II Corinthians 1:23
II Corinthians 1:23 “Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn’t return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke.”
The apostle Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church as a follow-up to the previous letter. In the earlier one, Paul took them to task for allowing one of their members to be involved in open immorality, and the church did nothing about it. In fact some of the church members were proud of how much they were able to tolerate.
Paul’s letter included strongly worded instructions for how to remove this man’s sin from the body of believers. He wrote to them, rather than visit them in person, so they wouldn’t have to endure the face-to-face rebuke they needed.
Reading this verse not too long ago made me wonder. How often does God, in His mercy, try to speak to me when I sin, using softer means in order to spare me from a severe rebuke? How many times has He reached me through His Word, or stirred my conscience, so that He doesn’t need to send a godly friend to tell me I’m doing wrong?
I lose sight sometimes--most of the time--of the endless number of ways that the Lord treats me with gentleness, with mercy, and with grace.
In what ways has the Lord spared you? Take some time to look at the way He has used His loving hand of correction, and to see how eagerly He’s waited to welcome you back again into His arms.
Brenda
The apostle Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church as a follow-up to the previous letter. In the earlier one, Paul took them to task for allowing one of their members to be involved in open immorality, and the church did nothing about it. In fact some of the church members were proud of how much they were able to tolerate.
Paul’s letter included strongly worded instructions for how to remove this man’s sin from the body of believers. He wrote to them, rather than visit them in person, so they wouldn’t have to endure the face-to-face rebuke they needed.
Reading this verse not too long ago made me wonder. How often does God, in His mercy, try to speak to me when I sin, using softer means in order to spare me from a severe rebuke? How many times has He reached me through His Word, or stirred my conscience, so that He doesn’t need to send a godly friend to tell me I’m doing wrong?
I lose sight sometimes--most of the time--of the endless number of ways that the Lord treats me with gentleness, with mercy, and with grace.
In what ways has the Lord spared you? Take some time to look at the way He has used His loving hand of correction, and to see how eagerly He’s waited to welcome you back again into His arms.
Brenda
posted by BreadBakers at 12:39 PM
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