Sorrow has its place in this world where it can be a force for good. Not all sorrow is bad. When we sin against the Father we should be rebuked by our fellow followers of Christ, with scripture as the basis and the unchanging standard. If we have done or are doing wrong, then we should come to a point of sorrow if we truly love Christ. He gave all for us and we should be devoted disciples (“learners”) who seek to live after His example rather than living according to our own selfish desires.
Let us take care to learn from Paul’s letters a powerful lesson about truly loving one another. Loving one another does not mean we accept each others’ sin and call no one to change. Loving one another often means lovingly, respectfully, and firmly rebuking or correcting one another as followers of Christ, based on scripture, so that we may feel bad about our sins and our self and that it may lead to a wondrous work of repentance in us.
Paul Reveals His Heart
1Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. 3I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. 4Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.
5For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. 6But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more. 8For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— 9I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. 12So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. 13For this reason we have been comforted.
And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth. 15His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you.
We are called to love one another and that includes correction when we stray from God’s word in our lives. We must not be so afraid of hurting someone’s feelings or offending them that we let them drift away from closeness to God and into sin. We would not consider it love to leave children alone to play in a busy street, would we? Neither do we love our brothers and sisters in Christ by allowing them to embrace and accept or even normalize sin in their lives and in the church.
Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ
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