We're finally nearing the end of the 1st letter of Corinthians and its kinda sad that we never finished it... but having read through the letter hopefully with the eyes of Paul and now moving to his second letter.. I can't help but wonder if the last time we met was the last? Paul never went back to Corinth, instead he chose to write the second letter...
2 Corinthians 1:23 - 2:2 23 But aI call God as witness 1to my soul, that bto spare you I did not come again to cCorinth. 24 Not that we alord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are bstanding firm. NAU 2 Corinthians 2:1 But I determined this 1for my own sake, that I awould not come to you in sorrow again. 2 For if I acause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful?
I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness at the hiddeness of things... and back to the feeling sad, i wonder is it really wrong to ask for peace? Paul writes..
2 Corinthians 1:3-9 3 aBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and bGod of all comfort, 4 who acomforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in 1any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just aas the sufferings of Christ are 1ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is afor your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that aas you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. 8 For awe do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our baffliction which came to us in 1cAsia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 1indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;
Paul writes that the God, heavenly father is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflctions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction with the same comfort we have received from God. If it is a cognitive comfort as suggested, we would simply tell the brother.. hey you got peace already.. its all in the mind... Not very comforting. Note in Vs 5, if the sufferings in Christ are abundant, so are the comfort.. So by right if the peace and comfort are merely cognitive, then the suffering should be as well, ala Descartes? We are sharers of the suffering of one another.. Paul writes in all honesty that he despaired even of life... was this cognitive or did he really want to die?
Its funny how a friend of mine can simply choose to get angry and upset over comments and disicpline mad to the person yet claims that there is peace already but is clearly more discouraged than a person like me who can ask for peace..
But as of now.. I am very disappointed.. its the insercurities which lead to untruthfulness.. accountability is seldom given.. because of the nature of freedom...
No comments:
Post a Comment