The root of “joice” is “joir” which means to “experience joy.” That is, we should re-experience joy. But what joy are we to re-experience? Simply, what Jesus has done on the cross for our sins.
We cannot stop rejoicing in what Jesus has done for us. As we go about our daily lives, it is easy to forget what originally brought us joy, which is knowing and believing in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. The more we rejoice in this, the more we remember Who we serve and Why we serve.
2) Aim for restoration
The church in the U.S. is at a critical juncture. The split in political ideologies has caused division and hurt in the church more so now than before. Social media creates additional problems through keeping our newsfeeds one-sided. And finding and standing on Truth is harder each day. COVID-19 didn’t create the split, it only showed us what was already there.
I find that it is easier to accept divisions when we develop new communities outside of our church family and spend more time in social media than we do with others or reading the Word of God. Is it easier to block someone on Facebook than talking to them about their differences? Of course! Is it the right thing to do? Probably not.
How quickly do we separate people from our lives when we don’t see them in person anymore? Yet, most of the time, when we see someone in person, we realize that petty differences are not worth being angry over because of a comment or opinion that this individual may have made.
When we aim for restoration, we should seek out ways to mend what is broken, talk about differences and be willing to find common ground. It takes effort to do the right thing, but few of us are willing to do so.
3) Comfort one another
This is another one that is lost in our lives more often than not, especially in a pandemic. A lot of times, we get stuck arguing about facts concerning the vaccines and why we should wear a mask or not. People become numbers and we find ways to ignore the suffering of others to prove our point. The truth of the matter is that people’s lives have been greatly affected and changed by this pandemic. A colleague at work shared that her cousin died from COVID and then their daughter ended up committing suicide from losing their dad. All this in the span of a couple weeks.
Does arguing about masks or vaccines mean much to someone suffering from loss of life? What is needed is comfort and empathy which is often forgotten in the middle of all this.
It is important that we re-calibrate our mindsets. No matter your political views or thoughts, comforting others in their hurt and pain is what a Christian should do. Can you lay aside your political opinions and care for others who have experienced loss?
4) Agree with one another
This is a toughie! Yikes. How do you agree with others in this polarized political country? Well, maybe the country cannot agree on much, but I do know that, as Christians, our common ground is the gospel. Let’s start there and agree on that.
I also believe that this comes to a simple point of Paul wanting the Corinthian church to stop arguing on social and theological issues and to find that common ground that has a foundation on Christ. When we can stop arguing, we can focus on the true issue, which is reaching others for Christ. It’s hard to do when we fight amongst each other, no?
Sometimes in order to agree with others, we have to lay aside certain political thoughts in order to look for agreement on things. I guarantee that most of us agree on almost everything except a few points, but we don’t listen and seek understanding to realize that there aren’t as many differences as we may have originally thought. We prefer speaking rather than listening, judging those who disagree, and fill ourselves with stubbornness and pride.
Listen to others and seek to understand their point of view. Then look for what you agree on. This goes a long way in developing long term relationships, and in our social media world this is often lost or ignored.
5) Live in peace
With everything going on in our culture, live in peace with those around you. No matter your area that you live, you may be the only Christian there and the only one who can shine the light of Christ into others. Are you doing so? Are you seeking peace or creating division? God sent Jesus to mend the broken in our societies and to build a new one through the kingdom of God on earth. Are we aiming to do this? We have peace in our lives due to Jesus and we should seek to share this with those around us.
6) And the God of love and peace be with you
All I spoke about above culminates in this last part. God is a God of love and peace. We were enemies of God and by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:3), yet Jesus showed His love to us by sending Jesus to die for our sins. When we accept Jesus, we receive a peace beyond all understanding (Phil 4:7) and this can only come from the Holy Spirit.
With God’s love and peace with us, anything is possible, such as laying aside differences, loving those we want to hate, and bringing the good news to all those who needs to hear it. Seek unity and not division.
I hope this verse brings you confidence going into this new year as it has done for me.
Breaking Barriers
Read Stefan’s challenging guide for reaching people from other cultures, especially those within our own communities.
