“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:1-7 ESV)
This message is for the church, the body of Christ, comprised of all who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. It was written specifically to the church in Corinth of the time of the apostle Paul, yet this was written down for our instruction and included in our Scriptures, so we are to learn from this, too.
We learn here that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is also the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. And this word translated as “mercies” also means compassion, favor, and grace. God feels it when we who are followers of Christ suffer for the sake of his name and when we go through trials and tribulations and when we suffer afflictions. And he cares, and so he offers words of encouragement to us. But he also offers words of counsel, correction, and exhortation, urging us to carry out his divine will.
So, we are to do likewise when we see a brother or a sister in Christ suffering affliction. But wisdom says that this should be male with male and female with female unless the other person is our spouse or another close family member or is someone you are dating. In other words, a married man or a married woman should not be having private words of encouragement with other people of the opposite sex (or same sex, if same sex attracted). But this encouragement may be given in an entire group or in public.
But this word “comfort” isn’t all just the feel-good stuff, though certainly some of it is, but it means to urge one another with a holy urging to carry out the divine will of God for our lives. It is the same things that God says to us when we are going through times of difficulty. And sometimes that involves biblical counsel and correction and exhortation and holy urgings to live holy lives and to obey our Lord’s commands, and to change course, when necessary, and to do something different from what we’ve been doing.
But it also includes encouraging words related to our own circumstances in sharing how God worked in our situations for his glory and honor and for our good. And those experiences won’t all be the same, and not the same all the time. So we share our testimonies with others to let them know the struggles, the battles, the persecutions, and the sufferings we endured, some of them self-inflicted, and others for the sake of the gospel. And then we share with them what the Lord taught us and how that changed us.
And that is what this passage is talking about. We are not to be those who suffer in silence all the time and who never share with anyone our struggles or our heartaches and our persecutions, for how else will others be able to comfort us in our afflictions, and how else will we be able to comfort them in their afflictions with the same comfort we received if we are not open and honest about the things we are going through, or have gone through, and how the Lord has helped us through them to a better place?
Now I am not encouraging gossip or venting or purposefully just trying to make someone else look bad in front of others. But if we never share our burdens with others, how will they know how to encourage us? And how will we then be able to comfort them with the same comfort we received from the Lord if we cannot mention what our circumstances were or are? There has to be a means for us to be able to do what this passage is teaching that we should do. So this requires prayer for wisdom and discernment.
I just know that, for me, I suffered many things for many years without much of any comfort from anyone with regard to what I was going through other than from the Lord. And when I finally heard others tell their stories, only six years ago now, not only did I cry great tears knowing that I was not all alone in this, but I felt validated (supported, authenticated, advocated). And that’s a very big deal to be believed. And I no longer felt as though I was completely alone in this, as far as human support and encouragement.
I know that we must exercise discretion and discernment in what we share and with whom, but bottling it all up inside and not sharing it with anyone is not healthy. And we should have other Christians with whom we can share our burdens who will pray for us and who will offer words of encouragement and comfort and healing. And we are keeping others from being comforted with the same comfort that we received from the Lord, too, if we do not share what we went through and how God brought us through it.
So, be wise. Be discerning. But pray to the Lord and ask him what he wants you to share with whom and when and where and to what detail, for we are to be those who encourage and comfort one another in all our afflictions with the comfort (encouragement, exhortation) we received from the Lord when we were going through our times of difficulty.
You are Loving and Forgiving
An Original Work / February 19, 2012
Based off Psalm 86
You are loving and forgiving,
Jesus, Savior, King of kings.
You provided our redemption.
By Your blood You set us free.
You are gracious; full of mercy.
No deeds can compare with Yours.
Great are You; there is none like You.
Glory be to Your name.
Teach me Your way, and I’ll walk in it.
O Lord, I will walk in Your truth.
May I not have a heart divided,
That Your name I give honor to.
I will praise You, O Lord, my Savior,
For great is Your love toward me.
You have delivered me from my sins.
Your grace has pardoned me.
You, O Lord, are full of compassion,
Slow to anger, bounteous in love;
Faithful to fulfill all You promise;
Glory be to Your name above.
Hear, O Lord, and answer Your servant.
You are my God. I trust in You.
Turn to me and grant Your strength to me.
You are my comforter.
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